You know what I’m thankful for? Other than the continued and improbable existence of Mitsuoka and Munchos? You! Yes, you, dammit, all of you wonderful readers and commenters and members that are both theĀ raison d’etreĀ of this place and the reason it exists, but not in French. We really do appreciate all of you. So we hope you all will have a fantastic Thanksgiving, and in honor of that, we’d like to present another Turkish car for you to contemplate: TofaÅ.
Do I know how to pronounce the “Å” in TofaÅ? No. But, to be fair, it doesn’t know how to pronounce me, either. TofaÅ stand forĀ TĆ¼rk Otomobil Fabrikası Anonim Åirketi which translates toĀ Turkish Automobile Factory Joint-Stock Company,Ā a pretty catchy name. Essentially, TofaÅ is a Stellantis manufacturer today, but was a builder of licensed Fiats since 1968.
The first cars actually made by TofaÅ in 1971 were versions of the Fiat 124 called the Murat 124, and then, in a later updated version, the SerƧe:
Incredibly, I think the company actually managed to make the boxy Fiat evenĀ moreĀ boring. Don’t get me wrong; I think the extreme basic simplicity of the design actually wraps around again to making this thing oddly cool, but it is a remarkably, um, straightforward car. I’m surprised they splurged for curves for the wheels.
Some of those “standard factory accessories” listed there in that ad copy are pretty remarkable, like the “special” steering wheel and bumpers. I’m not really sure what “special” means in that context, other than you can’t bolt either of those parts on justĀ anyĀ car.
The TofaÅ Murat has some very appealing and blocky tailllights:
I especially like how the license plate lamps are integrated into the taillights there. Like all of these TofaÅ-Fiats, they’re simple but appealing.
Look at the Kartal here, as you can see a wagon, and the name is the Turkish word for “eagle.” The wagon variant was a unique Turkish design, and despite the ride height, I beleive this isn’t an AWD or 4WD car, but remains RWD. It’s pretty cool looking, though.
All of these cars, the original 124 and the later 131, (brochure thanks to the Car Brochure Addict) were used as taxis throughout Turkey for years, and many have been converted to run on LPG.
If it helps, you can consider yourselves to be converted to run on LPG on this holiday, if we consider LPG to stand for “Lots [of] Poultry Gorging.”
Want to see a video of a delighted TofaÅ owner? Boy are you in luck:
Look how happy that person is with their TofaÅ!
Maybe these aren’t as exotic as some Anadols, but they’re still a Turkish cars worth knowing about.
Happy Turkey Day, everyone! Relax, be thankful, and enjoy!
Happy Turkey Day! Hereās A Car You Know Thatās Secretly From Turkey
Letās Come Up With Names For Groups Of Cars. You Know, Like A Murder Of Crows, But Cars
Whatever You Think The Air Conditioning Unit For An Opel GT Looked Like, Youāre Wrong
As someone with family in Turkey I was pleased to see the mention of the LPG conversion here. If you go to Turkey on vacation donāt expect a yellow ātaksiā to have trunk room for your luggage as it will be half used up by the LPG tank.
I saw loads of these when I visited Turkey and they were one of the highlights of my trip. Not every day you encounter a car brand you’ve never heard of before in the wild, and be surrounded by them no less! I did see some wagons, they were the most exciting for sure.
Turkey was also the only place I’ve ever gotten to ride in a Dacia (not a Sandero, one of the boxy people-mover body types you never see outside of Europe, it was a taxi), and it was nice š
I’m also pretty sure I saw a Tata truck, but it drove away before I could take a picture of it š
There were also some lovely old Renaults in great condition, and one of those roofless Smart cars with the holes in the doors, and various trucks I couldn’t identify which had charming unique shapes in their own right.
All in all, Turkey is great for car-spotting.
“It’s older than myself.” Young Lady, I think I have socks older than you. That interior isn’t too shabby, though.
President Erdogan would like to remind everyone that his country is now called TĆ¼rkiye because he can’t stand seeing his country being named after the poultry variation…
Guess the number of fucks I give about that.
Suit yourself…
I was being sarcastic, and you don’t seem to have a capability of recognising the sarcasm. So sad.
Isn’t TĆ¼rkiye just Turkey in Turkish?
Those wagons are incredible. It looks so much like someone pasted a taller wagon back end right onto a VW Rabbit/Golf because of the C pillar and door cutline. It was an efficient use of space for sure.
The happy owner of the Tofazh does talk a lot, but doesn’t have a lot to say.
How much is there to say, really, about a warmed-over Fiat? This one is restored, clean and shiny, and comes with a painted steering wheel, including painted-over screws…
I think that Thanksgiving is not a very happy day for turkeys so wishing a happy turkey day on Thanksgiving is out of touch.
A beautiful, if a bit propagandistic, movie about the dawn of their automotive production:
Devrim Arabalari (Cars of the Revolution).
A cute, feel-good, well made, well played movie about a handful of engineers tasked to build the first Turkish car from scratch. Mechanically sound, not sure if made by car geeks, but definitely will not make car geeks cringe.
Not sure if it’s available with English subtitles though:
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1282139/
Saw it at the Queens Movie festival (NOT to be mistaken for the Queens Workd Film Festival – I know, I know) when it came out (the festival’s last occurrence, as the organizer was later dragged to court for forgetting to pay most people involved). We did a special Marty Kove tribute dinner for his achievements, ah, those were the times š
Anyway. Devrim Arabalari. Find it. Good.
Oh, and apparently it’s Turkiye now. And forever. So maybe Thanksgiving puns won’t fly much, in future years.
PS: The Otokar Cobra is the one to watch.
There are also the various Otokar products including Landrover Defenders assorted transit busses and armored personnel carriers. Turkish BMC, Anadol and various other local assembly or license builders.
Nice lines on that brown Murat,( what’s with the carpet remnant against the rear wheel?) reminds me of a brown Audi Fox I had as a winter beater($200!) When I got that, that cheap, I had no qualms about stunt driving it. Got the hand brake to the opposite curb parallel park slide down with that bad boy.
As for National American Indian Heritage Month, Y’all get stuffed!
He. He. I am grateful for this community! Keep the Torchisms coming!
Happy turkey day Torch, and thanks for sharing some TofaÅ with us!
Interesting. I wonder how the Tofas compares to the Lada 2101 and to the SEAT 124.
Maybe someday the Autopian can host a face off between all the 124 variants.
The original would win, except maybe the long term durability test. Also, while checking if Polski-Fiat 125p could join the party (a quite close relative), I stumbled upon the fact that such thing as Kia 124 exists. Just mindboggling.
Of course there are the Indian and Egyptian cousins and probably some CKD-type of attempts as well. But a Kia.
Yes yes, I have an unhealthy interest in these, but just because grandpa had a Fiat 124. Until he had to sell it – because the import of Ladas started. Someone could think that he drove a commiemobile!
Someone could think that he drove a commiemobile!
Well achually….
“Having changed its name in 1943, the Partito Comunista Italiano (PCI) became the second largest political party of Italy after World War II, attracting the support of about a third of the vote share during the 1970s. At the time, it was the largest Communist party in the Western world, with peak support reaching 2.3 million members in 1947, and peak share being 34.4% of the vote (12.6 million votes) in the 1976 Italian general election.”
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Italian_Communist_Party
Thank you very much, and the same to all of you and yours!
I was expecting to see a Ford Transit when I clicked. I didn’t but was not dissatisfied with the contents of this article.
Old car ads are wonderful for learning how far cars have come. I was over at a buddy’s house looking at a framed reproduction of an old Plymouth ad. That car had such whiz-bang features like an ignition key and hydraulic brakes! Amazing!
Whiz-bang! I love whiz-bang features!
If you want more cars from Turkiye, check out the 1st gen Transit Connect (at least the 1st gen we got here in the States). Built in Otosan with seats to avoid the Chicken Tax. Shipped to Baltimore (I think), where a facility would remove and recycle the seats and return the vehicle to its cargo configuration.
Of course this later cost Ford millions of dollars in fines.
ahem https://www.theautopian.com/happy-turkey-day-heres-a-car-you-know-thats-secretly-from-turkey/
Outstanding!
You know, it occurs to me that the Fiat 124 may be the most prolific automobile ever in terms of spreading auto manufacturing to other countries. So many contract-built derivatives (including the beloved Yugo!)
AFAIK Yugo never made the 124, they went from the earlier Fiat 600 and 1500 to the front-drive 128. The Yugo we know is either a reskinned 127 or a cut-down and then restyled 128 depending on the source.
124…128…what’s four among friends? I got my numbering mixed up. The Zastava people were always the most enthusiastic and friendly to work with when I was chasing news stories about them for Autoblog.
If Autopian hasnāt done it already, itād be fun to look at some of the most cloned models. How many countries have made licensed / forgotten about fiats at this point?
And they had the stones to charge you extra to have a Transit Connect wagon with the windows and seats left intact!
I’m sure Ford went super extra cheap-and-tacky with the cargo vans’ cheater seats but still, those plus the conversion cost can’t have been less than the cost of a rear interior trimmed to the “real” wagons’ standard.
They did, they were practically hard benches with a thin piece of fabric glued in, met the bare minimum FMVSS standards for seats in terms of restraints and anchorages, but were very obviously meant to be disposable and not for actual use
Yep on Baltimore. In 2010, my dad, living in MD, got himself at Explorer at one of those big rural dealerships. I helped him negotiate the deal (it was easy…this is one of those “build a relationship for the long-term” kinda places, as rural dealerships often are), and as everything was being prepped, I was wandering around the showroom/lot talking with the salesman, who definitely was a car guy.
After showing me a new Nissan GT-R they’d just gotten in, we were talking about the unexpected coolness of the Taurus SHO and then pivoted to how much we both liked the lines of the Connect. He then said “want to hear something cool?” And proceeded to tell me that story, about how Ford would ship all the seats back in the very same cargo containers, just up the street as it were. It was a fun afternoon.
IIRC they also made Ford Model Ts there too. Back in the day, the Turkey Ford dealer was selling so many Ts that he licensed with Ford to build a Turkish factory
I was researching something else and came across a photo of a Model T with a machine gun mounted in it that was used along the Eastern Front in WWI
Well, after the fall of the Ottoman Empire, they need to conserve their seating resources.
TofaÅ!
Tryptophan
overindulgence
football
and
Åtuffing
Happy Thanksgiving Autopians!
Now go watch the German girl talking about her Turkish car.
I drove a TofaÅ Åahin (hawk) as a rental once. The Å is pronounced as SH.
It sounds better that way.
Wow, the holiday treats keep coming Tofas (donāt have that āsā taking a dump key on my phone) and furious. Happy Thanksgiving Mr. T and the rest of the A Team!
No problem on my tablet. Press and hold the s and select Å.
Å Å”Ģ£Åį¹£ĆĀ§ÅÅ. COOL! thanks for telling me that, works on my phone.
Tried that, but only three alternatives appeared and that wasnāt one of them. Though it does appear for other letters. Old phone, so maybe thatās why it absent.
Maybe. Maybe it’s your language setting, or which keyboard variant you use.
Entirely possible. Thanks.
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!