When we think of high-performance sports cars from the 1950s, Spain is not the first country to come to mind as the source of such vehicles. However, government support saw the production of the Pegaso sports car as an exercise in engineering excellence. Produced in limited numbers, these classics are highly sought after by enthusiasts. This 1952 Z-102 is 1-of-11 to wear Berlinetta coachwork. It has undergone a meticulous restoration, bringing a host of awards. It is set for a new home, crossing the auction blocks in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 26th. It is listed here at RM Sotheby’s with a guide price of $550,000 – $650,000.
Following World War II, the Spanish Government was keen to showcase the country’s potential as an engineering powerhouse. It contracted ENASA (Empresa Nacional de Autocamiones S.A.) to produce a high-performance sports car under its Pegaso brand. The result was the “Z” series that included the Z-102. The company built eighty-three examples between 1951 and 1958, although they contracted the coachwork of most to Saoutchick, Touring, and Serra. However, eleven cars featured Berlinetta bodies produced by Pegaso. This is one of those cars which spent years owned by the company as a test and development vehicle. It underwent a meticulous restoration under the care of a previous owner in 1990. The result is breathtaking and allowed the car to collect the Best in Class at the 2012 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. Its Deep Blue paint shines magnificently, cloaking flawless aluminum panels. There is no evidence of flaws or defects, and the chrome and glass are equally spotless. As befits a vehicle of this type from the early 1950s, it rolls on a magnificent set of chrome wire wheels, retained by winged centerlock nuts.
If the Z-102’s body is beautiful, its drivetrain is a work of art. Powering this classic is an alloy dry-sumped DOHC 2.8-liter V8 producing 170hp and 160 ft/lbs of torque. The power feeds to a rear-mounted five-speed manual transaxle. The combination may not seem potent, but with the car weighing a mere 2,183 lbs, it could race to 60mph in 8.5 seconds before hitting 120mph. For those craving more, the company released a model powered by a supercharged 3.2-liter version of the same motor that pushed the top speed beyond 150mph. This is impressive for a company that earned its bread-and-butter producing trucks and other commercial machinery. The seller indicates this Z-102 is numbers-matching, with the only non-original item being a single carburetor in place of the factory quad-carburetor induction system. The restorer chose this path to make the car more user-friendly on the rare occasions it sees active service.
The Pegaso’s interior is also pretty stunning, featuring plenty of steel wearing Dark Blue paint and seats wrapped in Red leather. The color combination doesn’t sound attractive but works in this context. The presentation is flawless, with no evidence of wear or physical damage. The dash features an elegant gauge cluster, including a factory tachometer. One unusual item is the shift pattern for the transaxle. It features a dogleg first gear, but the entire shift pattern is reversed compared to the automotive industry standard. First gear is towards the driver (right-hand-drive) and back, with the remaining four ratios selected by moving the shifter to the left. It is a quirk that undoubtedly caught out a few unwary owners who shifted in a hurry.
This 1952 Pegaso Z-102 Berlinetta is a rare beast, and sadly, the exercise in excellence didn’t produce the success envisaged by the Spanish Government. It canceled the program before the decade ended, with Pegaso returning to the production of commercial vehicles. However, for one brief shining moment, Spain was home to the most potent and desirable sports cars in automotive history because the supercharged Z-102 was the world’s fastest production car in 1953. The low production total means that placing a value on this car is challenging, but recent sales results suggest the auction estimate might be slightly conservative. Even if this car is beyond your means, the auction could be worth watching.
Achingly beautiful and intricate car. However I will never forget, while attending Monterey Classic Car Week a few years ago, seeing a stalled Pegaso in the left turn lane heading to Pebble Beach. Fixing these is not a matter of dropping by the nearest Napa.
A superb story from Oct 3. 2019 on Bring A Trailer: ‘Car Stories: Raffi’s 1953 Pegaso Z-102 – The “Thrill” of a Lifetime’. I trust you’ll agree and provide a link for your readers. Thanks
Impossibly rare and not to be found in any barn, There is a pretty good Spanish produced documentary about the history of Pegaso cars that I saw on You-Tube a while back. Worth searching for.
I have the Touring body Z102 version that my father gave me back in 1953. Aurora Plastics made a 1/24th scale screw together kit in blue with rubber tire wire wheels with an opening engine cover. No DOHC V8, just a flat head inline 6. Never seen a real one.
Nice looking car, but waaaayyyyy out of my price range, which even if I had that kind of money, I wouldn’t go for it……
Woinder who made the mill?? Impressive piece of history. Will be interesting to see what it brings. Good luck!
Cheers
GPC
I live in Madrid so have seen a few Pegasos (always in shows, never seen one moving!) and the marque rightly is an emblematic source of pride for Spanish enthusiasts. As Michelle implies, the engine is very complex and you wouldn´t want to rebuild one. The project was extremely advanced and ambitious for its time.
On the history, the design team was led by Wilfredo Ricart, who had previously been with Alfa Romeo (causing both Vittorio Jano and Enzo Ferrari to pursue theiir careers elsewhere). Ricart was recruited back to his native Catalunia to head up ENASA, a nationalised company which Franco tasked with building trucks and buses for an internationally isolated post WW2 Spain. Although they had the bones of Hispano-Suiza to build on, there wasn´t much else.
The car-building program was very much a halo project to train engineers for the Pegaso truck products and to gain publicity. It achieved its objectives in both respects and gained some useful competition successes (including Carrera Panamericana).
It´s open to debate whether the Pegaso car build was expected to make a profit (it didn´t) but the truck and bus product was extremely well-designed and built and did put Spain on wheels in a much more significant way.
One more personal note on this make. I own a Peerless, the British fiberglass car with TR3 running gear. I have rallied it a bit and at its last outing (Monte Shelton NW Classic Rally) an older gentleman approached while I was sitting on the ground fiddling with the lock on the spare tire panel. He looked down at me and announced, “Well, little lady, I am sure you do not know what you have here! This is a Pegaso!” Alas, I had to disabuse him of the notion that the entirely ratty, 18th off the line, never restored British car I was struggling with was not in fact royalty. But at least one more person knows what a Peerless is.
And here is the Pegaso in disguise.
That´s quite a car you have, Michelle! The Peerless is a very strong car which punched and punches well above its weight. And if you squint a bit you can see where the admirer was coming from….particularly as the Peerless ethos morphed into the exquisite Giugario-designed Gordon-Keeble, the greatest lost British GT of the 1960s.
Your post had me look up the history of the Peerless/Warwick cars and I was surprised to find that it is even more complicated than I remember. And even more self-destructive…It seems that the Peerless was built for a while on same trading estate as the Ford GT40 in Slough, home to Lola Cars – a small world of specialists clustured together, which you still get in the UK.
I have seen a ¨modern¨ Pegaso long distance truck here in Santiago, Chile and haved often wondered what became of this make. The truck was magnificent. I seem to recall having seen a Pegaso sports car (a 300?) as a boy at a Frankfujrt auto show in the early 1950´s. It was stunning.
A car for the Jay Leno collection, but he probably has two.
Wow for the car, and wow for the price.
I remember reading a Pegaso article where someone in the UK called a spark plug company looking for an odd plug number, and they asked one of the old-timers in the back to sort it out. He called the guy back, saying “Crikey – you’ve got a Pegaso!”
The screw together car model was from Ideal Models 1955. $85 buys one on E—. If memory serves, I think a roadster was actually vintage raced on the West Coast.
(1) I think this is a design where they had a racing engine first and then built a road car around it. Note the generator is driven from a pulley bolted on the back end of one of the overhead camshafts and the generator is hard up against the firewall. No need for a generator on an open-wheel race car – magnetos are used for the spark. The text says the engine is dry sump which points to a racing origin.
(2) The text also says the owner removed the four webers and replaced them with what looks like a single, dual barrel carb. To do this a new manifold has been cast and it looks to be a perfect job – well done.