One day in the early 90s I received a panic call from Ray Fry, art director and former creative team-mate at MacLaren Advertising in Toronto. "Philip," he said, "I've been hired as co-host for a travel group to the Pebble Beach Concours. I'm supposed to know everything but... what the heck is a Pegaso?" Well, of course, I wasn't going to let down a buddy and so I filled him in on the background of this rare and expensive Spanish motor car. Launched in 1951 as a replacement for the revered Hispano-Suiza, it was intended to be a sports car of the highest quality. All Pegasos were powered by dry-sump V-8s ranging from 2.8 to 4.7 liters producing up to 300 hp and featuring torsion bar suspension and 5-speed gearboxes with ZF limited-slip differentials. Several body types were manufactured, all of them advanced for their time. Unfortunately they were prohibitively expensive and only eighty-eight were made, one being this gorgeous 1954 Pegaso Z102B Saoutchik Berlinetta, second-place finisher in the Postwar Touring class at Pebble Beach. Nigel Matthews informs me that it looks much better in motion than standing still.

[Photo: Nigel Matthews]