TYRA

To honor the unknown individuals who contributed to the establishment of the Republic and to share their stories with future generations, a domestic electric classic car named TYRA has been developed.

Dogon Design, a subsidiary of TTAF Group—known for creating prototypes in aviation, automotive, medical, and various other sectors—launched a special product to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Republic.

Bringing together a team of experts with diverse experience in the automotive industry, the idea for the TYRA electric classic car was born on paper and has now hit the roads in this centennial year.

Taner Bahar, Chief Technology Officer at Dogon Design and the project lead, told Anadolu Agency that the inspiration behind the project came from “Topkapılı Cambaz Mehmet” and his efforts during the War of Independence.

He explained that Cambaz Mehmet was one of the leaders of the secret Mim Mim organization, which smuggled weapons and gathered intelligence during the British occupation of Istanbul. He even managed to steal a car belonging to British Commander General Harington and send it to Mustafa Kemal Pasha.

“We didn’t want to call such people ‘nameless heroes’. Everyone has a name. This project was made to remember and honor those names,” Bahar said.

TYRA is classified in the L7 category, meaning it is a two-seater heavy motorcycle-style vehicle. Bahar noted that the aim is to bring the fully electric vehicle into mass production as soon as possible.

He shared that the project team consists mostly of retirees—people in their “second spring”—bringing a wealth of experience. With an average of 25 years in the automotive industry, their expertise was fully poured into the project.

“All of our team members have worked in R&D. Our mission was to create a 100% electric, meaningful project suited to the spirit of this centennial celebration. We’ve been working on this for two years,” Bahar said.

The vehicle is currently in the prototype phase. They’ve acquired a test plate, and accreditation processes are ongoing. The goal was to get the vehicle certified by 2024, but that didn’t happen.

Whenever the car is seen on the streets and people learn that it’s a local and national production, interest increases significantly.

“We tell them, this is Turkey’s car. Its nostalgic and retro design attracts attention,” said Bahar. “At the same time, we’re introducing new technology. Although it’s 100% electric, we want to maintain nostalgic aesthetics. That will be our design direction — focusing on classic cars instead of sports cars.”

Having been involved in hundreds of projects both in Turkey and abroad, Bahar pointed out what sets TYRA apart:

“None of those projects were fully ours. This is completely original, designed and built by our own team. We liked it and made it ourselves. The only thing we were dependent on throughout the project was ourselves — and that’s a unique satisfaction.”

He emphasized that the aim was to leverage their experience to offer younger generations a fresh vision and new perspective.

The name of the vehicle is TYRA, which means “wild horse” or “racing horse.” The team also plans to release variants like TYRA-S, TYRA-XL, and TYRA-L — all currently under development.

The vehicle has rear-wheel drive, but there’s also a prototype with independent suspension. A front-wheel-drive version is in the works as well.

“TYRA offers a fun driving experience with excellent road handling — but behind it lies serious effort and expertise,” Bahar concluded.