Heroes

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.

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The Centro Tecnologico-Cultural y Museo del Automovilismo Juan Manuel Fangio, in Balcarce, Argentina.

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.

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Casey M. Annis is the Founder and Editor of Vintage Road & Racecar magazine, as well as Editor of Alfa Owner, The Oily Rag and BMW Ultimate Classic magazines. He founded Parabolica Publishing in 1997 after a career in neurobiology. Along with his passion for automobiles, Casey is a long distance open-ocean paddleboard racer who’s competed over 10 times in the 32-mile Catalina to Manhattan Beach race and the 32-mile Molokai to Oahu race. Casey still contributes and writes about the world of vintage road and racecars and edits and curates the content for this website.
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