Tomos Drives into (Oblivion) Archives

The exhibition Tomos Drives into Oblivion Archives, which was prepared by the Regional Archives Koper, highlights the importance of preserving the archival heritage of Tomos, once one of the most important industrial companies in Slovenia and the former Yugoslavia.

Foto: Regional Archives Koper

The Tomos company was founded in Sežana in 1954, at a time when Yugoslavia urgently needed a factory that would manufacture vehicles adapted to domestic roads and the financial capabilities of the population. In 1959, a new factory complex was built in Koper, where it became a symbol of the industrialization of the Primorska region. The company developed rapidly and adapted to market conditions, and in the 1960s, with the decline in interest in heavier motorcycles, it shifted its production to mopeds with smaller engines (up to 50 cm3), which became an indispensable means of transport, especially for people with low and medium personal incomes. In the 1960s and 1970s, Tomos opened branches in the Netherlands, China, and even Ghana. Despite successful moped models such as the Colibri 12 and collaborations with European companies such as Citroën and Electrolux, Tomos faced various challenges (changing government regulations and market conditions as well as inflation). In the 1980s, they modernised and expanded their production, but the difficult political and economic situation in Yugoslavia and the burden of Tomos’s old loans led to bankruptcy in 1989. In the 1990s, the company operated under various owners, exporting its products to the Netherlands, the United States and the countries of the former Yugoslavia, and also diversifying into other industries. Tomos persevered until 2018, when they filed for bankruptcy, and the following year, its industrial history spanning more than six decades came to an end.

Foto: Regional Archives Koper

Before the Tomos Institute was demolished in 2023, employees of the Regional Archives Koper discovered that the building still contained all of the construction and technical documentation. This came as a surprise, as it was generally assumed that this documentation had been destroyed in a fire on New Year’s Eve 2002. Rainwater leaks, mould and pests left irreparable damage to the material – many documents were partially or completely destroyed.

Archiving and digitising technical drawings and thousands of negatives, slides and photographs in the SI_PAK/1046 – TOMOS Koper archive collection is a long-term project that is far from complete, but will undoubtedly help preserve the memory of Tomos as a symbol of technical knowledge, creativity and economic self-confidence. In addition to collaborating with renowned companies such as BMW, IKEA and Electrolux, Tomos has been shaping the mobility of several generations both at home and abroad.