Pegaso Z-102 Artwork
Fernando Hoyos captures the moments before Pegaso’s Z-102 sports car’s record-setting Belgian speed run.
In the 1950s, one means of gaining publicity for car factories was to try and beat a category record. Pegaso, a new firm that was showing some promise, did such a try in 1953. They chose as the place for it a well known flat straight on a Belgian highway near the town of Jabbeke. The driver was the factory’s test driver, Celso Fernandez. The car was to be the “Bisiluro,” a concept car in which the driver sat on one side, between the front and back wheels, with the engine almost at his side (so as to keep most of the mass centrally placed) A little after the start of the trials, the Bisiluro broke down and was substituted by the backup car, a Pegaso Z102 Touring Barchetta, with which Celso managed to beat several class records.
