We Take an Exclusive Peek Inside SEAT’s Secret Stash of Historic Cars

You’ve probably heard of the fabled A122 warehouse at the SEAT factory in Barcelona. It’s the place where SEAT Historics preserves seven decades of classics.

In fact, you’ve probably also seen all of the content we’ve published to social media (Instagram and TikTok) during our last visit, where we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the SEAT Ibiza, when we peeked into the same collection.

Each vintage specimen is unique, with its own story and hard work behind it. When it comes to restoring these gems, an equal amount of work and investment are required. If you don’t believe us, take a look at the reel below.

The ‘Rusty Room’ of SEAT Historics

The room you see here is often referred to as the “rust area,” Isidre López, heat of SEAT Historics, jokes.

“It’s a small warehouse where we have a number of cars waiting their turn to be rescued and rebuilt to become part of the museum’s collection,” López says while standing in front of some special cars.

Among the cars lying in wait include a SEAT 1500 (the great-great-grandfather of the SEAT Alhambra), a 1500 pickup that belonged to the Telefónica fleet, a glazed family 1400 (of which only four survive in Spain), and one of the two 1400 Visits that were ever manufactured.

Many of the like-new cars currently on display in warehouse A122 needed significant restoration work.

“It’s one of the most fun and interesting parts of our job,” López says. “But it also carries that responsibility to be honest with the history and the people, especially with the engineers and professionals who created them.”