Casa Auto

Driving along the highway through the Argentine city of Pergamino, you’ll see a strange sight parked on the side of the road. At first glance, it appears to be a giant race car. In fact, it is a car-shaped house built to resemble the classic Ford that Argentinian racer Héctor Arcadio Ninona was driving when he won fifth place in the 1958 Grand Prix.

The race car residence was built by Ninona’s proud father, an enthusiastic racing fan himself, who came up with this truly original way to honor his son’s achievements in Turismo Carretera (Road Touring), a racing series that’s been around since 1937 and is very popular in Argentina.

Constructing the Casa Auto (Auto House), as it’s come to be known, was no easy feat. Working with the help of a builder with just a yellowing old photograph to go off of, Ninona spent months laboring in 18-hour shifts to fashion the automobile abode out of iron and cement. The project was finally completed in 1981, and in July of 2017 it was named a national historic monument. The house is still owned by the Ninonas today and is used, fittingly, as a venue for family reunions.