70 years of Pegaso Z-102: a forgotten car brand worth remembering

This year’s anniversary list includes several brands that are partly dormant, or faded into oblivion. Yet the 70 year old Pegaso sportcars deserve much more attention.

Pegaso was a Spanish company noted for its trucks and motor coaches and also produced high-end sports cars for a short but memorable period of seven years. Pegaso’s chief technical manager was Wifredo Ricart, who earned a reputation as chief engineer at Alfa Romeo, designing the successful Tipo 512. In 1945, he was hired in his home country before he could take up a job in the US at Studebaker. Instead of taking that flight, he signed up to lead the creation of a new Spanish automotive group, ENASA, that consolidated the leftover of Hispano-Suiza’s Spanish operations. Pegaso became a major commercial vehicle company that also spawned an impressive series of luxury coupés.

The Pegaso Z-102 was the most renowned sports car of the brand, available in coupé and cabriolet version, with individual bodyworks furnished by coachbuilders.

The model was introduced in 1951 and remained in production until 1958, with a total production of about 80 cars. The car was the fastest production car in the world at the time of its introduction, reaching a top speed of 150 mph (243 km/h) in Belgium.

The Z102 is not a common sight, but every year brought at least one occasion to see one of these exotic rarities at classic car shows or Concours d’elegance beauty contests. The point of reference is still the 2018 Pegaso exhibition at Autoworld, where the curators managed to find over a dozen specimens.

For the next birthday brand, click the article below or scroll to the bottom for the next article!