This post is in the vein of Ryan's "find design inspiration wherever you can" blog. In the early '50s, a Spanish truck & bus manufacturer named Pegaso built a few very exotic sports cars. They were powered by 4-cam V8s of various displacement (mostly around 3 liters) and with a variety of power outputs, the most extreme equipped with a roots blower. They weren't very successful in compe***ion or in the marketplace, but they did some very innovative stuff. They did, for a brief time, hold a record for highest top speed for a production car (something like 162 mph, as I recall). The production models were called Z102 and Z103, and some of them were very good looking, but I'm only pointing to the really wild stuff today. The first one I recall seeing around 1953, and was identified then as the "Barcelona Special". Subsequently it was named "El Dominicano" or "Berlineta Cupula", and was apparently a show car built on a Z102 ch***is. I was then, and still am, blown away by the radical styling with skirted wheels, side exhausts, and the huge bubble rear window. The girl is an extra-cost accessory, but very desirable. The second car was called "Thrill" and knocks me out for its weird flying-****ress roof and the black-and-red color scheme. No point to this; just thought some of you would find it interesting.
In the early 90's I finished up the restoration of a Z 102 Pegaso. It started life as a regular model and was in the company display at the London Motor Show in 50 or 51. The first owner drove it for a while and then sent it back to the factory to be converted to BE-2 specification, the same as the factory backed race cars. In that form it had a supercharger with a hood scoop, cut away fenders and a two piece windshield which replaced the original curved unit. The cars were an engineering marvel with torsion bar suspension (longitudinal in front and cross at the rear) 5 speed transaxle in the rear and inboard rear brakes. The rear hubs were linked by a deDion tube and located by a reversed wishbone. The quad cam motor had gear drive cams (the regular street version used chains), dry sump with the tank built into the radiator as a heat exchanger and the generator driven off the backof the left side intake cam. I will scan some of the pix that I have of the car and post them later. Roo
These cars are just beautiful works of art. Can't say anything more than that. Thanks foe bringing them to the HAMB.
In searching for pictures, I ran across references to both Touring and Saoutchik as having built Pegaso bodies. I didn't see any mention of Figoni, but they may well have done some too. I'm no expert on their history.
I see some influences that ended up on the AMX. I have some info on em in my library somewhere but I wouldn't know where to begin to look. Stylish is just the begining. Wonderful pics of some way kool cars. I too wanna thank you for em.
I don't know if you guys know this or not, but these cars were actually designed and built by Count Chocula!!
(Actually, that's a photo of Don Wilfredo Ricar, from the Peg***o 50th anniversary site...kinda creepy, ain't he?) Cool post, though. These are really beautiful cars.
I remember seeing a pic of a yellow Pegaso on the cover of Mechanix Illustrated or Popular Mechanics in 1953.The heading was kind of wild because they cost $29,200 dollars! That's when you could buy a full boat Cadillac for about $4,000. Very innovate cars.
It's the articles from that period that I remember, too. The Barcelona/Dominicano/Cupula car was the one usually featured; here it is in yellow. I don't know whether there were more than one of these built. The two cars behind the yellow one are both Pegasos, too.
Yes there were two Coupe/Cupula/Cupola's made......Ch***is numbers 120 and 121 (also seen it written as 0-0120 & 0-0121).......One was yellow with a dark red interior and red wire wheels.....Often referred as Rosa De Te or the tea rose. This car is in a museum in Holland at this time and is painted silver (with red wire wheels).....The other was by some accounts beige with a green interior and chrome wire wheel (very similar to other Pegaso sport cars)........Some writings state (re: Ultimatecarpage.com) only one survives.....The Piel de Toro person states this car was destroyed by the factory...No idea why...... However looking at the picture you have shown, that is also in Auto Quarterly, and on Piel de Toro Forums, while yellow in color, has a green interior and chrome wire wheels. The supposed destroyed car...... Also the setting may be the USA in that the cars are a 52(?) Ford station wagon, an MGA, another sports car (Allard ??) and a 52-54 Dodge pickup......All the cars, including the Pegasos, appear to have American license plates (???) of the mid 50's era.......California??? I'm making a super wild a** guess that the so called destroyed car was not destroyed, but sold to someone in the US or Canada and it's in a private collection, in some barn or garage.....????????
These are so cool - seem to borrow from the Alfa BAT cars somewhat. I´ve never even seen one in real life.
Years ago there was one sitting outside of a yard in Collierville,TN area.It was the Paris show car.The guy was a "collector". Lots of cool stuff in there. He wouldn't sell it.Finally moved it in the back because people wore the hinges out opening the doors.This was mid 70's. Whole yard is gone now.
What are you guys smoking? Mechanical marvels, perhaps. But only the tail looks ok to me... and from a LONG distance. Gary
I remember seeing an article in a magazine in the late '50's about the "world's most expensive car". $29,000 seems to be the number I remember as well.
I seem to remember a series of replicas being planned in the '80s - don't know if they were ever built - but with Rover (Buick) V8s instead of the 4-cam. It was part of the '80s cl***ic-car bubble, when a lot of that sort of thing was going on.
Not sure if anyone is still reading this post or not, but I owned the red and black Pegaso for 16 years. It was one of the most amazing cars I ever drove and later restored. Twin cam V8 had lots of pull to it when you were on it hard. I used to drive it a fair amount but it became too valuable to really play with so I sold it in 1995. The yellow car was restored as well (El Dominicano) and returned to the proper silver and red color scheme. At one time, that car was actually chopped into a convertible - thankfully the owner saved the roof for the person who later restored it.
Raffi, you are indeed a lucky man to have owned the "Thrill". What a wild and beautiful car. I had never heard about El Dominicano being decapitated, and later restored. Good fortune, that; I can't imagine what it would cost to replace that rear window. For anyone interested in the LA area, the current "Supercars" exhibit at the Petersen includes a Saoutchik-bodied Pegaso convert. This one has a mild version of the V8 engine with just a single 2-barrel.
I seem to recall this coupe being written up in R&T about 2-3 decades ago. Personally, I cant really see the percentage in a Rover engined replica, the engine was what made these cars really special.
Nope! It was a similar flamboyant "carrossier" from Paris: Saoutchik. They made a total of 18 bodies (9 diverse models of wich 4 one-off) out of the 90 total bodies ever made. Carrozzeria Touring of Milano did some 45 including the Thrill. Serra of Barcelona did some 7 (2 one-off) and the balance includig the "Rosa de Te" or as you say "Dominicano" and the iconic "Bisiluro" were designed and made by the Pegaso works . Total production of complete cars was 84.
Hello Raffi., Glad you enjoyed the Thril so long time. I also have closely related to it as a friend of both the guy who helped you tor restore it, and the guy who bought it from you. As you probably know, the Thrill has changed ownership again and now resides in Belgium. By the way, the so called now " El Dominicano" was actually nicknamed "Rosa de Te" by the Pegaso works due to the tricky paint job scheme -a mix of yellow and light brown- performed a the works department, using with a couple of paint guns simultanously. The "El Dominicano" apellative comes from the fact the car was adquired by L. Trujillo, the then president of the Dominican Republic and sponsor of the works Touring-bodied spyder seen at the V Carrera Panamericana.
Interesting your post ROO: As far as I remember, at the London Motor Show of 1952, the Pegaso stand exhibits were the "Cupula" i.e.: the first version of the " Rosa de Te", along with the first coupe built by Saoutchik and the naked ch***is with rolling cutaway mechanicals, specially prepared for exhibitions. Outside the Earls Court was parked the special lighweight development coupe, for press demos. This one-off car was nicknamed "El Cangrejo" ("the Crab" ). Except the first prototype, all the engines sported gear-driven cams.
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