In the 70ies of the 20th century Tatra owners from all over the world gathered around the Salzburgian vet Dr. Friedrich Düring, son of the former Tatra factory photographer. Due to his personal contacts he was able to get technical information and sometimes also spares through the iron curtain directly from the Tatra factory.
From 1976 on first trips and meetings were held around the home town of Dr. Düring, finally culminating in the formation of the “Club of Tatra Friends” with seat in Mattsee in 1981. By the years the club became a sort of unofficial Tatra representation of the Tatra factory. The club as the very only one worldwide got the permission to use the Tatra logo.
The breakdown of the Iron Curtain ended the singular access to the Tatra factory and to its archive. Local needs took overhand and national Tatra clubs have seceded from the "Club der Tatra-Freunde" or were formed independently.
Renamed in „Tatra-Freunde International“ in the course of a restructuring and being one of the very few multinational ones at the moment the club tries to build an umbrella over all nationwide clubs and to act uniting. The annual meetings of T.F.I. are held all over Europe and are characterized by a very familiar atmosphere. Their multinational participants proof that the strain takes great effort.