At the Technical Museum of Slovenia, we pay great attention to collecting and preserving objects that have left deep traces in the collective memory due to their technical originality and popularity among users. These undoubtedly include mopeds from the TOMOS factory, which we present in Bistra at the permanent exhibition Motorji iz Kopra. We are pleased that at the end of November the collection was enriched with a valuable donation – the TOMOS A5 Colibri moped from 1988, donated to the museum by Rado Toškan from Dekani. This has completed the collection of Tomos products from the 1980s, which we have not had before.
Colibri – quiet, agile and tireless
The latest acquisition should not be confused with the first Tomos Colibri from 1961, which the factory presented back in 1961, and which at one time was considered the most popular motorcycle in the former Yugoslavia. The name Colibri symbolizes quiet operation, agility and tirelessness – qualities that Tomos wanted to revive in the late 1980s. This time with a renewed engine with an automatic two-speed transmission and a refreshed design.
The first generation Colibri made a significant contribution to the development of personal mobility in the 1960s. Author: Propaganda služba TOMOS, kept by the Technical Museum of Slovenia.
The result of Slovenian technology and Italian design
The A5 Colibri moped is interesting for two reasons:
- Technically: Tomos introduced a new tubular frame and a redesigned engine, which was more powerful than its predecessors, reached speeds between 40 and 50 km/h and boasted low fuel consumption. The start of production on November 26, 1988 coincided with the modernization of the factory, which significantly shortened the time for manufacturing mopeds.
- Design: The high-quality design is the work of the studio of the world-famous designer Giorgietto Giugiaro. The colorful Colibri automatic, which was produced in three versions, combined the names of the Slovenian company TOMOS and the Italian Giugiaro Design.
The revamped Colibri of the late 1980s combined the technically advanced Tomos engine with top-notch Italian industrial design. Author: Propagandna služba Tomos, kept by the Technical Museum of Slovenia.
Important addition to the collection
The moped received was manufactured for the Italian market and initially used for testing at the Tomos Institute. In the early 1990s, it was purchased by Rado Toškanwho has now donated the moped to the museum. The donation is important for completing the collection, as TMS is still looking for some of the newer models from the 1980s and 1990s, such as the ATX, BT, CTX and APN 6. If you have an example or can help us with the search, we invite you to contact us – every contribution helps preserve the history of Tomos for future generations.
Tomos’s Colibri left the nest on November 26, 1988. The poster is kept in the Technical Museum of Slovenia.
You can learn about Tomos’s colorful history at the Motors from Koper exhibition in Bistri.
Additional information about Tomos mopeds is also available in the book Tomos 1954–2019. Naši mopedi by Iztok Vidmar and Edi Glavić, which is available in the museum shop.
