1952 Pegaso Z-102 2.8-Litre Cabriolet

heroldius(76)

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Another discovery for me presented during Les Grandes Marques du Monde by Bonhams in Paris in February, this 1952 Pegaso Z-102 2.8-Litre Cabriolet was completely unknown to me. With a coachwork by ENASA (also unknown for me, the more I learn about cars, the more I discover that I know nothing, a bit like in life :-) ), this Spain's car has an estimated price of around € 800,000 ($US 900,000).

History of Pegaso Z-102

Pegaso wad founded in 1946 by the Barcelona-born automotive enginer Wifredo Ricart. Before, he was working for Alfa Romeo on the Tipo 512 Grand Prix. The company with ENASA (Empresa Nacional de Autocamiones SA) was in charge to reorganize the Spain's motor manufacturing industry.

The Pegaso Z-102 was presented in 1951 during the Paris Motor Show, it was the first car built in Spain after WWII. The car was created from the racing car (1953 24 Hours of Le Mans, 1954 Carrera Panamericana...) but adapted for road use. The coachwork of Z-102 was also designed by Pegaso but as Ricart wanted the best design, he asked also to Carrozzeria Touring (Milan, this model was the most elegant and most expensive), Saoutchik (Paris) and Serra (Barcelona). The car was described by L'Automobile (French magazine) as :

"le joyau le plus pur de la mécanique automobile." (the purest jewel of automobile technology).

Specification

The Pegaso Z-102 has a 2.5-litre quad-cam V8 engine producing 165 hp at 6,500 rpm. It was the first road car with this power, Ferrari achieved that only 13 years later with its quad-cam engine). The design of the engine was conceived for competition use with sodium-filled exhaust valves (for better cooling), aluminium pistons and dry-sump lubrication. Only 84 examples were built between 1951 and 1958.