Gabriela Green

Jimena de la Frontera Members of SOL classic car club attended a classic car meeting in lovely village near Sotogrande, Jimena de la Frontera organised by Dominic and his team from Automocion Jimena. Few car clubs and private owner came together for a lovely day in beautiful mountain village, enjoying an excellent display of cars. Old classics, new classics, few American classics and few projects. Also few old motorbikes were present. The cars, music and paella, what an excellent day.

After the rain on the Costa del Sol the mountains have been transformed, bursting with colourful display of flowers. From white, yellow to red and purple.  So as to see Spanish Spring at its best the  SOL classic car club met at Venta El Tunel from where we travelled into the mountains and were able to enjoy empty roads, admire the myriad of colours, be amazed by the contrasts and vibrancy of the scenery.  The vibrant poppies swaying in the breeze with the  backround of the dazzling white snow peaks of the Sierra Nevada. On the other side of the hills is the small white village of Casabermeja, one of Spains white mountain villages, where locals enjoyed watching the cars pass through.   On their way down a refreshment stop at restaurant La Huerta was very welcome. From there it was an easy run on smooth sweeping roads to reservoir La Vinuela and onward to the coast where participants where welcomed with a glass of cold Cava at the beach. The trip finnished with a lunch at the excellent restaurant Candado Beach. This turned out to be an excellent choice and we where seated on the frontline on the beach enjoying the sound of the waves and a cooling breeze as we ate. Another successful and highly enjoyable outing for the SOL classic car club. If you would like to join like-minded people with a love of the classic cars and a great day out, please email solclassic2004@mail.com. Report by Gabi Green

Day at The Museum. Motor and Fashion museum Malaga  SOL CCC organised a trip to the Motor Museum of Malaga as our March activity. This museum is housed in one of Malaga´s most architecturally iconic buildings – the old tobacco factory constructed in 1927. It opened in 2010 as the Automobile Museum and was re-branded in 2021 as the Automobile and Fashion Museum.   The museum is a home to a private collection of Portuguese businessman Joao Magalhaes. The collection is worth around 25 million euros and is one of the most important vintage car collections in the world.  It houses more than 80 vintage and modern cars, displayed alongside fashionable clothing and travel memorabilia from the 20s, 30s 40s and 50s for the non-car fans. There is also a collection of 300 vintage hats from all the great fashion houses: Chanel, Dior, Lanvin, Balmain – there’s even a replica of Dali´s ‘shoe hat’.   There are ten themed areas covering different eras, such as Belle Epoque, Art Deco 30s, Dolce Vita 50s and English Tradition. You can also find more contemporary Alternative Energy vehicles, including solar and Hydrogen power car. There is a black Rolls-Royce customised with Swarovski crystals. Bling!  The museum also hosts fine examples of Bugatti, Auburn, Bentley, Jaguar, Ferrari and Mercedes. Many of the vehicles are customised ‘one offs’ which makes this collection different and exciting.   If you haven’t been, this is an excellent opportunity. We started the car run on the coast at Marbella and went via mountain roads above Marbella and continued via the valleys of Alhaurin El Grande and Alhaurin Del A Torre. On our way, some of us had a quick coffee stop at Miralmonte Restaurant, where we admired 1965 Bentley. 18 of us then regrouped in front of the museum in Malaga. It was a brilliant experience “Day at the Museum”, and we highly recommend a visit. We finished the day with an excellent lunch in the nearby  Chiringuito ‘Gutierrez Playa’ on Malaga beach. If you would like to join us for the next time, email solclassic2004@mail.com Thank you to Angela Veglio for organizing this trip.