Tofas · 1977–1988

Tofaş Şahin

The Tofaş Şahin, Doğan, and Kartal are Turkish versions of the Fiat 131 automobile made in the Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş. factory in Bursa, Turkey. While doğan means "falcon" in Turkish, kartal means "eagle" and şahin means "hawk". In Turkey, they are informally referred to as Kuş Serisi, meaning "Bird Series". The cars were built from 1977 and sold in Turkey until 2002, with Egyptian assembly coming to an end in 2009 and in Ethiopia until 2010.

Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).

Predecessor: Fiat 131

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First generation

In February 1977 the Turkish Tofaş Murat 131 was first introduced, as a near exact replica of the Fiat 131. Originally it was only available with a Solex twin-barrel carbureted 1.3 L pushrod petrol four, producing 70 PS SAE (51 kW) at 5,250 rpm. From 1981 the Şahin ("Falcon") and Kartal names were also in use, with the Kartal ("Eagle") being the station wagon. From this point a 1.6-litre OHV engine was also added to the lineup, producing 75 PS DIN (55 kW) at 5,400 rpm. This largely replaced the smaller 1.3 (now with a claimed 65 PS DIN [48 kW] at 5,400 rpm, with a Weber twin carburetor), which was only retained as a lower priced option for the more basic Şahin version. The single, rounded rectangular headlights of the earlier Murat 131s were replaced with double units. Announced in September 1981 (on sale by October), the new luxurious Doğan model received a five-speed manual transmission. The Doğan also received a fully fabric upholstered interior, a heated rear window, and had the front door vent windows removed. The luggage compartment was fully carpeted and the suspension was adjusted to minimize understeer at high speeds. The five-speed remained standard only for the Doğan, although it later became an option in the lesser models. From 1983, the Doğan was also set apart by large rectangular headlights while the lesser Şahin and Kartal made do with round twin headlights.

Second generation

In 1988 the cars received a major aesthetic revision, with a redesigned front and rear resulting in a design reminiscent of the Fiat Regata. The "Murat" portion of the name was still used in some marketing material, but no longer appeared on the car and gradually vanished. The new headlights were large and square, with triangular corner lights which wrap around. The grille has a number of slim vertical crossbars in black plastic, with higher end models receiving some body colored elements at the top of the grille. After the facelift, the Doğan and Şahin sedan models are almost visually identical barring various upper-class trim options on the slightly more luxurious Doğan variant. The Kartal, the station wagon derivation of the design, has a rear body developed locally, with a higher roof than that of Fiat's own 131 Panorama. The interiors underwent a major overhaul as well. As part of a national project to produce diesel-powered vehicles as a response to rising oil prices, Tofaş began developing a diesel-powered Şahin (and Kartal) in 1985. The engine chosen was Fiat/Lancia's 1.9-litre diesel engine producing 73 PS SAE (54 kW). Production started in January 1988, with sales commencing in May. Imports of these engines did not attract import duties, but a single imported engine still cost more than an entire, gasoline-powered Şahin. The price of a new, diesel-engined Şahin was 75 percent higher than the gasoline-powered model. Most sales were to professional users, for whom the lower fuel costs would offset the massive difference in purchase price. However, due to the slow sales, promised local parts supplies never materialized and owners of the diesel-powered cars experienced significant problems in keeping their cars on the road. Sales ended in October 1989, after only

International

The Tofaş Şahin, Doğan and Kartal were also exported to Azerbaijan, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Libya, Macedonia, Romania, Syria, Tunisia, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan as well as China. Right-hand drive models were produced for the Northern Cyprus market. Nasr variant. Türk Otomobil Fabrikası A.Ş. produced the Şahin and its siblings under license in Egypt in large quantities from 1991, with assembly carried out by the state-owned Nasr car company. The range underwent the same changes as did Turkish market models, although the Kartal was taken out of production in 2003 and the Doğan was eventually replaced by the Şahin 1600 SL - with the 1400 S beneath it in the lineup. Production was gradually shifted to Egypt, with local parts content reaching 45% by 2006. With the winding down of the Nasr company in 2009, Egyptian production ended. DOCC. In 2006 the Tofaş Şahin was put into production in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by the Holland Car Company, a joint venture between a firm from the Netherlands called Trento Engineering and the local firm of Ethio-Holland. Their version of the Şahin is called the DOCC, which comes from the term Dutch Overseas Car Company and comes with the OHC 1.6 L (1,581 cc) powerplant. After the end at El Nasr, Ethiopian production came to a halt in 2010.

Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.

Specifications

name: 1st gen
aka: Tofaş Şahin (entry trim), Tofaş Doğan (upper trim), Tofaş Kartal (station wagon)
Manufacturer: Tofaş
Production: 1977–1988
Assembly: Turkey: Bursa
Predecessor: Tofaş Murat 124 (1971–1977)
Class: Family car
Layout: FR layout
Body style: 4-door saloon, 5-door estate
Engine: Gasoline:, 1297 cc 131 A0.000 OHV I4, 1585 cc 131 A1.000 OHV I4
Transmission: 4-speed manual
Wheelbase: 2490 mm
Length: 4316 mm
Width: 1642 mm
Height: 1437 mm
Kerb weight: 960 kg
Related: Fiat 131

Specification summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Measured facts from Wikidata (CC0). Check the linked sources for citations.

More photos

Sources

Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q851687CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tofa%C5%9F_%C5%9EahinCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1367660060 · retrieved 2026-10-01
Wikimedia Commons — https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Sahin.jpgPublic domain · Photo: Sab3aawy at English Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-10-01
Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.