PEGASO. The first Pegaso was exhibited at the 1951 Paris Show and set the automotive world buzzing,

The first Pegaso was exhibited at the 1951 Paris Show and set the automotive world buzzing, for its specification was advanced, its appearance striking and its background extraordinary — an improb-able mix of a yearning for prestige, frustrated personal ambition, and a finishing school for technical craftsmen. It lacked the one essential ingredient of commercial sense; thus the marque Pegaso flowered only briefly ... A Spanish national commercial vehicle company, ENASA, was set up in the one-time Hispano Suiza factory in Barcelona in 1946, and Wilfredo P Ricart was appointed to run it. He had a wide background, and a particular reputation as an engine designer. He got ENASA on the rails, then lavishly equipped a department where sophisticated engineering could be practised. Its energies were directed to an advanced GT car to be almost entirely built in-house. The basis was a dry-sump twin-ohc alloy V-8, initially of 2474cc but enlarged to 2.8 or 3.2 litres in the definitive Z102, with a supercharging option (even a two-stage supercharger, although it seems unlikely that this attracted any customers). Claimed power outputs ranged from 165bhp for the first unit, to 225bhp for the blown 3.2s. Use of a transaxle, with gearbox behind the rear axle driving forward to a 7X-type limited-slip differential, made for a spacious cockpit. Torsion bars were used in the suspension, with a de Dion axle at the rear. Disc brakes would have been a benefit to these heavy cars, but were not then available to Pegaso; 14-inch ventilated drums were therefore used, inboard at the rear. A variety of bodies was mounted on the Z102's strong platform-type chassis, the largest number by Saoutchik, and the most attrac-tive coupes and spyders by Touring, but Pegaso's own coupe lacked overall balance with its deep flanks and heavy nose treatment. Top speed of a 3.2 coupe, the most common type, approached 190kph (120mph). Pegaso's competition efforts were largely confined to minor Spanish events — certainly its successes were. A twin-hull device, the Bi-torpedo with 2.5-litre supercharged engine, was used in record attempts, but two coupes entered for Le Mans in 1953 failed to start. A 3.2-litre spyder showed well in the 1954 Carrera Panamericana before crashing. A Z103 was launched in 1955, but the end of Pegaso cars was less than two years away, by which time total production was estimated at around 110 cars. Largely hand-built, complex, costly and temperamental, there was really no place for these Pegasos in the 1950s.

Specification Engine: 90-degree V-8; 85 x 70mm, 3178cc; twin ohc per bank; Weber carburettor; 195bhp at 6000rpm. Gearbox: five-speed manual. Chassis: platform; front suspension independent by double wishbones, torsion bars and dampers; rear suspension by de Dion tube, radius arms, torsion bars and dampers; four-wheel drum brakes. Dimensions: wheelbase 234cm/92in; front track 132cm/52in; rear track 129cm/51in.