Beyond the Obvious
The Devrim car, Turkey's first homemade automobile
The car railway engineers built in about four and a half months in 1961 — and the story of the hundred metres that made it famous.
Not yet checked by the Smileys team — prices and hours may have moved.
Why do it?
In 1961 President Cemal Gürsel ordered a fully domestic car, and engineers at the state railway factory in Eskişehir — today TÜRASAŞ — designed and built four of them, from engine to body, in about four and a half months, in time for Republic Day on 29 October. The cars went to Ankara by train with their tanks emptied for safety, and when Gürsel climbed in, the black Devrim ran dry after about a hundred metres; the newspapers never let it go, and the project was shelved. One Devrim survives, and since March 2018 it has been the centrepiece of a museum inside the TÜRASAŞ works, with the tools, drawings and parts used to make it and a group of old steam locomotives.
The Smileys Take
Even if you don't care about cars, go for the story — it's a parable every Turk knows, about ambition, bureaucracy and bad luck, and standing next to the actual car makes it land. Ask a Turkish friend to tell you their version; everyone has one. The museum sits inside a working industrial site, so allow time to find the entrance, and check opening days and the ticket price before you go — it's closed on Mondays. A good rainy-day pair with the wax museum.
Do it with people
Nothing is scheduled around this in Eskişehir yet. When a host plans it, it shows here — the calendar and hangouts are the places to look meanwhile.
More like this
There's always more Eskişehir.