Stuttgart Racing driver Juan Manuel Fangio was the leading figure in Mercedes-Benz's campaign to win the Formula 1 World Championship in the 1954 and 1955 seasons. Fangio formed an almost symbiotic partnership with the W 196 R racing car: "It's the perfect car. The machine which every driver dreams about their whole life long," he once said of the Silver Arrow. Fangio drove to a total of five Formula 1 world titles in vehicles from four different manufacturers. There was something very special about his relationship with Mercedes-Benz though. He had already been working as a dealer for the Stuttgart-based brand in Argentina since 1951. And following the end of his racing career, he became President of Mercedes-Benz Argentina S.A. in 1974. He died in Buenos Aires on 17 July 1995.