Alfonso Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, 11th Marquess of Portago,
GE (11 October 1928 – 12 May 1957), best known as Alfonso de Portago, was a
Spanish
Spanish might refer to:
* Items from or related to Spain:
**Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain
**Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries
**Spanish cuisine
Other places
* Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
aristocrat, racing and
bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...
driver,
jockey and pilot.
Born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
to a prominent family in the
peerage of Spain, he was named after his
godfather, king
Alfonso XIII
Alfonso XIII (17 May 1886 – 28 February 1941), also known as El Africano or the African, was King of Spain from 17 May 1886 to 14 April 1931, when the Second Spanish Republic was proclaimed. He was a monarch from birth as his father, Alf ...
. His grandfather, the
9th Marquess of Portago had been
Mayor of Madrid
The Mayor of Madrid presides over the Madrid City Council, the government body of the capital city of Spain. The mayor has the duty of boosting the local policies, it directs the action of the other executive bodies, leads the Local Executive Admi ...
while his father, who was President of
Puerta de Hierro and a prolific golfer, died of a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when blood flow decreases or stops to the coronary artery of the heart, causing damage to the heart muscle. The most common symptom is chest pain or discomfort which ma ...
while showering after a
polo match. His mother, Olga Leighton, was an
Irish
Irish may refer to:
Common meanings
* Someone or something of, from, or related to:
** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe
***Éire, Irish language name for the isle
** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...
nurse.
At age 17, Portago began displaying his flamboyant lifestyle by winning a $500 bet after flying a borrowed plane under
London Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames close ...
. He twice rode the
Grand National
The Grand National is a National Hunt horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse in Liverpool, England. First run in 1839, it is a handicap st ...
as "gentleman rider" and formed the first Spanish
bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...
team with his cousins, finishing 4th in the
1956 Winter Olympics, shaving the bronze medal by 0.14 seconds.
In 1953, he was introduced into the
Scuderia Ferrari team, competing at the
Carrera Panamericana
The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sedan ( stock and touring and sports car) rally racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, i ...
,
1000 km Buenos Aires
The 1000 km Buenos Aires was an endurance sports car event held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The race mostly run on the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, although it would run the Costanera circuit in 1957. Besides a single race in Cara ...
and several
Grand Prix
Grand Prix ( , meaning ''Grand Prize''; plural Grands Prix), is a name sometimes used for competitions or sport events, alluding to the winner receiving a prize, trophy or honour
Grand Prix or grand prix may refer to:
Arts and entertainment ...
, including a win and second place at the
1956 Tour de France Automobile and
1956 British Grand Prix
The 1956 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 July 1956 at Silverstone. It was race 6 of 8 in the 1956 World Championship of Drivers.
Classification Qualifying
Race
;Notes
* – 1 point for fastest lap
Shared dri ...
respectively.
His promising career was cut short in May 1957 after his renowned
Ferrari 335 S
The Ferrari 335 S was a sports racing car produced by Italian manufacturer Ferrari in 1957. The car was a direct response to the Maserati 450S which with its 4.5-litre engine was threatening to overpower the 3.8-litre 315 S and 3.5-litre 290 ...
crashed near the village of
Guidizzolo
Guidizzolo ( Upper Mantovano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region Lombardy, located about east of Milan and about northwest of Mantua. The bordering municipalities of Guidizzolo are Cavriana, Ceresara, ...
when a tyre burst while driving along a dead straight road at 150mph at the
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...
, killing both himself and his navigator and 9 spectators. The young age of the marquess who was 28 at the time of his death combined with his status as a
sex symbol caused a shock amongst many, having several tributes and landmarks named after him, most notably the "Portago curve" at
Jarama racetrack.
The Marquess of Portago was seen by many as a true ''
playboy
''Playboy'' is an American men's Lifestyle magazine, lifestyle and entertainment magazine, formerly in print and currently online. It was founded in Chicago in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from H ...
'' of his time; "a tall, handsome and wealthy Spanish aristocrat who captured everybody's imagination".
Gregor Grant
Gregor J. Grant was born in 1911. He attended the Glasgow School of Art and soon was contributing articles, drawings, and caricatures to newspapers and magazines including The Light Car. He was injured in Normandy during World War II.
In Augus ...
famously said of him: "a man like Portago appears only once in a generation, and it would probably be more accurate to say only once in a lifetime. The fellow does everything fabulously well. Never mind the driving, the steeplechasing, the bobsledding, the athletic side of things, never mind being fluent in 4 languages. (...) He could be the best
bridge
A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...
player in the world if he cared to try, he could certainly be a great soldier, and I suspect he could be a fine writer".
Biography
Early life
Portago was born in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, he was educated at
Biarritz,
in
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
.
["Daredevil Sportsman Perishes", '']Los Angeles Times
The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...
'', May 13, 1957, Page 1. He became articulate in four languages, and spoke English with a distinctive British accent. Portago was heir to one of the most respected titles in Spain
[ and a millionaire.][ Among his ancestors were explorer ]Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Álvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca (; 1488/90/92"Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar Núñez (1492?-1559?)." American Eras. Vol. 1: Early American Civilizations and Exploration to 1600. Detroit: Gale, 1997. 50-51. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 10 Decembe ...
. His father was Antonio Cabeza de Vaca, 10th Marquess of Portago, who died during half time at a polo match at a young age. His paternal grandfather was Vicente Cabeza de Vaca, 9th Marquess of Portago, mayor of Madrid. His mother was named Olga Leighton and was an Irish nurse. She also had a daughter named Sol, for Soledad, who married and became known as the Marchioness of Moratalla in racing circles. She died in 2017. Olga's first husband, Frank Mackey
Frank Joseph MacKey (March 20, 1852 in Gilboa, New York – February 24, 1927 in Minneapolis, Minnesota) was an American polo player in the 1900 Summer Olympics. He was part of the Foxhunters Hurlingham polo team which won the gold medal. He al ...
was more than 40 years older than she was. He shot himself while terminally ill and left Olga an enormous fortune made as founder of Household Finance Corp. Portago was a first cousin of Vicente Sartorius, 4th Marquess of Mariño as well as José Luis de Vilallonga, 9th Marquess of Castellbell.
Portago was dark-haired and had freckles and blue eyes. He was 1.83 m (6 ft) tall and weighed 77 kg (170 Ibs).["Marquess at the Wheel", '']The New York Times
''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...
'', March 17, 1957, Page SM40. He famously won a bet at the age of 17 when he flew his plane beneath London Tower Bridge
Tower Bridge is a Grade I listed combined bascule and suspension bridge in London, built between 1886 and 1894, designed by Horace Jones and engineered by John Wolfe Barry with the help of Henry Marc Brunel. It crosses the River Thames close ...
. He participated twice in the Grand National Steeplechase
The Grand National is a National Hunt racing, National Hunt Horse racing, horse race held annually at Aintree Racecourse Liverpool, in Liverpool, En ...
at Aintree
Aintree is a village and civil parish in the Metropolitan Borough of Sefton, Merseyside, England. Historically in Lancashire, it lies between Walton and Maghull on the A59 road, north-east of Liverpool city centre, in North West England.
I ...
as a ''gentleman jockey'', although he found keeping his weight down to be a struggle.[
]
Race car driver
Portago began racing sports cars in 1953 after his meeting with the Ferrari importer in the USA, Luigi Chinetti
Luigi Chinetti (July 17, 1901 – August 17, 1994) was an Italian-born racecar driver, who emigrated to the United States during World War II. He drove in 12 consecutive 24 Hours of Le Mans races, taking three outright wins there and taking two m ...
, who asked him to be his co-driver in the Carrera Panamericana
The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sedan ( stock and touring and sports car) rally racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, i ...
. He later raced alone in a personal Ferrari Sport model at the 1954 1000 km Buenos Aires
The 1000 km Buenos Aires was an endurance sports car event held in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The race mostly run on the Autódromo Oscar Alfredo Gálvez, although it would run the Costanera circuit in 1957. Besides a single race in Cara ...
. Portago won six major races, including the Tour de France
The Tour de France () is an annual men's multiple-stage bicycle race primarily held in France, while also occasionally passing through nearby countries. Like the other Grand Tours (the Giro d'Italia and the Vuelta a España), it consists ...
automobile race, the Grand Prix of Oporto, and the Nassau Governor's Cup (twice). In Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
*Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
, during the winter of 1956, Portago trailed the car ahead of him by centimeters while travelling at 240 km/h. Portago used his skill to avert careening into a crowd after the driver ahead of him touched his brakes and both cars went into a 180 m skid. Among sports car enthusiasts, Portago was known as a ''two-car man'', because of the many burned-out brakes, clutches, transmissions, and wrecked cars for which he was responsible. He often needed several cars to finish a race.[
He participated in 5 World Championship Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 1 July 1956. His best result was a second place at the ]1956 British Grand Prix
The 1956 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 July 1956 at Silverstone. It was race 6 of 8 in the 1956 World Championship of Drivers.
Classification Qualifying
Race
;Notes
* – 1 point for fastest lap
Shared dri ...
(a shared drive with Peter Collins), and scored a total of four championship points. In 1953 he raced with Chinetti in the Carrera Panamericana
The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sedan ( stock and touring and sports car) rally racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, i ...
. During the 1955 British Grand Prix
The 1955 British Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Aintree Motor Racing Circuit, Aintree on 16 July 1955. It was race 6 of 7 in the 1955 World Championship of Drivers. British driver Stirling Moss led a Mercedes 1–2–3–4 domina ...
at Silverstone, Portago was thrown from his Ferrari while racing at 140 km/h after losing control on a patch of oil. He was hospitalized with a broken leg.[
]
Bobsleigh
He also was a bobsleigh
Bobsleigh or bobsled is a team winter sport that involves making timed runs down narrow, twisting, banked, iced tracks in a gravity-powered sleigh. International bobsleigh competitions are governed by the International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Feder ...
runner, recruiting several cousins in order to form Spain's first bobsleigh team for the 1956 Winter Olympic Games in Cortina d'Ampezzo. He had had only two or three practice runs in Switzerland before buying a pair of sleds. With Portago steering, the two-man bob finished fourth to the surprise of the traditional teams, missing out on a medal by 0.16 seconds.[ He was introduced to bobsledding by an American from ]Beloit, Wisconsin
Beloit is a city in Rock County, Wisconsin, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 36,657 people.
History
Twelve men in Colebrook, New Hampshire, created the "New England Emigrating Company" in October 1836 and sen ...
, Edmund Nelson, whom he later teamed up with in order to win the Tour de France automobile race.
Portago also won a bronze medal in the two-man event at the 1957 FIBT World Championships in St. Moritz.
Death
He and his co-driver Edmund Nelson were killed on 12 May 1957[Forix](_blank)
(retrieved 24 October 2012) in a crash during that year's Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...
, in a straight road section between Cerlongo and Guidizzolo
Guidizzolo ( Upper Mantovano: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Mantua in the Italian region Lombardy, located about east of Milan and about northwest of Mantua. The bordering municipalities of Guidizzolo are Cavriana, Ceresara, ...
, in the communal territory of Cavriana about 70 km from Brescia
Brescia (, locally ; lmo, link=no, label= Lombard, Brèsa ; lat, Brixia; vec, Bressa) is a city and ''comune'' in the region of Lombardy, Northern Italy. It is situated at the foot of the Alps, a few kilometers from the lakes Garda and Iseo ...
, the start and finish point of the event race. The wreck also claimed the lives of nine spectators, among them five children. Portago was apprehensive about competing in the Mille Miglia, a race he considered too dangerous to be run, as he was concerned about the almost complete impossibility about knowing every corner (even with a navigator) and every possible road condition over 1,000 mi (1,600 km) of open public roads with very limited information on what to expect in the race. A tire blew on Portago's third-place Ferrari 335 S
The Ferrari 335 S was a sports racing car produced by Italian manufacturer Ferrari in 1957. The car was a direct response to the Maserati 450S which with its 4.5-litre engine was threatening to overpower the 3.8-litre 315 S and 3.5-litre 290 ...
causing it to spin into the crowd lining the highway. He was travelling at when the tire went flat. The 335 hurtled over a canal on the left side of the road, then veered back across the canal, causing the deaths of nine onlookers in total. Two of the dead children were hit by a concrete highway milestone that was ripped from the ground by Portago's car and thrown into the crowd. The bodies of Portago and Nelson were badly disfigured beneath the Ferrari, which was upside down. Portago's body was in two sections.[ A photograph dubbed " The Kiss of Death" shows actress ]Linda Christian
Linda Christian (born Blanca Rosa Henrietta Stella Welter Vorhauer; November 13, 1923 – July 22, 2011) was a Mexican film actress, who appeared in Mexican and Hollywood films. Her career reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s. She played Mara ...
kissing Portago at a stop just before his fatal crash.
As T.C. Browne wrote, "The inevitable happened when Alfonso ..de Portago stopped alongside the course, ran to the fence, kissed Linda Christian, ran back to his Ferrari and drove on to his destiny, killing himself, his co-driver, 10 spectators, and the Mille Miglia".[''The road races'', '']Motor Trend
''MotorTrend'' is an American automobile magazine. It first appeared in September 1949, and designated the first Car of the Year, also in 1949.
Petersen Publishing Company in Los Angeles published ''MotorTrend'' until 1998, when it was sold to ...
100 Years of the Automobile'', 1985, , p. 233.
Once Portago commented, "I won't die in an accident. I'll die of old age or be executed in some gross miscarriage of justice". Nelson countered this assertion, saying Portago would not live to be 30. According to Nelson, "every time Portago comes in from a race the front of his car is wrinkled where he has been nudging people out of the way at 130 mph (210 km/h)".[
]
Legacy
The Portago curve at the St. Moritz-Celerina Olympic Bobrun is named in his honor for his foundation's efforts to renovate the lower portion of the track. A Portago curve (#9) is also shown on the Jarama motor racing circuit in Spain.
Personal life
In 1949, when he was only twenty, Portago married American former model Carroll McDaniel (by whom he had two children). McDaniel was several years older than Portago and they barely knew each other. She subsequently married the philanthropist Milton Petrie
Milton Petrie (August 5, 1902 – November 6, 1994) was an American retailer, investor and philanthropist. He made a fortune from a chain of retail stores and supplemented it through a series of investments in real estate and stocks. He was well ...
. One of Portago's daughters is photographer Andrea Portago, who was on the June 1977 cover of Andy Warhol
Andy Warhol (; born Andrew Warhola Jr.; August 6, 1928 – February 22, 1987) was an American visual artist, film director, and producer who was a leading figure in the Art movement, visual art movement known as pop art. His works explore th ...
's ''Interview'' magazine. His son, Anthony (1954-1990), was a stockbroker born around 1954. He married in 1973 (and divorced in 1978) Sorbonne-educated society fundraiser and costume- and set-designer Barbara, daughter of German nobleman Henrik von Schlubach, partner in Schlubach Exporting and Importing Company in Hamburg, and ex-wife Florence Van der Kemp (''née'' Harris), president of the Versailles-Claude Monet Foundation in New York and daughter of the late Rear Admiral Frederic R. Harris, of Washington and New York. Her stepfather, Gérald van der Kemp, was a curator who restored the Palace of Versailles. Barbara de Portago subsequently married, in 1984, actor and playwright Jason Harrison Grant, and, after their divorce, married in 1991 (divorced 1994) investment banker William James Tapert.
Supposedly, Carroll McDaniel and Alfonso de Portago were in the process of getting a divorce so he could legitimize his invalid Mexican marriage to fashion model
A model is a person with a role either to promote, display or advertise commercial products (notably fashion clothing in fashion shows) or to serve as a visual aid for people who are creating works of art or to pose for photography. Thoug ...
Dorian Leigh
Dorian Elizabeth Leigh Parker (April 23, 1917 – July 7, 2008), known professionally as Dorian Leigh, was an American model and one of the earliest modeling icons of the fashion industry. She is considered one of the first supermodels, and was w ...
(who had already aborted their first baby in 1954 and then gave birth to their son Kim on 27 September 1955). Leigh was eleven years his senior. However, Portago was also dating actress Linda Christian
Linda Christian (born Blanca Rosa Henrietta Stella Welter Vorhauer; November 13, 1923 – July 22, 2011) was a Mexican film actress, who appeared in Mexican and Hollywood films. Her career reached its peak in the 1940s and 1950s. She played Mara ...
, actor Tyrone Power
Tyrone Edmund Power III (May 5, 1914 – November 15, 1958) was an American actor. From the 1930s to the 1950s, Power appeared in dozens of films, often in swashbuckler roles or romantic leads. His better-known films include ''Jesse James'', ' ...
's ex-wife.
Complete Formula One World Championship results
(key
Key or The Key may refer to:
Common meanings
* Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm
* Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock
* Key (map ...
)
:''† Indicates shared drive with Peter Collins''
:''* Indicates shared drive with José Froilán González
José Froilán González (October 5, 1922 – June 15, 2013) was an Argentine racing driver, particularly notable for scoring Ferrari's first win in a Formula One World Championship race at the 1951 British Grand Prix. He made his Formula One ...
''
Titles
* 11th Marquess of Portago
Marquess of Portago ( es, Marqués de Portago) is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain accompanied by the dignity of Grandee, granted in 1744 by Philip V to José Gómez de Terán y Delgado, Finance Treasurer and Council Minister of Spain. ...
** Grandee of Spain
Grandee (; es, Grande de España, ) is an official aristocratic title conferred on some Spanish nobility. Holders of this dignity enjoyed similar privileges to those of the peerage of France during the , though in neither country did they ha ...
* 13th Count of la Mejorada
Count of la Mejorada ( es, Count of la Mejorada) is a hereditary title in the Peerage of Spain, granted in 1617 by Philip III to Antonio de Padilla, mayor of the fortresses of Martos and Alhama, two important enclaves of the Order of Calatrav ...
Heraldry
File:COA Marquess of Portago Grandee variant.svg, Coat of Arms as Marquess of Portago (1943-1957)
In popular culture
Film
*Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone
Gabriel Leone Coutinho Miranda Frota (born 21 July 1993) is a Brazilian actor and musician. Leone became nationally known for his role in the telenovela '' Hidden Truths'' and gained international recognition as the lead role in '' Dom'', the fir ...
has been cast as Portago in the upcoming biopic '' Ferrari'' (2023).
See also
* Scuderia Ferrari
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
External links
The memorial at the site of the accident near Guidizzolo
Sketch of the accident from the journal ''L'Automobile'' 19 May 1957
{{DEFAULTSORT:Portago, Alfonso de
1928 births
1957 deaths
Sportspeople from London
Spanish male bobsledders
Spanish male equestrians
Spanish racing drivers
Spanish Formula One drivers
Bobsledders at the 1956 Winter Olympics
Olympic bobsledders of Spain
Ferrari Formula One drivers
Racing drivers who died while racing
Sport deaths in Italy
24 Hours of Le Mans drivers
Spanish people of Irish descent
World Sportscar Championship drivers
Grandees of Spain
Carrera Panamericana drivers
Spanish nobility