A walk through La Boca
Actualitzat: Nov 4
La Boca is one of those neighbourhoods in Buenos Aires where you can still soak up the authentic porteño atmosphere. Once a landing point for immigrants and home to artists and dockworkers, it is now a mixture of tourist attraction and working-class neighbourhood, with its distinctive corrugated iron houses painted in a multitude of colours. In some ways, it reminds me of the Cabanyal district in Valencia.
I had arrived in Buenos Aires on the very day of the presidential election. Staying just a stone's throw from the Obelisk, I experienced the vote count out on the streets and witnessed how one half of the crowd celebrated Macri's victory while the other half struggled to come to terms with the defeat.
Despite being advised against it, a German colleague and I decided to catch a bus to La Boca. The bus dropped us off quite a distance from Caminito, so our little photographic safari turned out to be longer than expected.
Our first find was a Ford Falcon Rural, the Argentine estate version of the old Ford. In my post about the Argentine Falcons, you can see a later photograph of the very same car. It was largely complete and appeared to be the makeshift home of someone living on the streets. On the walls of those almost deserted streets, posters from the recent presidential election campaign alternated with graffiti expressing all kinds of demands, protests and grievances.
We passed close to La Bombonera, Boca Juniors' football stadium, and a little further on, just a stone's throw from Caminito, we came across a FIAT 125 Sport. This distinctly Argentine creation looks rather like an 850 Coupé from a distance. Only the front grille gives away the fact that its engine is at the front; up close, its larger dimensions become obvious.
It is quite an intriguing car. Its bodywork was based on the early-1960s FIAT 1500 Coupé Vignale, but when the 125 arrived in Argentina, FIAT Concord decided to redesign the rear end, giving it a more sloping, fastback-style profile and a more modern appearance. The restyling also meant that FIAT no longer had to pay royalties to the Turin-based coachbuilder. The result is what you can see in the photographs. Production continued until 1978.
In Caminito, tango is part of everyday life. Tourists gather around the couples dancing among posters of Mafalda and Bergoglio. The dancers cross their legs and draw close together in a sensual performance that inevitably captivates the onlooker.
The scene was quite different in the back street, where a DKW 1000 rested quietly in the shade beside some abandoned railway tracks. This unusual car, powered by a three-cylinder, two-stroke engine, was also built in Argentina and still adds to the distinctive character of the neighbourhood.
The port of La Boca, now so peaceful, recalls a past of hectic commercial and port activity. It is a wonderful place to round off an outing which, whether you are interested in classic cars or not, is well worth the effort.
Comentaris