Motoring In Argentina Means Conquering The Elements

Story & Photography by Juan Stanglmaier

These vehicles, which are called baquet in Argentina, have been built for years by fanatics that loved cars, but they haven’t had the support of “purists” who only recognized more “pure” and unmodified vehicles. Baquet comes from the word “bucket”—as the old race cars of the ’30s were stripped of as much weight as possible, and used just a pair of bucket seats for the crew.

In response to this, some years ago, a local Buenos Aires club called CADEA—Club de amigos de Automoviles Antiguos, roughly, “club for friends of antique cars”—decided to organize the first Gran Premio Argentino de Baquets, and it was an instant success. A rulebook was written that allows for only for original mechanical parts to be used, and also tries to assure that the cars use the correct tires, wheels, “styling”, etc.

The first two Gran Premio events were relatively short two day trips of roughly 300 miles. The third one was 1,000 miles, and went from Buenos Aires to Patagonia. I participated in the fourth running, in the northwest of the country—and as you can see from the pictures, it was really spectacular. I was visiting from Mexico, and there are often a number of international drivers who also made the trip.

For 2016, the dates have been announced as October 30—November 5…and I’m told you’re able to rent a car if you don’t have one of your own…