Armored vehicle from the 1930s this summer’s attraction at the Police Museum

Heading to Tampere on a summer vacation? Visit the Police Museum while you’re there!

Located in the Tampere district of Hervanta, the Police Museum is open to everyone free of charge. Our exhibitions showcase the history and activities of the Finnish police force from medieval times to the present day. 

This summer will see the Sisu armored vehicle, which was commissioned by the police in 1937, parked in the courtyard of the Police Museum in conjunction with the special exhibition "Marias and Mörkös – Police Vehicles On and Off the Road”.

“To be more precise, it’s the body of an armored vehicle on loan to us from the Parola Armour Museum. The body is made of 8–11 mm armor plate, and in its day the vehicle was equipped with a heavy machine gun and two light machine guns. It was powered by a 79 hp diesel engine and had a top speed of 40 km/h,” explains Intendant Lauri Haavisto at the Police Museum.

The vehicle served the police until 1951, when it was handed over to the Finnish Defence Forces. Nowadays, the car is part of the collections of the Military Museum, and except for this summer, it is on display in the exhibition of the Parola Armour Museum.

The armored vehicle is on display at the Police Museum from June 3 – September 6, 2025 and can be admired through the windows from inside the museum, where visitors can also watch a 1930s film of the Sisu armored vehicle. 

Sisu armored vehicle in the 1930s. Photo the Police Museum

Exhibits and experiences for the whole family

There are two exhibitions at the Police Museum: the permanent exhibition Police is Here!, which uses crime and accident cases from different eras to provide information on how police work has changed through the years, and the special exhibition Marias and Mörkös, which features a diverse display of police vehicles: cars, motorcycles, scooters, snow scooters and all-terrain vehicles.

“The Police Museum features exhibits and experiences for the whole family. You can, for example, sit in a police van and take a picture of yourself in the suspect registration chair. In the special children’s section, young museum visitors can wear police overalls.”

All exhibition texts at the Police Museum are in English, Finnish and Swedish.

During the summer, free public guided tours, in Finnish, are also available for museum visitors. You can find more information about Finnish guided tours on our Finnish web pages.