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
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Happy Thanksgiving to you, too!