JOSE MOURINHO has been driving football fans round the bend for some time now.
The Portuguese boss usually has a personal chauffeur – but the Special One has got a history when it comes to motors.
From the car bought for Mourinho by his father to the gift from Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich, and the Aston Martin at Inter to the 1996 crash in Barcelona, SunSport takes a look back at Mourinho’s life in cars.
The ex-Spurs chief, who is a fan of rally driving, has employed his own personal driver as he doesn’t like driving in England.
When he was Manchester United boss Mourinho was driven every day from the Lowry Hotel to United’s Carrington Training Base in his own Bentley or Jaguar F-Pace.
My father bought a Renault 5 for me when I was 18, when I’d just got my driving licence. It was silver.”
But in 1981, back in his native Portugal, an 18-year-old Mourinho was on the road as soon as he could.
“My father bought a Renault 5 for me when I was 18, when I’d just got my driving licence. It was silver,” Mourinho said, as quoted by the Telegraph.
“I was at university in Lisbon, which was about 40 miles away from my house.
“I later bought a Honda Civic – the first car I bought myself.”
His dad wasn’t the only person to buy him a car, though.
Fast forward a couple of decades to the February of 2008, just five months after being sacked by Abramovich, and Mourinho had a delivery to his door.
Outside was a 612 Scaglietti Ferrari worth £250,000, and it was one of just 60 produced as part of the Italian supercar’s 60th anniversary.
The surprise gift came after Mourinho had told his former boss that if he could have his choice of motors, he would pick the four-seat Scaglietti.
That may just have been the start of his second coming at Stamford Bridge in 2013.
Before that, Mourinho went to Inter Milan.
After guiding the club to the Treble in 2010, he thought he would reward himself.
“It was the best season of my career,” he told The Sun.
When I bought it I said to my son and to my daughter, ‘That’s not for sale, you must keep it forever.’”
Jose on buying an Aston Martin Rapide
“I won every competition with Inter. We did the famous treble — the league, the cup and the Champions League. At the same time I won the first Fifa gold ball for a manager.
“So, 2010 was the perfect, perfect season and I bought a car, an Aston Martin Rapide.
“When I bought it I said to my son and to my daughter, ‘That’s not for sale, you must keep it forever’.”
It is a long way from the Suzuki Vitara he had while an assistant coach to Sir Bobby Robson at Barcelona in 1996.
But it wasn’t long before that ended up on the scrapheap.
“I had a crash,” Mourinho recalled. “I went with Bobby Robson to sign a contract in Barcelona in 1996, but drove so as not to be spotted in airports.
“It was late and when I was driving back to Portugal I fell asleep.
“I was really lucky – I broke a few ribs and had some stitches in my head, so nothing really big.”
But that wasn’t the only involvement Mourinho has had with car crashes.
In 1985, long before Mourinho rose to prominence as a football manager, he was playing for Comercio e Industria in the Sebutal District League.
After a post-training lunch, a team-mate headed to his car to go home.
As he turned on the ignition the engine exploded, and Mourinho came to his rescue.
The car was on fire and Jose pulled him out. It wasn’t about a question of pride, he was just glad to have saved his team-mate’s life.”
Eladio Parades
Spokesman Eladio Parades said: “The car was on fire and Jose pulled him out.
“It wasn’t about a question of pride, he was just glad to have saved his team-mate’s life.”
Nowadays, Mourinho is mostly seen in the passenger seat of the latest Jaguars.
He is a brand ambassador for British manufacturer Jaguar who appeared to think they were Mourinho’s official spokesman.
In 2016, when he was linked with the United job, the sponsor tweeted to congratulate Mourinho for his new role before it was announced.
Jaguar had let the cat out the bag.
But wherever Joes goes after he was sacked by Spurs, the coach will not be driving himself.
“I don’t like driving in England,” he once said. “I have to be really focused, to drive on the other side of the road.
“I enjoy my driving in Portugal. It annoys me that I don’t enjoy it here.
“I have a driver now, so I can use the phone or watch a movie.”
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
