Ninety seconds on Museo Automovilístico y de la Moda
A mannequin dressed for its year stands beside each of nearly a hundred restored classic cars here, and after them you move on to couture gowns and extravagant hats, so come even if cars mean nothing to you.
The museum fills the left wing of Málaga's former tobacco factory, with 13 themed rooms. Look inside the cars: seats upholstered in ostrich leather and mink, precious woods, ivory and silver door handles, and customised engines.
Every car but one is in perfect condition. The exception was found buried in rubble after the First World War and is kept as found, with bullet holes in the back seat. Look out too for the 1961 Aston Martin that inspired James Bond's car in Goldfinger, and for coachwork by designers such as Ettore Bugatti, Gordon Buehrig and Giuseppe Figoni.
The fashion collection is built around notable women in history, with vintage pieces by Chanel, Dior, Givenchy, Balmain and Prada. It is shown in two displays that change every six months, so the fabrics get a rest from the light, and a second visit shows different dresses.
Stop at the hat cabinet, with its leopard head, ostrich feathers, and snake and crocodile skins. Between the cars, hubcaps, headlights and steering wheels are built into displays of their own. On the walls hang contemporary art, Hollywood photographs and original posters lent by the Moulin Rouge cabaret in Paris.
Early cars fill the first hall, the Belle Époque, where the oldest car dates from 1898. From there the halls run forward through the Roaring Twenties and Art Deco towards the present day.
Other halls cover popular cars, designer cars, dream cars, alternative energies, the English tradition, the Dolce Vita and hot rods. The youngest car in the collection is a compressed-air prototype designed in 2011.
The museum also runs temporary fashion exhibitions, so check its website for the current one before you go.
Come on a Sunday to hear some of the classic engines started, at about 12.30pm. It is included in your ticket, but it goes ahead only when at least eight visitors are there. On Saturdays the museum runs workshops for children.
Book ahead for weekends and summer. The museum has no café of its own, but there is a food truck outside, and the cafés on the western seafront are about ten minutes' walk away.
To add the Colección del Museo Ruso in the same complex, avoid a Monday, when it is closed.
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