♔ ‘His life was so ludicrously glamorous it made Hollywood look like Croydon on a wet Tuesday.’
Alfonso de Portago.
A man who treated danger like others treat champagne — to be consumed daily.
He was Spain’s answer to James Bond: polo star, Olympic bobsledder, racing driver, aristocrat, lover of models and film stars.
His end?
The Mille Miglia, 1957 — a Ferrari, a tyre, and a tragedy that changed motor racing forever.
Read on, if you dare.
◼︎ Born in London in 1928 to a Spanish noble family, Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Angel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton (yes, really) grew up between aristocratic salons and the racecourse.
◼︎ By his twenties, he was dabbling in high society sports: winning polo matches, thundering down icy bobsleigh runs, and generally making lesser men feel inadequate at cocktail parties.
Ferrari soon called.
◼︎ He was brave, handsome, and fast — three qualities Enzo valued almost as much as victory.
◼︎ Behind the wheel of a scarlet car, Alfonso became the darling of the pit lane, adored as much for his elegance off-track as his audacity on it.
But fortune has a cruel sense of humour.
◼︎ During the 1957 Mille Miglia, while running flat-out in a Ferrari 335 S, a tyre burst at nearly 150mph.
◼︎ The crash killed Alfonso, his co-driver, and spectators — a catastrophe that ended the race forever.
◼︎Alfonso de Portago: remembered not for restraint, but for living — and dying — at full throttle.
♔ ‘De Portago didn’t chase danger — he invited it to dinner, poured it a glass of Dom Pérignon, and asked it to stay the night.’
