This is a kind of ongoing project.
Except - it isn't really a project.
Because it's going to be costly if it becomes one.
It all started when I visited Monaco in 2011.
On a traffic island next to the Rascasse curve stands a sculpture of a 1950's racing car.
Almost as a joke, I sat in the car. Someone took a picture of and for me.
And that's where it could have, should have, ended.
A couple of years later, in 2017, I visited Monza.
And close to the race track was the same sculpture.
I found someone willing to take a photograph. Went into the car and got a second picture of me sitting in the sculpture of a car, with the sculpture of somebody next to it.
After that, I tried to find out a bit more about the sculpture and why there were two of it.
It turned out - there were six of them.
The statue depicts Juan Manuel Fangio, a former racing driver, and one of his racing cars, a Mercedes-Benz W196.
The original artwork stands at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona.
Later a cast was taken from that sculpture and five copies were made.
One is in Monaco and one in Monza.
Two more are in Germany (one in Stuttgart at the Mercedes Benz Museum and one at the Nürburgring racing track).
And the last one is in Buenos Aires (because Juan Manuel Fangio was from Argentina).
A year later, in September 2018, I was in Stuttgart.
There I visited the Mercedes Benz museum and added a third picture to the collection.
Three down, three to go...
But not really.
The first two pictures were coincidences. I didn't know the sculptures were there, so it was an ad-hoc idea to take the photos. I didn't need to put any effort into that.
When I went to Stuttgart, I knew that there was another sculpture there. So, I did specifically go to the museum to take the picture. But it wasn't much of a detour.
In September 2024 I added another photo to the 'collection'.
This time I put a bit more effort into it.
I wasn't going to the Nürburgring, but I was at a place about 50 km away and had a rented car.
So, I drove down to Nürburgring, got someone to take a picture and drove back again.
That picture was the most uncomfortable one. It had rained the previous night and the car was filled with water up to the lower edge of the steering wheel (there is a draining hole at the bottom, but that one was clogged). Hence, I didn't really sit in the car, but more squatted in it. Luckily, it's not too obvious in the photo.
So that's four out of six now.
And this is probably the end of it.
It is unlikely that I will fly to Barcelona solely to take a picture with the original sculpture.
(Though, oddly, the flight might be cheaper than the rental cost for the car to drive to the Nürburgring.)
But should I happen to be in Barcelona for some other reason, I am likely to make the detour to the racing track and add another photo this page.
And only then it becomes worrying.
Because then there would be only one more photo missing for a "complete set".
And the question is: Would I make a journey to Argentina primarily to take one picture?
It's unlikely that I'll get to go to Argentina for some other reason. So, it would be a trip specifically for that photo.
Of course, I wouldn't fly to Argentina, go to the sculpture, take a picture and fly back home the next day. I would make a proper vacation out of it. But that doesn't change the fact that I wouldn't go there without the sculpture being there.
At least I don't have to give that serious consideration for the time being. As long as I haven't been to Barcelona, Buenos Aires isn't a travel option anyway.
(Though it would be weird if I get to travel to Argentina for some unexpected reason first and then have to consider whether I should go to the original sculpture in Barcelona to complete the set.)
In any case, it's four out of six for now.