Miguel Sánchez
From a few years to this part we are getting used to findings or discoveries. The Baillon collection. A national Packard in a shed in Salamanca. Ships that hide a Lamborghini Miura in France. Fields in which more than 10 Ferraris are lethargic in the sun. In short, news of those that jump to the front page because of the amazingness of the matter. Today we are going with something similar; ultimately it is about almost three dozen SEAT 600s stored in a garage of the Balearic Islands.
And that's not all, in addition to being in good mechanical condition the 600 are accompanied by spare parts everywhere. A real find for lovers of the popular model, even more so considering that its owner wants to sell all this automobile heritage in a batch.
Talking with him we have been able to confirm the history of this curious set of SEAT 600, which carry parked since 1974 in a thousand square meter Ibizan garage. A most curious national discovery that, as always happens in these cases, has a story to explain it. It starts in the 60s ...
27-28 SEAT 600 DISCOVERED: DEDICATED TO THE BOOM OF TOURISM
The 60s were undoubtedly the years for the outbreak of mass tourism in our country. Spain was open to foreign visitors and places like the Balearic Islands received airplanes by the hundreds. And well, many times these tourists demanded their own means of transport to move at will. Something that made several car rental businesses prosper, including Gabis Cars.
In the mid-70s, this company moved to the vicinity of the airport. A moment when the outdated SEAT 600s for rent were not favored by tourists, who were looking for more space in cars like the SEAT 131 or the new models in the Renault range.
In this sense, the change of the times meant that between 27 or 28 SEAT 600 were stored in a warehouse waiting to see what would happen to them. And boy, that's how the years and years went by until today. A whole life in which these 600 are still in Gabriel's hands, its first and only owner. The founder of the aforementioned Gabis Cars.
A FIND WITH LOW MILEAGE AND PLENTY OF SPARE PARTS
Given the small size of the island and the few years they were in the pipeline, most of these SEAT 600 they have, according to their owner, between 20.000 and 40.000 kilometers. An average that ranges between 15.000 of the least traveled and 80.000 of the most. Of course, all of them in good mechanical condition as they received detailed care in order to be ready for customers.
In addition, in the lot there are a huge amount of both mechanical and body parts. Doors, noses, sides, bottoms ... Even roofs brought directly from Italy, belonging to the years in which this spare part was not provided by SEAT. Apparently rust is not a big problem in this case, and according to what the owner tells us the engines would only need cleaning and overhauling.
Without a doubt, this Balearic garage hides one of the most interesting SEAT 600 finds in recent years, which now looking for a new owner bring these units back to life of the quintessential Spanish classic.
