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 axle, the Z-102 was a cost-no-object sports car, built with racing in mind. Designed by former head of engineering at Alfa Romeo, Wilfredo Ricart, the Pegaso showed incredible promise and competed in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Carrera Panamericana, but ultimately fewer than 84 examples of the Z-102 were built.

Born as a first-series Touring-bodied berlinetta, this Z-102 was sold new to Juan Jover, the first Spanish driver to race in Formula 1, as well as a Scuderia Pegaso team driver. After sustaining injuries from a crash in a Z-102 Competition Spider at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1953, Jover required a right-hand-drive car, and accordingly had this car converted by the factory. Additionally, this Z-102 was the first example to feature twin four-barrel Weber carburetors. Jover’s first race with this car was the hill climb at Rabassada in Barcelona in June 1954, followed by the Vuelta a Cataluña in May 1955, as seen in period images within the car’s extensive file.

Jover then sold the Pegaso to Manuel Trinxet in 1956. Sr. Trinxet sent the car to Virgilio Conrero in Torino for racing upgrades. Conrero was a talented engineer who served in the Italian Air Force in WWII. Following the war, he redirected his engineering skills towards race cars, preparing entries for the Mille Miglia and other sports car races throughout the 1950s. Larger, more powerful Maserati-derived drum brakes were installed by Conrero, and as a result the wheels had to be farther offset, to prevent interference while competing in hill climbs and other races.

The heir to one of Spain’s largest textile families, Enrique Coma-Cros dedicated his life to racing cars, whether in this very Pegaso, or by founding Escudería Montjuich, a Barcelona-based privateer racing team that campaigned Ferraris and Porsches at top driving events throughout Europe in the 1960s. Pegaso was a marque in which he took particular interest, producing the book, Ricart-Pegaso: La Pasión del Automóvil, a story surrounding the firm and its designer. Coma-Cros purchased this car from Sr. Trinxet in 1959. He owned many Pegasos and reportedly always remarked that this was by far the best he had ever driven.

In late 1959, Coma-Cros commissioned Pedro Serra to transform this Z-102 into a spider, a job which reached completion in March 1960. Serra’s Barcelona-based coachworks built entire bodies for Pegasos and performed modifications to existing cars such as this one. Following this conversion, he entered the Sant Feliú de Codines Hill Climb in September 1960, and secured 1st in his category. In 1965, the Z-102 was acquired through a partnership with friends Antonio Arderiu, Sr. Cascante, and Sr. Calsina. Years later, Sr. Arderiu took sole ownership of the car.

In 2011, the car came into the possession of the current owner, a noted Pegaso expert and collector, through Sr. Arderiu’s son. Since that time, the engine, brakes, suspension, and other ancillaries have been sympathetically restored. The engine was rebuilt, retaining as many original components as possible, and replacing worn parts where necessary. The cosmetics were only restored as needed to preserve the Pegaso’s original character. While rebuilding the engine, the owner noted that racing camshafts, capable of 7,000 rpm, and lightweight timing gears were present.

With its Touring coachwork, period Serra spider modification, special induction system, and impressive short list of owners, this car is essential in telling the story of the Pegaso Z-102. The opportunity to acquire such a special example surely will not come again. For the discerning collector, the time to procure this athletic and striking-looking example of Pegaso’s racing pedigree, eligible for concours and driving events worldwide, is now.