PAST IMPERFECT:Breakdowns, money problems and even a World War couldn't stop the legendary Argentine racer, writes BOB MONTGOMERY
BORN ON June 24th, 1911, Juan Manuel Fangio was the son of an immigrant Italian father and a first-generation Argentine of Italian extraction.
The young Fangio rose at 4am each morning to study before school and then to the smithy in the afternoon, where he served an apprenticeship.
Aged 12, Fangio left school to become a mechanic at the local Studebaker agency, rising to senior fitter after a few years. Here he learned to drive, forming the basis of his later skills.
Fangio completed his mandatory military service in 1932 and, aged 21, started an auto repair business with his brother José in Balarce. His driving debut followed in 1936 in a modified taxi in an unsanctioned race at the Benito Juárez track.
Driving under the pseudonym “Rivadavia” – the name of his local Balarce football club – Fangio’s dreams of glory were dashed when he ran a big-end bearing while lying third.
Soon afterwards, another friend lent him a 1930 Ford Model A which had been prepared for racing but he was disqualified for arriving late.
Undeterred, the brothers Fangio arranged to buy a 1934 Ford Special with financial help from their friends. In this car Fangio made his official driver’s debut, finishing seventh of 24 starters at the Necochea track.
But the most popular form of racing in South America was the epic Gran Premio races – a series of extraordinary open-road city-to-city races run over vast distances, which made European races such as the Mille Miglia and the Targa Florio look like a stroll in the park.
This was full-blooded, no-holds-barred, racing over unsurfaced country roads – a tremendous test of man and machine. Fangio made his debut in this form of racing in the Gran Premio Argentino de Carreteras between October 18th and 30th, 1938, driving a 1937 Ford two-door sedan shared with Luis Finocchietti from Balcarce. The event involved 4,590 miles of racing over 10 stages; the pair finished seventh.
To advance, Fangio needed a new car and once again friends in Balcarce came to his aid. With their funds, Fangio tried to buy a 1939 Ford but none were available so he bought a black 1939 Chevrolet coupé instead.
His next event was the Gran Premio Extraordinario. In third place, he left the road at Palmira and eventually restarted last, with no brakes and bent wheels among other damage, to finish 44th out of 47 finishers.
By 1940, times were hard in Argentina and Fangio was forced to sell his 1939 Chevrolet to pay his debts. Once again friends came to the rescue and a raffle was organised to buy him a new 1940 Chevrolet coupé.
Over the next three years, Fangio would become Argentine champion before petrol rationing caused the cessation of all forms of racing. When the war ended, Juan Manuel Fangio was already 31.
Worried that he was too old for motor racing, Fangio at first raced dirt-track machines but, in 1947, the Automobile Club of Argentina invited some top European drivers to a series of races.
With limited time available before the start of the series, Fangio prepared a 3.9-litre Chevrolet-engined special. With this car he won the unlimited class and went on to make his mark against the European drivers in the following year when the series was repeated.
His 1949 success would take him to Europe and five F1 world championships – the boy from Balcarce had arrived.