Fangio and His Museum

Tucked away in a little potato-farming town, 250 miles south east of Buenos Aires, is one of the most important motor racing museums in the world, a tribute to the little town of Balcarce from the man whose life story it tells. It is the Centro Tecnologico-Cultural y Museo del Automovilismo Juan Manuel Fangio, which the five times Formula One world champion fought to establish in his home town as his way of thanking the town’s inhabitants for their financial and moral support during in his racing career.

The center, which looks out over Plaza Libertad, the town’s main square, tells the story of the great Fangio’s life and victories from his very first South American marathon to his retirement as the undisputed king of Formula One motor racing in 1958. And it does so with a wealth (literally) of cars, trophies and memorabilia the abundance of which I have seldom seen in other places of commemoration.