The SEAT 600 turned 60 in mid-2017. To celebrate the event, SEAT showed this totally restored unit in that year's Automobile Barcelona motor show. The so-called SEAT 600 BMS was the big star of the SEAT stand at the Montjuïc exhibition centre, along with the Ibiza's fifth generation, an absolute novelty in 2017.

The 600 D on which this 600 BMS (Barcelona Motor Show acronym and unofficial designation of this one-off model) is based was in production between 1963 and 1970. The 600 D is the "six-hundred" par excellence, as more than half of the 800,000 units built in total were 600 D.

This example is a 1st series 600 D Convertible, originally registered in Barcelona in the last quarter of 1966 (except for the latest version, the 1972 SEAT 600 L Especial, the 600 was always available with closed bodywork or soft-top). The 1st series 600 D is easily recognizable by the 27-litre side fuel tank under the front bonnet, the flat bumpers without rubber stoppers and the aluminium conical frustum hubcaps.

The rear engine on the 600 D has a capacity of 767 cc and delivers 25 HP (in its first version, between 1957 and 1963, the "six-hundred" was powered by a 633 cc engine, hence its name). A modest power, but enough to quickly move the 600 kilos of weight of its 3.3 metres long body, still with "suicide"-type doors, that is, rear-hinged instead of front-hinged (the 600 would not get doors that opened in the "right" way until the 1970 SEAT 600 E).

The unveiling of the 600 BMS at the Automobile Barcelona motor show in 2017 was not the only event with which SEAT commemorated the 60th anniversary of the 600. In September, the SEAT Históricos department celebrated the milestone with a record-breaking day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, which brought together hundreds of these nicknamed "pellets". Precisely, a total of 787 units were paraded down the track, achieving the Guinness Record for the largest 600 parade in the world.

Both the construction of the 600 BMS and the Guinness record in Montmeló were the deserved tribute for the 60 years of the most important model for mobility in Spain, and the most iconic SEAT until the arrival of the Ibiza in 1984.

Aimed at the country's emerging middle class, the 600 was truly revolutionary and soon became a runaway success. Production went from 40 units per day manufactured in early 1958 to 240 by late 1964, already with the 600 D in production, record figures at the time.

The price of the 600 in 1957 was 65,000 pesetas (equivalent to more than 18,000 euros today); in other words, 3.5 years of the Spanish population's then average salary. The industrialization of the model revolutionized the production system, generated a strong components industry in Spain and helped make it more affordable. Thus, when the last unit of the 600 was made on 3 August 1973, the vehicle cost 77,291 pesetas (around 7,700 euros today), the average salary of 9 months of the time.

Although sold almost exclusively in Spain, the 600 was the first model that SEAT exported. It was sold in Colombia in 1965, followed by countries such as Finland, Belgium, Denmark, the Netherlands or Greece. SEAT exported around 80,000 units of 600, which was only 10% of the model's total volume. In contrast, today SEAT exports 81% of its vehicles to more than 80 countries.

All SEAT 600s were manufactured at SEAT's original plant in Barcelona's Zona Franca, opened in 1953 and where SEAT Históricos is headquartered today. The 600 is therefore a prominent protagonist of the industrialization of the city and, consequently, a prominent member of its historical heritage.