I discovered a beautiful car museum in Izmir. I flew to Izmir at the invitation of my former colleague and we met at Adnan Menderes airport. We rented a car to avoid wasting time on public transport and drove straight to Torbalı and the museum.
The museum, which opened its doors in 2015, offers visitors a delightful journey through the evolution of automobile history. Upon entering, one is greeted by a fascinating array of iconic cars representing different eras, from the past to the present. The museum’s collection not only showcases well-known classic cars, but also includes rare gems that spark the imagination and transport visitors to bygone times. Apart from the impressive car display, the museum features dedicated areas for motorcycles, accessories, and intricate car mockups, adding depth and variety to the overall experience. Describing every nook and cranny of the museum would spoil the element of surprise for future visitors, but rest assured, there is much more to explore and marvel at. For those with an interest in automotive history, or simply a curiosity to witness the evolution of transportation, this museum comes highly recommended. Whether you’re a fervent car enthusiast or simply passing through the area, it’s an experience not to be missed.
Below are pictures of some of the cars I have chosen, along with a description and why they are special to me.
Alfa Romeo Giulietta
One-door convertible (cabriolet), red color, 1963 model. It has an owl-like design with a bird’s beak grille and round headlights. The window edges, wipers, bumper, bonnet, and doors are all chrome-plated. There is a mirror on the left side and in the center above the dashboard for looking back, but not on the right side. Since the steering wheel is also on the left, you have to do the famous shoulder view check, which the Germans call “Schulterblick”, looking back from the right shoulder to look at the right rear.
Even though it has not been renewed for a few years, the Giulietta series still exists on the roads as a 5-door C segment vehicle. Alfa Romeo now belongs to the Stellantis group, I guess we will see new models with the engine of this group. But I don’t know if the old Alfa Romeo spirit will remain.
MG MGA MKII
Blue in colour, the side mirrors on both sides are not at door level, but a little further forward, on the sides of the bonnet. Again, as with Alfa Romeo, there are round headlights, and again, chrome details are favored in many places. I think this was the fashion of the 1960s. Alfa Romeo was an Italian brand, MG a British one. But there is a strange similarity in the designs. Again a single door, again a convertible. I wonder what the rivalry was between them.
I have never seen MG on Turkish roads, but I tried to understand what the Chinese company SAIC aims after buying MG. It is a bit like the Volvo – Geely relationship, or Lancia – Stellantis. Instead of creating a brand from scratch, they are trying to capture the old market by using the pre-existing image. So MG used to have some prestige.
Porsche 356 A
Another 1957 car, this time a Porsche. How similar the designs were back then. Again single doors, again chrome details, again convertible. But this time there’s no radiator grille, and that’s the most obvious difference. The engine is in the back, and it’s rear-wheel drive.
The grey colour suits it very well. I was playing a similar car in Need For Speed: Porsche Unleashed, I think it was a coupe model with a convertible top.
This model no longer exists; but I think the 911 has a similar design. It is kind of a successor to the 911, and as far as I know, while all of Porsche’s models are turning into electric vehicles, the 911 will still continue to have an internal combustion engine. I think it will fight until 2035 for an engine that runs on a fuel with low or near-zero emissions.
Jaguar E-Type
Yet another car that I didn’t see in real life, but I know that this design is iconic and remember this car in some popular old and new movies. The most distinctive feature of this car is that the front bonnet is very long and there’s a hump running down the center of the bonnet. The front bumper is there on the right and left side, not in the middle, because there is a radiator grille and there is not even a place to mount the number plate. There is also a wheel design similar to the wheels of old bicycles. It’s a roadster; if I had a garage, it’d be a nice alternative to the Mazda MX-5. But it’s so old, I don’t know if they make them anymore.
Jaguar is now more prominent with its SUV models. In fact, the autonomous driving technology company called Waymo in the USA prefers these SUV models of Jaguar for their projects.
BMW E30 M3 Coupe & GTS
This is the design that comes to my mind when I think of BMW. A couple of round headlights on the left and right, grille with chrome ornaments in the centre, M3 logo, spoiler; light, small but powerful car. It already had a beauty that defies the years, I don’t understand why they tried different things. The next orange car in the photo was M3 GTS, which was released in 2011. It may be the last one that I followed. Oh wait, M2 2023 may be an exception, it’s still beautiful and doesn’t seem like the other BMW models.
There were quite a lot of BMW models in this museum, because I understand that the owners of the museum have a business partnership with BMW in Turkey. Therefore, if you like BMW, I recommend you to visit the museum.
I am not a classic car lover or someone who rejects modern technologies. However, in order to understand the identity of some automobile brands, to sympathize with and recognize some of them, it is necessary to know and learn the history of these brands. Automobile museums exist precisely for this purpose. It is not enough just to visit a museum. One of my short-term goals is to visit the Rahmi Koç museum (again), the Classic Remise museums in Berlin or Düsseldorf, the Mercedes museum in Stuttgart, the BMW museum in Munich and all other museums that can be visited and to have a culture about cars.