Carspotting (Ottoman edition): Tofas Kartal

When my non-car nut pal A. told me he was going on vacation in Turkey, I asked him to take some pictures of interesting cars for me.  He did not disappoint.

The internet is amazing.  A Google search of "kartal" (see rear liftgate) revealed that we are looking at a Tofas Kartal.

Tofas stands for Turk Otomobil Fabrikas Anonim Sirketi.  Founded in 1968, the company mostly builds Fiats under license.  This 1988-2003 Kartal (wagon) is based on a SEAT.  If this is a post-1996 model, then it came with a 1.6 liter, 96 horsepower engine from the Fiat Tempra.  Versions of this car were also built in Egypt and Ethiopia.

These cars were cheap, robust, and easy to maintain.  But as the Turkish market opened, higher quality imports led to this car's demise.