Rahmi M. Koç Museum of equipment is an industrial museum on the banks of the Golden Horn estuary in the Hasköy district of Istanbul (Turkey). The museum, which was opened in 1994 with the support of businessman Rahmi Koç, is the first museum in Turkey dedicated to the history of industry, transport and equipment.
Mustafa Rahmi Koç (born 9 October 1930) is a Turkish businessman. In 2016, Forbes ranked him No. 906 richest person in the world with a net worth of $2.6 billion. In 2013, Koç was the single highest taxpayer in Turkey, totalling 37.5 million lira.
Organizations, concerts and special exhibitions are frequently held in the museum. One of these is the exhibition of machine examples created from Leonardo da Vinci’s drawings called “Leonardo: Universal Genius Exhibition”, which opened at the end of 2006.
The museum also operates in Ankara and Cunda.
Most of the items exhibited in the museum are selected from Rahmi Koç’s private collection. Other objects are either borrowed from or donated by various organizations and individuals. Original machines and their replicas, scientific and mechanical items make up the basis of the museum’s exhibits:
Road transport: Racing cars, sports cars (between 1953 and 1986), sedan/coupé and convertible cars (1898–1994), utility vehicles (1911–1963), commercial vehicles (1908–2002), motorcycles (1908–2003);
Rail transport: Old Istanbul tram (1934), Sultan’s carriage (1867), steam engine locomotive (1913), narrow-gauge steam locomotive (1930), Istanbul Tünel carriage (1876), Henschel steam locomotive (1918);
Marine: Cargo vessel, motorboat, lifeboat (1951), Bosphorus passenger ferryboat, outboard motor collection, amphibious car (1961), submarine (1944): TCG Uluçalireis (S 338) (former USS Thornback (SS-418)), Kısmet, Sadun Boro’s sloop, he circumnavigated the globe with it as the first ever Turkish sailor;
Aviation: Aircrafts (1941–1979), aviation parts collection, aircraft engines (1928–1979), large and small-scale aircraft models;
Engineering: Ferry boat steam engine (1911), olive oil factory, portable stationary steam engine (1872), gas engine, wood saw, marine compound steam engine (1900);
Communications: Rotary dial telephone (1920), phonograph (1903), Thomas Edison telegraph patent model (1876), valve amplifier (1936), zoetrope (1835);
Scientific instruments: Wimshurst machine, grand orrery, marine chronometer, Strasbourg turret clock;
Models and toys: Hands-on: Cutaway car, aeroplane, scientific experiments and cutaway domestic goods.
The main important works of the museum collection, which consists of thousands of important objects, especially industry and transportation, are as follows:
1917 Albion X-Ray Vehicle
1961 Amphicar
1898 Malden Steam Car
Olive Oil Factory
Sultanate Wagon
G10 Locomotive
Riva Aquarama
Thomas Edison Patented Model
Douglas DC-3 “Dakota”
“SS Kalender” Ship Steam Engine
B-24 Liberator “Hadley’s Harem”
In 2023, the last example in Italy of the same model of the Fiat Zero car that Atatürk used in the Çanakkale Front and with his photograph on it was brought from the city of Turin and started to be exhibited in the museum.
Address: Piri Paşa, Hasköy Cd. No:5, 34445 Beyoğlu/İstanbul, Türkiye.
Phone: +90 212 369 66 00
Working Hours:
Saturday 10 AM–6 PM
Sunday 10 AM–6 PM
Monday Closed
Tuesday 9:30 AM–5 PM
Wednesday 9:30 AM–5 PM
Thursday 9:30 AM–5 PM
Friday 9:30 AM–5 PM
