8 Beautiful Classic Cars You’ve Probably Never Heard Of – SlashGear

Spain is not well known for its sports cars, but one designer, Wifredo Ricart, tried to change that during the ’50s after a fallout with his Italian former employer, Enzo Ferrari. He moved from Italy to Spain and was tasked with getting the country’s car industry back on its feet after the war, but he only had one condition — the government-supported carmaker, ENASA, would let him design a sports car to beat his old boss at Ferrari.

Ricart’s car was christened the Pegaso Z-102, and its original styling was criticized for its awkward proportions. In response, the designer enlisted the help of several notable coachbuilders to rework the car, with the best-looking design being that of Carrozzeria Touring. The Touring design turned the car from misfit to masterpiece, with sleek, flowing lines that resembled a scaled-down version of the Italian greats of the time. 

Unfortunately, the car was never commercially successful, with only 86 examples of the Z-102 eventually sold and only a handful of those being the Touring design. Ricart was eventually forced to give up his dream of making a world-beating sports car, with Pegaso later phasing out the manufacturing of passenger cars altogether. Ironically, the brand was eventually bought out by Italian commercial vehicle manufacturer Iveco.

[Featured image by Rex Gray via Wikimedia Commons | Cropped and scaled | CC BY 2.0]