The car was powered by an ohv air-cooled four-cylinder boxer motor of 1465 cc, positioned at the front, and giving a claimed output of 22 PS (16 kW; 22 hp).

The Tatra 54 featured a central "backbone chassis" a hallmark of Design Chief Ledwinka: the front axle was supported by a transverse leaf spring while a second transverse leaf spring supported the swing rear axle.

In the 1930s there was rather gradual evolution of Tatra models rather than sudden revolutionary succession, which is typical for auto manufacturers today.

In this sense we can see mid-types, which were typical especially for T30, as the car was in production during the Great Depression's economical crises.

Although the initial model of T30 is easily distinguishable from last T54, the interim years of production make it sometimes difficult to differentiate, which type a given car might be.