It was 45 years before his tally of the five World Championships was equalled, and his success rate - winning nearly half the Grands Prix he entered - will surely never be surpassed. But his exceptional Formula 1 career, which included some of the greatest displays of skills and daring ever seen, was preceded by super-human exploits in epic South American road races that made competition at the pinnacle of motor sport seem like child's play.
Fangio's long journey, from the most humble origins in remote Argentina to the lofty heights of international celebrity, was strewn with obstacles that would have stopped a lesser man in his tracks. But Fangio fought back, overcoming despair to meet adversity head on, surviving disasters and speeding past setbacks to triumph time and time again. And he did it with style, grace, nobility and a sense of honour never seen before or since.
