The tragic end of the dandy who loved danger and beautiful women

There are lives that seem straight out of a novel, especially if they combine adventure with tragedy, courage with the desire to live it all. This is the case of Alfonso Antonio Vicente Eduardo Ángel Blas Francisco de Borja Cabeza de Vaca y Leighton, who, known simply as Alfonso de Portagowas an emblematic figure of the 20th century.

Born on October 11, 1928 in London, Portago, whose full name highlights the magnitude of his lineage, He was a Spanish aristocrat, racing driver, sleigh driver, horseman and aviator.. His existence, although brief, left a mark in the world of sports and in the high society of his time.

Raised within the framework of a noble family of great prestige in Spain, he descends from a grandfather who was the Ninth Marquis of Portago, mayor of Madrid. His father, Antonio Cabeza de Vaca, Tenth Marquis of Portago, a prominent golfer and president of the exclusive Puerta de Hierro club in Madrid, tragically dies of a heart attack while taking a bath after a polo match. The Irish origin of his mother, Olga Leighton, a nurse by profession, gave Alfonso contact with other cultures very early on.

Since his childhood, Portago showed a penchant for adventure and risk. At the age of 17 he won a $500 bet by flying a borrowed plane under London’s Tower Bridge. This reckless act was just the beginning of a life full of daring feats.

Portago’s ambition meant that he was not limited to practicing a single sporting discipline, and thus he excelled in several: from horse riding to bobsleigh (snow sledding), including motor racing. As a jockey, he also competed twice in the Aintree Grand National, an event where he was able to show his skill and courage as it was one of the most challenging obstacle courses in the world.

In 1956, he formed the first Spanish bobsleigh team with his cousins ​​and achieved an impressive fourth place at the Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Olympics, being just 0.14 seconds away from the bronze medal.

But Portago’s true passion was high speed. In 1953, he joined the Ferrari team. He participated in numerous races, including the 1000 km of Buenos Aires, a legendary competition that was part of the World Endurance Championship calendar. In 1956, he won the Tour de France Automobile and obtained, together with his teammate Peter Collins, a creditable second place in the Formula 1 British Grand Prix, the best result throughout his career.

Portago’s career in this category was short but intense. He debuted on July 1, 1956 and participated in five Grand Prix with Ferrari, where he had as a partner Juan Manuel Fangio, then three-time world champion.

Now, Portago was also a real playboy. In addition to flying on the slopes, he dedicated space, time and memory to love. In 1949, at the young age of twenty, she married Carroll McDaniel, a former American model, who was several years older than him and whom she barely knew. Together they had two children, but after a few years the marriage fell apart. It is said that he and Carroll McDaniel were in the process of divorcing so that Portago could legitimize his relationship with fashion model Dorian Leigh.

Leigh, eleven years older than Portago, had aborted her first pregnancy in 1954 and then gave birth to a boy, Kim, on September 27, 1955. But to these shocks is added that, during this same time, Portago had a relationship parallel with Linda Christian, an actress of extreme beauty and a promising career in Hollywood, who would divorce the famous heartthrob in 1956. Tyrone Powerprotagonist of great hits such as witness for the prosecution y blood and sand.

Portago’s love affair, which involved his wife Carroll McDaniel, the model Dorian Leigh, the star Tyrone Power and the actress Linda Christian, is a clear sign of the aristocrat’s hectic and unusual life.

His ability to attract beautiful and famous women, along with his adventurous style and tragic end, contributed to the formation of his life as a legend. The combination of his fearlessness on the racetrack and his personal charisma off them made him an unforgettable figure, whose biography and loves continue to fascinate many.

Alfonso de Portago lived according to a philosophy of speed and risk, whose premises placed life as a game in which it was worth risking everything. His carefree attitude and fearlessness made him a hero to many young people of his time.

Remembered as a symbol of the golden age of motorsports, when bravery and passion were the drivers’ main drivers, his legacy continues to resonate in the memories of sports fans and those who knew him. Curves on racing circuits (the Portado curve on the Jarama circuit, Spain) and on bobsleigh tracks (the St. Moritz-Celerina track, Switzerland) were named in his honor.

Portago was always reluctant to race A thousand milesin Italy, due to the difficulty of its curves and because its 1,600 kilometers were developed on roads and routes that were not always in good condition. However, the adrenaline that characterized him made him try his luck and on May 12, 1957, together with his co-pilot Edmund Nelson, Alfonso met a tragic destiny.

Despite his well-known statements about the manner of his death (“I will die of old age or be executed in some serious miscarriage of justice”), it is on a straight section of the road between Cerlongo and Guidizzolo (in the communal territory of Cavriana, approximately 70 kilometers from Brescia) that a devastating accident occurs.

Portago’s Ferrari 335 S, which was in third place, suffered a tire burst while traveling at a speed of 240 km/h. This event caused the car to spin out of control and crash into the crowd on the side of the road.

The car swerved to the left, flew over a canal and killed nine spectators. Among the victims were two children who were hit by a concrete milestone torn from the ground by Portago’s Ferrari and thrown towards where the people were.

But this terrible way of dying has, as expected, a touch of glamor and a share of love. This story emerges from the photograph known as The Kiss of Death, where Linda Christian is seen kissing Portago at a circuit stop just before the tragic accident.

That connection between two loved ones on the slopes and at the peak of the race represents the perfect synthesis that captures Portago’s spirit in time and space. An image entirely crossed by passion, euphoria, danger, provocation that leaves an indelible mark on contemporary cultural memory.