“My first race abroad was Monaco,” said Stewart in the Fangio documentary A Life of Speed. “But the most important thing that happened was, when I won the race, I was still in the car, and the first man that came to shake my hand was Juan Manuel Fangio.
“For me, it was a dream because he was my ultimate hero. He was the best racing driver that I’ve ever seen drive. He was the epitome of the great sportsman that won races in a variety of different cars.”
In the film, Stewart also remembered the funeral he was present at 26 years ago.
“I’ll never forget it. Balcare is a small town, with a typical Argentinian square. There were 10,000 people there, and there was complete silence. Then someone suddenly clapped. The whole village exploded, amazing, for the love of Fangio.”
The collection of racing cars by the Argentinian’s new resting place includes his streamlined Mercedes W196, with which he took two world titles, a Maserati 250F in which he achieved the same feat, a Lancia-Ferrari D50, and cars that he used to compete in early rallies.