Francisco Carrion
Almost three years ago, in which it was the 30th edition of the Auto Retro Show in Barcelona, the Pegaso Touring “Panoramic” star of this article was presented for the first time. As is often the case when it comes to automobiles chaired by the “winged horse”, this unit soon raised great expectations.
Which was? Where did it come from? Who had carried out its restoration? Quickly and thanks to its San Sebastián registration, doubts could be found: It was reference number 74 -according to the book written by Enrique Coma Cros and Carlos Mosquera-, manufactured in 1956 and with chassis number 0103-150-0105, and it belonged to the collection of the prestigious concessionaire C. de Salamanca, Centennial importer of Rolls-Royce, among other renowned brands, which is still in very good health today.
It is therefore one of the last Pegasos, one of those that were assembled outside the factory and based on components from other units, the result of the cancellation of an ambitious project such as launching new passenger car models. Let's see…
[your_quote]"That massive lateral line started at a point and finished in a descending way ... Without a doubt it is a simpler and cleaner design than the previous ones."[/ su_quote]
Illustration by Suzana Bajc
Z-104 ... or Z-103?
The first prototypes of the new powerplant were ready by September 1954, but it was not until May 1955 that the famed Touring bodybuilder created a new design for the Z-103. The aim was to present the new models at the 1955 Paris Motor Show, held in October, and in order to launch a “total” novelty, the Touring designers created a 3-volume body with “flat” sides and a “panoramic” front window of clear American inspiration, all of this previously unheard of in Pegaso.
And don't get confused; this Z-103 "prototype", as well as the other test unit bodied in a convertible by Pedro Serra they mounted the Z-104 engine, but they were always presented as "the new Z-103" and even the propeller was called Z-103 in some exhibitions, although in the internal factory code it continued to differ.
Be that as it may, the new Pegasus aroused great interest and it obtained very good critics on the part of the specialized public, so that Ricart began the pertinent negotiations with Bianchi Anderloni and Gaetano Pozoni - visible heads of Touring - to establish an assembly line of its new bodies in Enasa's own Spanish facilities. The management suggested a transfer of the manufacture of Pegaso automobiles from Barcelona to Barajas, and in 1955 an economic feasibility study had already been carried out for this project.
More or less logical evolution
In 1953 the production of the "Pegasines" it was already considered normalized; Since their introduction in 1951, the Z-102s had received several upgrades and were triumphing in salons and elegance contests. The Pegasus Thrill y Dome They were considered to be some of the most innovative designs of their time, and in the Barcelona factory the trays were prepared for Le Mans and the Bisiluro record-keeper, among others, despite the apparent disinterest on the part of Enasa's “jerifaltes”.
Well, at the beginning of that year and in the midst of all that creative whirlwind, Wifredo Ricart decided to undertake the study of new car models Pegaso: The Z-103 and Z-104. The idea was approved by Enasa's board of directors, so that responsibility for the project was quickly transferred to CETA. This new development was intended for the creation of advanced vehicles, less sporty but equally luxurious and capable for 4 or 5 passengers, so the raging engine used in the Z-102 was considered too "sporty".
With these premises, a new propeller was developed, called "type Z-104" and consisting of an 8-cylinder 90º V with a central camshaft and hydraulic tappets that could cubic 3,9, 4,5 or 4,7 liters. and it produced around 300 hp at 5.500 rpm. At first, and as a test, Ricart decided to use the "old" Z-102 chassis, on which minor improvements had been made in aspects such as suspensions, brakes or some measures.
An aborted project
Even Touring began shipping miscellaneous equipment and supplies to Enasa, including some unfinished bodies. However, it seems that the transfer from Barcelona to Madrid of the assembly section of the Pegaso automobiles was motivated by a covert decision of the Enasa administration to definitively end the “Pegasines” project ... The thing was not profitable in economic terms and the advertising operation to show the world what the state-owned company could give of itself had already borne enough results. In this way, Ricart was faced with the difficult task of having to rescind the commitments made with Touring, which included large financial compensations.
The order had already been sent to the Milan factory to manufacture 25 units of the “definitive” Z-103, that is, the Panoramic Berlineta. This turned out to be a kind of mix between the front and the side of the three-volume prototype, along with the roof and rear of the previous “non-panoramic” Series 1 and 2 Berlineta Touring.
The order, placed on December 7, 1955, included 10 left-hand drive units and 15 right-hand drive units, but given the sudden cancellation of the project, only the first 8 bodies were manufactured, all of them left-hand drive. Even so, in 1956 Pegaso had a stand in several salons, and the new Panoramic Touring body was presented at the Turin Motor Show (held in April of that year) and at the Paris Motor Show, 6 months later.
In these stands there was a vehicle practically identical to the one in the photographs that accompany this article, although in both cases the car lacked an engine. Moreover, that unit was also painted in metallic silver, although externally it had a notable difference: it had gleaming white-band tires, a characteristic that in these "Panoramic" only occurred in those initials that were put on. They were never reassembled, and today none have been restored with this feature.
To Breton de los Herreros
And it is that the life of these last 8 Pegasus was not easy at all from the beginning. Given the cancellation of the project, the assembly and sale of the last units was moved to a small workshop located in the Madrid street of Bretón de los Herreros, where a limited team of six mechanics, under the direction of Wifredo Ricart Jr., dedicated themselves to the maintenance of some and semi-assembly of others. In the case of the “Panoramic” berlinetas, 5 of them were sold at a price of 25.000 pesetas each, being sold completely devoid of mechanics, which included axles, brakes or wheels.
Some owners They chose to install Seat or Alfa Romeo engines, while 3 of them were equipped with "second-hand" mechanics from other Pegasus that had been scrapped. The unit in question, for example, received in 1958 the organs of the so-called “Reference 25”, that is, an old baroque coupe by the bodybuilder Saoutchik. That unit carried chassis number 150-0125 and had been manufactured in 1952, after which it was exhibited in various North American salons.
On his return to Spain he was sold to a resident of San Sebastián, who enrolled him there… and as you can see, in the Bretón de los Herreros workshop not only were mechanical elements transplanted; It was also "tricked" with documentation, since that license plate is the one that now carries the unit of photos. Finally, our protagonist was sold in 1962 to Luciano Soler Ojeda de Vitoria, former owner of the vehicle that donated the mechanics.
According to the "reference" book that we have mentioned before, at this point the Panoramic of our photos received another engine, from one of the first units manufactured; specifically, the Enasa Berlineta “reference 3” assembled in 1951, whose engine bore the number 017 that this unit now displays on its identification plate. This is also distinguishable at first glance if we look at the first-generation cylinder heads with their circular plugs for inspection of the valve springs, which would disappear from the No. 21 engine.
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A Pegaso more car but less Pegaso?
Overall, like all the latest Pegasus, this unit was a compendium of figures: If we make a brief summary, the bodywork is of the "Z-103" type and was intended to mount a "Z-104" type engine, but without However it received a "Z-102" propellant. And if this is one of the last units, mount the moving parts of an intermediate unit ... And the engine of one of the first!
A real gibberish, although the category and beauty of the resulting set cannot be denied. Continuing with his journey through the Spain of the 60s, he passed through another 4 owners, two from Bilbao and another two from Zaragoza, until in 1995 he was acquired by Don Javier Toda, a handyman from C. of Salamanca, for your magnificent collection.
The Pegaso was in acceptable general condition and had received a general overhaul at the end of the 70s, but it was still completely repainted for sheet metal and paint before being exhibited at the first Retromóvil Salon in Madrid held in 1996, after which no He "saw her hair" again until the end of 2013.
The perfect restoration that now looks has required a complete disassembly –including the mechanics- and has been carried out for the most part in the Barcelona workshops of Francisco Palau. The last touches have not been completed until just a few months ago, and its great current state can be seen for yourself in the photographs. In case there is any doubt, its coming-out -circulating- has taken place in the exclusive autobello Madrid, where he has obtained nothing less than the first absolute prize.
And it is that although Panoramic Touring Berlineta have traditionally been reviled in front of other Pegasus bodies, the elegance of their lines cannot be denied, accentuated in this case by the successful metallic silver color in combination with the blue leather upholstery and chrome Borrani wheels.
Anyway, and like everything you have to put a "but" -although in this case it is a trifle-, those radial tires "Michelin X" cannot fail to draw our attention. They are from the classic range and with a design of the time, but perhaps they are not sporty enough for the benefits that are supposed to this authentic national thoroughbred, and the truth is that they are not the most common option among today's Pegasus owners. in day.
Sportiness and elegance
Compared to the previous Berlineta Touring, these new Panoramics were 5 cm longer. The side line was marked by the panoramic windshield and, for the first time, the sides lacked the so famous "bottom step". The nose seemed sharper thanks to the fact that it was now fitted with a bumper, and the characteristic air intakes in the corners of the bonnet had disappeared. All this produced a feeling of "more car" that many authors have called heaviness and lack of sportsmanship ... but hey! Not everything in life is speed. As "to taste the colors", I will tell you that I have to break a spear in favor of these "Panoramic".
Particularly They are one of the Pegasus that I like the most. Maybe it's because of that mix of American and Italian styles, along with that massive lateral line that starts at a point and ends in a descending way. It is undoubtedly a simpler and cleaner design than the previous ones, and although it lacks the “racing” dot, it cannot be denied a marked elegance. Undoubtedly a whole Gran Turismo that perhaps in its lines had the spotlight in the North American market and that as on so many other occasions in the history of the automobile, saw its career drastically truncated.
