Tarih 16 Haziran 1961… Ankara’daki TCDD fabrikalarında toplanan bir grup mühendis ve yönetici, Ulaştırma Bakanlığı’ndan gelen resmi bir yazıyla tarihin en zorlu görevlerinden biriyle karşı karşıya kalıyor. Hedef net: 29 Ekim Cumhuriyet Bayramı’na kadar, yani sadece 4,5 ayda %100 yerli bir otomobil üretmek. İmkansız görülen, “yapılamaz” denilen bu proje, Türk sanayi tarihinin hem en büyük gurur hem de en büyük hüzün kaynaklarından biri olan “Devrim”i doğuruyor.
The Devrim project, a turning point in Türkiye's industrialization drive, was not merely an effort to produce a car; it was the embodiment of a nation's will to say, "We can do it too." This adventure, which began at the TCDD's (Turkish State Railways) locomotive workshop in Eskişehir (today's TÜRASAŞ), took place under limited resources and incredible time pressure.
1.4 Million Lira and 129 Days of Struggle
The project has a budget of 1,400,000 TL and a timeframe of only 4.5 months. While even giants in the automotive industry extend the R&D and prototyping process of a new model over years, Turkish engineers are being asked to design and produce a vehicle, and even an engine, from scratch in 129 days.
The atmosphere at the time was one of complete "learned helplessness" regarding the project. The prevailing view, from universities to the press, from bureaucracy to the business world, was:“Turks cannot manufacture cars, let alone produce their engines.”"That's the reality. In private conversations, newspaper columns, and conferences, it's loudly proclaimed that this initiative is nothing more than a dream. However, in the workshop in Eskişehir, 23 engineers, ignoring this noise from the outside, are working day and night.".
From Engine to Bodywork: A "Local" Signature
On the morning of October 28, 1961, the day before Republic Day, the impossible happened. The "Devrim," which originated in Eskişehir, may not have the smooth, mass-produced bodywork, but it was on its own wheels and, most importantly... of the engine it produced He reaches Ankara with his strength.
The engine, produced in TCDD workshops from casting to machining as part of the project, proves the capabilities of Turkish engineering at that time. The vehicles were brought in front of the Turkish Grand National Assembly building and presented to President Cemal Gürsel Pasha.
Cemal Gürsel's Historical Complaint: "We did it with a Western mindset, we forgot it with an Eastern mindset."“
The story of the Revolution is unfortunately remembered not for its engineering success, but for an unfortunate logistical error. During the ceremony in front of the Parliament, one of the vehicles, which had very little (or no) fuel in its tanks for security reasons, stopped because it ran out of gas during Cemal Gürsel Pasha's journey to Anıtkabir.
Although the second vehicle (the beige Revolution) took the Pasha to the Mausoleum and he participated in the parade at the Hippodrome without incident, the headlines for the next day were already prepared:“The revolution stalled.“
It just ran out of gas.“car that doesn't work”The Devrim, which was branded as "unsuitable," is shelved before it can go into mass production. This incident is actually becoming a symbol not of the vehicle itself, but of the psychological and bureaucratic obstacles placed in front of the Turkish automotive industry.
The Legacy Extending to Togg
The Revolution Cars were not a technical failure, but a victim of a lack of strategic vision. However, that spark ignited in Eskişehir is being rekindled 60 years later with Togg, Türkiye's Automobile.
Even though we can't sit in their seats or press the gas pedal today, the Revolution continues to live on in the museum as the most concrete proof of what can be achieved in these lands under difficult conditions, with limited budgets, and in defiance of those who said "you can't do it," and in the hearts of the Turkish nation as "an unfinished cause.".
