The Málaga Automobile Museum: history and art behind the wheel

The Málaga Automobile Museum, inaugurated in 2010, can be found in what was once Málaga’s Royal Tobacco Factory, a unique architectural example of the Regionalist style, with a few Renaissance-style features. Its main entrance, on the Avenida de Sor Teresa Prat, opens onto six thousand square metres of space dedicated to the genuine fusion of art and science.

With 10 different themed spaces, the museum illustrates the aesthetical and functional evolution of the automotive industry, through a sample of more than 90 examples donated by the Portuguese collector, João Manuel Magalhães. This amazing journey through the history of the automobile over the last three centuries had an impact on the fashion and art collections which the museum also has on display.

You might be interested to know that, since 2015, this building has also housed another collection: that of the Museo Ruso of St Petersburg/Málaga—the Málaga branch of the Russian State Museum—which is considered by many to be one of the best exhibitions of Russian art in Western Europe.

The Málaga Automobile Museum: a modern tribute to the oldest of cars

The superb former tobacco factory building—Tabacalera de Málaga—had been abandoned for almost 30 years when João Manuel Magalhães, a Portuguese private collector who owned more than 90 cars, knocked on the Spanish Government’s door, deal in hand. Knowing that his collection, which he’d added to over the decades with the oldest and rarest models, was one of the most complete in Europe, he proposed the creation of a museum where it could be exhibited to the general public. The restoration work on the run-down building, overseen by the architect Carolina Serrano, started in 2008, and in September 2010 its doors opened, to the delight of the locals.

Since then, visitors have been able to discover, through the world of motoring, the intricacies of huge numbers of stories linked to international politics, or the glamour of classic Hollywood. For example, you can find the very same Chrysler Presidential that Grace Kelly, princess consort of Monaco, drove every time she went to visit her future husband, Rainier. You can also see the limited-edition Excalibur that Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sylvester Stallone, those two stars of eighties action cinema, used to drive along under the palm trees of the Hollywood Boulevard.

There are 90 cars here, dating from between 1898 (practically the birth of the automobile) and 2008. You can get up close to both iconic brands—such as Hispano Suiza, Bugatti, Delage, Packard, Auburn, Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Jaguar, Mercedes, Ferrari or Lancia—and other ones that we’re not so familiar with today.

The models are divided between themed rooms, and the differences between them will become obvious as you explore the museum. The vast majority of the themes are centred around the time period during which the cars were built (“Belle Époque”, “Roaring 20s”, “Art Deco”, “Dolce Vita”), and others are based on more diverse concepts (“Eccentricity”, “Dream Cars”, “Popular Cars”, “The English Tradition”).

Fashion and art have hopped on the bandwagon

Whilst it’s true that the stars of the show here are cars, ever since the museum opened its scope has been a lot broader than that. Influenced by the motoring world, there are exhibitions of high fashion and contemporary art.

The first, the Maga Sublime Collection, takes you through the fashion of the twentieth century in a separate exhibition hall, with 200 unique pieces produced by great designers such as Dior, Chanel, Balmain or Yves Saint Laurent, amongst others. The “Cóctel de la Floresta”, inspired by the fusion between fables and fashion, and “Fashion Victim”, a critique of excessive consumerism through textile design, are just two of the seven themed exhibitions you’ll find here at the museum.

In a separate room, the museum also displays original works of contemporary art, as well as sculptures and installations. The one thing they all have in common is the world of motoring. Recycled mechanical parts converted into pieces of art or logos of the big car brands transformed into flamboyant stone sculptures are just some of the pieces you’ll see on display.

Tickets, prices and opening hours

The Automobile Museum opens every day from 10:00 AM to 7:00 PM, with the ticket office being open until half an hour before the museum closes.

Mondays at the museum are pet-friendly, meaning you can take your furry friends along with you. Recently, they’ve started offering free admission after 4:00 PM on Sundays and public holidays.

Prices vary depending on the type of ticket. General admission costs 9.50 euros, and concessions are 5 euros. The visually impaired, tour guides, the press and children under 8 enjoy free entry to the museum.

If you want to visit the Málaga Automobile Museum, it’s best to double check the opening hours detailed on the website in advance because they can change depending on the season.