Everything has changed. When I was at school and was told I had better learn English, I said: What for? The English are a hell of a long way away!

One of the gunmen guarded the doorway while another pointed a pistol into Fangio's back and ordered him to leave the hotel. During the rest of his life after retiring from racing Fangio sold Mercedes-Benz cars often driving his former race cars in demonstration laps. Fangio had agreed to drive for Maserati in a non-championship race at Monza the day after the Dundrod race but having missed a connecting flight he decided to drive through the night from Paris arriving half an hour before the start.

After retirement Fangio presided as the honorary president of Mercedes-Benz Argentina from 1987 a year after the inauguration of his museum until his death in 1995. In 1940 he competed with Chevrolet winning the Grand Prix International Championship and devoted his time to the Argentine Turismo Carretera becoming its champion a title he successfully defended a year later.