Unveiled at the Paris Motor Show in 1951, the Pegaso Z-102 was a world-class sports car, built under an unlikely parent company, ENASA (Empresa Nacional de Autocamiones S.A.), a commercial truck manufacturer based in Barcelona. With its all-aluminum, dual overhead cam, desmodromic valve, dry sump V-8 engine, and De Dion rear transaxle, the Z-102 was a cost-no-object sports car, built with competition in mind. Designed by Wifredo Ricart, former head of engineering at Alfa Romeo, the Pegaso showed incredible promise and competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Carrera Panamericana, but ultimately less than 84 examples of the technologically advanced Z-102 were built.

This Z-102 is one of only seven Berlinetta Series IIs to have received coachwork by Jacques Saoutchik in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb northwest of Paris. According to a report on file by historian Jonathan Sierakowski, the car was displayed at the Paris Motor Show in October 1954, presented in white with a contrasting metallic grey roof. Alongside it was a Touring-bodied berlinetta, a second Saoutchik-bodied berlinetta, and a Z-102 chassis clothed in a translucent Touring-style Perspex body, built to show off the exotic mechanical marvel of the dual overhead cam V-8 engine and five-speed transaxle of Pegaso’s own manufacture.

After making its appearance in Paris, this Pegaso was sold to its first owner, Don Julian Sanchez Arenguena of Madrid, in February 1956. Mr. Arenguena’s name is inscribed on a tin plate affixed to the underside of the car’s engine lid. He kept the Berlinetta for two years before it was acquired by José Espinosa Freire of Granada, Spain, who subsequently sold the car to Louis Rosell of Madrid in 1961.

Garland Burke was a US Air Force pilot who was first stationed in Madrid in 1955. Mr. Burke acquired this Pegaso two months after it came into Mr. Rosell’s possession. By the mid-1980s, Mr. Burke had brought the car back to his home in Olympia, Washington. While in Mr. Burke’s care, the Z-102 was largely kept in static storage, and was photographed with faded blue paint.

The Pegaso’s next owner was Arthur L. Foley III, of Riverside, California. Mr. Foley acquired the car in 1989 with the intent to return the French-bodied, Spanish sports car to its original luster. He entrusted renowned Phil Reilly & Co of Corte Madera, California, to conduct the cosmetic restoration. At the time, the Pegaso was painted red with a black roof with a tan leather interior. During this restoration, the exotic 2.8-liter V-8 was rebuilt in Europe. Upon completion, the Z-102 made its debut at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® in 1994, when Pegaso was a featured marque. Foley also drove the car on the Colorado Grand, following its concours debut.

Next, the Pegaso was acquired by collector Jim Patterson of Louisville, Kentucky. No stranger to the concours scene, Mr. Patterson has presented multiple classics, which have received Best of Show honors at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance®. Mr. Patterson entrusted RM Auto Restoration of Ontario, Canada, to restore the Pegaso’s exterior to a more period-correct pearlescent white and metallic gray, two-tone color scheme. The interior was trimmed in complementing gray leather.

Debuting once again at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance® in 2013, the Pegaso would go on to receive an Amelia Award in the Pegaso class at the 2016 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance. Under the ownership of the consignor, and 29 years after its first appearance at Pebble Beach, this Z-102 was once again included in the Pegaso class there in 2023.

With its flamboyant Saoutchik coachwork, Paris Motor Show history, and award-winning restoration, this Berlinetta is among the most storied and extravagant examples of the Pegaso Z-102. The opportunity to acquire such an example is surely not easily repeated. For the discerning collector, the time to procure this Saoutchik-bodied Pegaso – one of just five such examples known to survive – is at hand.