Devrim
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Devrim was the first ever automobile designed and produced in Turkey.
| Devrim | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Production | 1961 |
| Engine | 2.0 L (50 hp) |
| Transmission | Unknown |
| Length | 4500 mm |
| Width | 1800 mm |
| Height | 1550 mm |
| Curb weight | 1250 kg |
In 1961, President Cemal Gürsel ordered 24 engineers working in various companies, including Necmettin Erbakan, who became Prime Minister in 1990s, to build a car fully designed and produced in Turkey; it was to be demonstrated on the Day of the Republic on October 29 1961.
After four and a half months of hard work in the workshop, which now is TÜLOMSAŞ, the engineers managed to make four prototypes of the automobile. One was black, and the others were cream. It was named Devrim (the Turkish word for revolution, however the word references to the coup d'état of 1960).
Three of the cars were shipped to Ankara for the Republic Day. The black car was painted while on the train to Ankara. None of the cars had gasoline in them, as a safety precaution and the cars were filled with little fuel, only for maneuvering. On the day of celebrations, the President got in the black car for a ceramonial ride. After driving a hundred meters the car stopped, because it had run out of gasoline, thus the car could not take a tour around the Parliament building, as supposed. Then the president got in the cream car, and went to Anıtkabir with it. The newspaper headlines were, "Devrim went 100 meters, and it stopped.". The car became subject of jokes for many years.
The car was never mass produced. One reason for that was the cars were crafted prototypes and production process was not well-documented, with almost no technical drawings remaining from the production. Another reason was that the demand was not high enough to make mass production feasible. Cars still were affordable for a small economic minority, therefore there was a small number of potential private buyers.
A conspiracy theory about production was that American auto giants were approaching the government and it was decided to keep relations smooth.
Three of the prototypes were destroyed and the last one is kept in TÜLOMSAŞ in Eskişehir, where it was built.
