During the week of the Spanish GP, I had the privilege of visiting the private car and motorsport collection of Eduardo Costabal called Chelsea1979. I have found out about it through instagram and given how exclusive this collection is – in every sense of the world – I didn’t expect to find him so relatable. But that is not the first word I would use for him…
ANOTHER OBSESSED SOUTH AMERICAN
I don’t know what it is that makes South American men prone to being obsessed with cars and then building an empire based on that obsession, but after Horacio Pagani and Eduardo Costabal, I’m starting to sense a pattern here…
Yes, obsessed is definitely the number one adjective that came to mind. Because when you are a teenager and confront your motorsport hero – Eliseo Salazar, Chilean F1 driver – and you have the audacity to walk up to him and tell him to give you his helmet, because you plan to make a museum of motorsport memorabilia? That in itself sounds a bit crazy. But then going ahead and doing it? I find it an extreme level of insanity – in the best sense of the world. I only hope to have at least some of this drive.
If you check out their website or their instagram, you’ll see a ton of pictures of the place itself. Honestly, I could look at them all day. And yet, they didn’t prepare me for the homeyness of the place. Big spaces, huge, comfortable couches and high end/vintage cars? Sounds perfect to me! I might have had to collect myself a bit when I entered the first room and that very specific smell of car workshops hit me. It felt like a concentrated dosage of comfort.
THE COLLECTION
The museum itself is a lot bigger than you would expect from the outside, and it might be the place why the expression “larger than life” was invented. Because I don’t know how else to describe decades of motorsport history categorically and meticulously collected. All of the F1 champion’s racesuits are exhibited in chronological order, as well as all MotoGP champions.
I was hiding it, but I honestly was on the verge of tears in this room. Nothing to feel embarrassed about, though. Emerson Fittipaldi had also visited at some point and had doubts about why the place was such a big deal. Then promptly broke down in tears. For him, those were not just race suits, but his competitors, his friends, people that were a part of his life, his history.
I thought I couldn’t be any more emotional, but I was incredibly wrong: Costabal has a Michael Schumacher race suit from every single one of his F1 racing years. I will let that sink in. From every. Single. Year.
This man does not have the word impossible in his vocabulary, let me prove it: Schumacher debuted with Jordan in 1991 – he only drove for them one race weekend and there were apparently 2 race suits that he had worn. Costabal not only wanted one, it was a desperate need of owning it. And now, one of those suits is on display in Chelsea1979 right now – the collection is complete.
There is also a room dedicated to rally and the Dakar specifically. So many stories, and so many cars that I could single out and tell their story, but I don’t think talking about them would do them justice. I am also sure that I was told only a tiny percentage of the stories that exist within its walls. But let me just return to that part where I said how relatable I found this man, Eduardo Costabal, whom I have never even met.
Chelsea1979 really is a shrine on some levels with all these artefacts, but it is so much more than that. It feels like the very essence of its owner. Do you know what this made me think of? The Tiktok trend ‘a girl’s room is a museum of things she’s ever loved’ where girls give a tour of their room showing their treasures.
Well, Costabal made the trend his – only it is the successful adult man version. Tintin, the Belgian comics is a favorite of his and is heavily featured by figures and pictures all over the place. I was specifically shown a toilet that was decorated with the Tintin theme. There is also a corner for actual, real Samurai armour because of their philosophy – high stakes, high adrenalin, yet mentally strong and stoic in the heat of battle.
His model car collection is also on display – it had to be curated because there were only a certain amount of slots available. I just imagine going through all of the pieces and thinking: should this one be out there? Then making that decision, and from time to time switching it up. As a collector of books myself, I deeply relate to the joy of organizing and reorganizing and categorizing and looking at your collection.
The last room was his personal meeting room that also fits in this picture. It is decorated with the most random things, yet so well-put together that I don’t really understand how people can talk about serious topics there. As it is so clearly designed for comfort and if I was let in I would just lounge around all day and enjoy it.
Yes, Chelsea1979 is most of all a car and motorsport memorabilia collection and it is an extremely cozy place with multiple options for gathering. It also hosts exclusive events and meetings, even podcasts. But it is also definitely the museum of things Costabal has ever loved.
A FULL CIRCLE MOMENT
Going back to the Elisea Salazar story. Because it is a full circle moment here if there is one! Costabal obviously has done what he set out to do as a kid – he started his own museum and there was this one thing that it started with: Salazar’s helmet, because yes, he did receive it! Years and years later, he purchased Salazar’s 1983 car, which needed some maintenance. A great deal of restoration to be precise. It was so very tricky that even when the car was finished, nobody was sure it could actually run, because they couldn’t try it out.
When the car was ready, there was one more thing to do: show it to Salazar. Costabal had wanted to make it a surprise, so he only disclosed that Salazar needs to fly to Europe from Chile because there is something he needs to see in person. After long phone calls and a lot of convincing, Salazar gave in. A few weeks later, he knew he was right to agree as he was reunited with his F1 car and even driving it. I can only imagine the satisfaction Costabal had felt at this happening.
Objects are sometimes called living memories and I think I have a new level of understanding of that now. The stories the cars and suits and helmets in Chelsea1979 hold are extremely special. But there is also another one: the owner’s – holding out for a dream, wanting something so badly that you cannot even imagine not succeeding. Having such passion for cars that you do whatever it takes to make it happen. I can only feel deeply inspired by what I have seen and heard there.
It is a very special place, where passion is almost tangible in the air. What an honour and privilege it had been to be able to walk through the rooms of Chelsea1979 – especially that it is not open to the public (though from time to time, they do an open day, so keep your eyes open).
It was a full experience – I am sure I could have spent a whole day there just looking at every small detail. Maybe one day, when I successfully replicate the obsession and success of Señor Costabal (though my dream is slightly different), I will be able to do an interview with him. And let this be MY Eliseo Salazar moment that I will revisit in a decade and return to as the circle completes itself.
