Ayşe Yıldız is the talk of the town thanks to a unique gift from her son. When the 72-year-old woman from Sultandağı, a town in the western Turkish province of Afyonkarahisar, had difficulty walking around due to her age, Musa Yıldız decided to build a vehicle for her.
In six months, the retired police officer managed to build an electric car from scratch from whatever material he could get his hands on. A tin can works as the horn on a discarded steering wheel and a pencil serves as a turn signal lever to complete the dashboard. Outside, the primitive-looking yet cool bodywork is composed of corrugated iron.
“We wanted to avoid copyrights. Thus, we designed our own car,” Yıldız said. He spent TL 12,000 ($682,46) on the car, far lower than the price of the cheapest car and electric motorcycles.
“We tried to make a low-budget car. We used old wheels and bought the electric motor that is used in three-wheeled vehicles. The car can travel the distance of 15 kilometers (9 miles) with one battery,” he said.
“I’ve been struggling with walking for a long time. Especially, shopping tires me a lot. Now, I never get tired thanks to my son,” Ayşe Yıldız, his mother, said.
“I am delighted that my son took his time to make a new car for me. He put together the car the last time he visited. It attracts everyone’s attention when I go to the market, hospital or park,” she added.
