Key Museum

Key Museum, an automobile museum located in the district of Torbalı, İzmir. Opened on 6 May 2015, the museum, with an area of 7,000 m² and possessing 76 automobiles and 40 motorcycles, is Turkey's most comprehensive automobile museum. The model years of the vehicles in the museum range from the late 1880s to 2011.

General information

Opened in 2015 in the district of Torbalı, İzmir, Key Museum today is Turkey's most comprehensive classic automobile and motorcycle museum that sheds light on world automobile history. Originating from the automobile passions of Murat and Selim Özgörkey, the museum is built on a 7,000 m² area, and its main collection consists of 76 classic automobiles and 40 classic motorcycles. In this main collection, it is possible to see the journey up to the present of the first models of leading brands in the automobile world such as Mercedes, BMW, Porsche, Cadillac, Ford, from the first automobile produced in 1886 to today. In addition, a Shell gasoline station composed of model automobiles in various scales exceeding two thousand in number, 300 automobile mascots (hood emblems), automobile‑themed scarves, and original equipment collected from the early 1900s to the 1960s is located at Key Museum.

Considering the tourism potential of the Aegean Region, the museum, which provides a significant added value to the region, is located on the same route as the ancient city of Ephesus, one of the most important settlement centers of human history. This location is also 10 km away from Torbalı, where the ancient city of Metropolis, which has been under excavation for more than ten years, is situated. It is also a short travel time of 20–25 minutes from İzmir Adnan Menderes Airport and about 30 minutes from İzmir city center, which is another advantage of the museum. Since its opening, the museum has been visited by tens of thousands of visitors from both Turkey and abroad, as well as members of various automobile clubs. Thanks to the positive feedback from visitors regarding the museum experience, the Key Museum, which has been awarded the Excellence certificate by TripAdvisor for two consecutive years, ranks among the top 2 in the “Places to Visit in İzmir” list.

History

Starting in childhood by collecting matchboxes and continuing in the 1990s with model cars, Murat Özgörkey turned his curiosity into collecting, while Selim Özgörkey, a rally driver who also participated in race tracks due to his passion for motor sports, began acquiring the pieces housed in the Key Museum in 2001 and have created a collection that has grown daily. Since its establishment, the museum has continued its work with the mission of being a attraction not only for automobile enthusiasts but also for those who wish to view world history through the lens of the automobile world. It is a museum that, both in terms of content and exhibition space size, is among the few automobile museums in the world and houses models that have a place in world history and must be present in any collection. Located in an important position for world museology, the Key Museum also holds a substantial accumulation and content for Turkish museology, which is undergoing change and development.

Restoration

One of the important features that distinguishes the Key Museum from its counterparts worldwide is the restoration work carried out with serious time and effort for the cars exhibited in the museum. Using a renewal method called “Nuts and Bolts Restoration,” a car is disassembled down to its smallest screw and nut, refurbished, and returned to the condition it had on the first day it left the factory. This method, which is extremely costly and requires expertise, is not widely preferred worldwide for these reasons, but it is an indispensable restoration method for the Key Museum. Thanks to the expert team of the museum’s restoration workshop, all the cars and motorcycles on display are in high condition and operational.