When you are tired of the old city center of Bilbao, and already did the Guggenheim, and you still have some time to spend, you may consider a small trip to the south to discover the villages in the neighbourhood of the main city. When then out of the blue your path is crossed by a Rolls Royce Phantom II, you could be very close to one of the hidden gems of the Basque country, not even mentioned in the Tripadvisor “things to do list” for Bilbao itself. The Rolls is no doubt part of the inventory of the Torre Loizaga museum, roughly about 30 kms away from Bilbao.

The museum describes itself on their excellent website as “a unique museum in the world where the medieval and the mechanical merge in the history of a region and the evolution of the automobile through the centuries” This is a way of describing how the museum blends in with the hilly countryside, located close to the village of Galdames. And blending in it does, on our way to visit the museum in mid October 2025, we had some difficulty in getting to the main entrance, finally getting in via the backdoor, but not after having had to cross a narrow stone bridge where the nose of the car pointed into the blue sky, leaving us to guess where the descent of the bridge would be. And yet it was the way to go, indicated by a small sign along the main road. Fortunately, the road to the main entry, coming from another side, is a bit more relaxed, although probably still a kind of challenge for some of the cars in the museum.

Now don’t let this scare you off, because once you are there you will get into a fairy world not only dedicated to cars but also to the Torre (Tower) itself. The name Loizaga (or Loyzaga) and the Torred originate from the fourteenth century. The Torre was constructed on a strategic location where a good view was required for defence purposes.

This spot was chosen in the Mid-Eighties of the previous century by Miguel de la Via, a successful Basque business man and actually born in Galdames. He spent his youth there and the Torre was one of his favourite playgrounds. Therefore, he considered the Tower to be a perfect vehicle to implement his private ambitions in combination with investing some of his wealth in the region that he came from. When he bought the premises in the early Eighties, the Torre was still in a delipidated state, actually being just four walls with no interior to speak of. Over the years the Tower was reconstructed, as much as possible using stones from the original quarry that once was used to build the Torre. Forty-five stonemasons from Galicia were employed for the stone-by-stone reconstruction of the Torre. Later on, the walls and supporting buildings were constructed in the same style, in order to make the Tower a centre of medieval fortress again. In its current state the Torre complex is a perfect place to organise private parties etc. For the weekend after our visit a wedding party for 300 guests was being prepared in great style.

Miguel de la Via himself was a great car amateur and by the end of the Seventies he had started setting up a collection of cars, initially specimen of cars that he had owned before or had his special interest, but from the mid-eighties focussing with great tenacity on the Rolls Royce marque. Over the years he built a collection of 45 RR’s, at the end being able to claim that the had one example of each individual Rolls Royce model ever built under British ownership. The collection therefore hosts at least one of all Phantoms built, including one of the only 18 built Phantom IV models.

The collection is housed in six different buildings, with five of them being simple, not too high hangars, all painted in a very dark green colour in line with the dominating colours of the property. The first hall has an eclectic mix of prewar and veteran cars, with a rare Cowley bodied Isotta Fraschini 8A and a Van Vooren four-door limousine Hispano K6 as top pieces. Also here is a nice example of the 10HP Delauney-Belleville, aptly nicknamed “The Rolls Royce of France” You can enter the second hall via a small workshop, geared for maintaining the cars, which are mostly roadworthy. Major restorations are not taken place. After that you enter the hall “Miguel de la Via”, containing a number of British and German sportscars and grand tourers, but also little gems like the Lancia Aprilia Aerodinamica on the one hand and the not so little Merryweather Fire Engine on the other.

Hall number 3 is devoted to sportscars, which include some of the two-door Rolls Royce models from the seventies, but also a Jaguar E-Type, which now sports a livery prepared by French artist Anne Mondy for the 2021 Biarritz Concours d’Elegance. From Italy comes a very early Ferrari Testarossa and a Lamborghini Countach 5000, which actually served as the course car for the 1982 Monaco GP. The roof lights are still with the car.

Hall 4, 5 and 6 are reserved for the Rolls Royce collection (with the exception of one Derby Bentley 3.5 Litre), with hall 5 being Phantom only. The sixth building has been designed in the same style as the Torre and its supporting buildings, and has an all together different atmosphere compared to the other five, well illuminated but more industrial places. Here intimacy and romantics have the upper hand and the cars, mainly Silver Ghosts, are put to one side, whereby the remaining space is available for party guests to enjoy some of the cars or to have quiet private conversations in a cosy atmosphere.

The collection as it is, has been unchanged for many years now, since the passing of the founder Miguel de la Via in 2009. Daily supervision is in the hands of his niece Maria de La Via, who can focus on the cars, as her son deals with the party side. Cars from the museum are regularly shown during events, such as the 2025 Goodwood Festival of Speed, where the Springfield built Rolls Royce Phantom I, participated in the Cartier Concours d’Elegance. From Torre to Goodwood was actually a mini trip for the car, as there is a ferry service from Bilbao to Portsmouth, so less than 75 km on the road were needed.

The Museum is open to the public on Sundays and Holidays, while guided tours can be prearranged by appointment. More info can be found on the Torre Loizaga Website.