The Pegaso Z-103 is a Spanish

sports car A sports car is a car designed with an emphasis on dynamic performance, such as handling, acceleration, top speed, the thrill of driving and racing capability. Sports cars originated in Europe in the early 1900s and are currently produced by ...

produced by

Pegaso Pegaso (, "Pegasus") was a Spanish manufacturer of trucks, buses, tractors, armored vehicles, and, for a while, to train apprentices, and have a good brand image, some sports cars. The parent company, Enasa, was created in 1946 and based in the ...

from 1955 to 1958. The Z-103 was the second, and last, sports car made by

before the company switched their focus back to commercial trucks. The car had little success and only 3 were known to have been built. A Z-104 sedan had also been in the works but the idea never reached fruition.

History

The Z-103 was introduced in 1955 as a successor to the Z-102, the company's previous offering. The Z-103 was supposed to use a range of higher displacement V8 engines that swapped the Z-102's complex overhead cams for a simpler

overhead valve An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...

set up. The construction remained the same as the old model with bodies constructed from part steel, part aluminum.

Performance

had planned to offer the Z-103 with a choice of a 3.9, 4.5 or 4.7 liter

V8 engine A V8 engine is an eight-cylinder piston engine in which two banks of four cylinders share a common crankshaft and are arranged in a V configuration. The first V8 engine was produced by the French Antoinette company in 1904, developed and us ...

, which could be equipped with an optional supercharger. One engine, equipped with upgraded carburetors and an optional supercharger, reportedly produced and was claimed to be capable of reaching a top speed of .

Production

Production estimates for the Z-103 vary but most sources say only 3 original cars were built, one of which was a convertible and another an engine-less press car used for auto shows. Additionally, another Z-103 was assembled in 1962 from spare parts leftover from the production of the original cars.

Continuation models

In 1988, financiers of the country enlisted the help of British design firm IAD (International Automotive Design) to create a continuation model of the Z-103 to promote

trucks. IAD changed certain details about the original in order to make the replica a better and safer car to drive, as well as to comply with current legislation. They were powered by an all aluminum 3.9L Rover V8 mated to an Alfa 75 transaxle and the bodies were based on the 1955 Z-103 Spider by Serra. IAD had plans to build around 60 but only 11 were built in total.

References

{{Commons category, Pegaso Z103 Cars of Spain Grand tourers Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Convertibles Coupés Cars introduced in 1955