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And How! 4-11: Pegaso in New York

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And How! is a new regular feature in VeloceToday, just right for those stories which are too short or too little or news items that don’t qualify as full length articles.

Mystery of the New York Auto Shows

If looks could kill. An unhappy model decorates the Trujillo Pegaso. Photo by Jerry Lehrer.

Not exactly designed for an evening gown, the Pegaso was one of at least three at the 1953 New York Auto Show. The knockout show car was chassis 0121. Photo by Jerry Lehrer.

A happier sort in the Touring spyder, which is chassis 0118. The plexiglas-covered chassis can be seen in the background. Photo by Jerry Lehrer.

The 1953 New York International Motor Sports Show was held from April 4th through April 12th and had a lot to offer. The Alfa Disco Volante was on display, straight from its showing at Geneva. The new Austin Healey 100 was also on display, a great new sports car for under $3000.

But it was the Pegaso display that nearly brought down the house. But which house? According to Tony Adriaensens:

The Pegaso stand had a white Saoutchik coupé and another in fire-engine-red flanked the Perspex-enhanced display chassis that was already shown at the Paris Salon and Earl’s Court. This stripped chassis exposed the quad overhead cam alloy V8 with dry-sump lubrication, 5-speed transaxle, torsion bar suspension and deDion rear end with inboard brakes. Main attraction however was the one-off supercharged Z102 ‘BE CUP’ offered for sale at $29,220, the most expensive car in the show. Nicknamed ‘Tea Rose’ for its iridescent almost pink to yellow paint job that bloomed as it grew paler from rocker panel to roof, it was purchased immediately by Dominican dictator Rafael Leonidas Trujillo.

Photographer Jerry Lehrer took these photos of the Brewster Automotive Corporation stand with a number of Pegasos; the Tea Rose, the Touring Spyder, two Saoutchik bodied cars and the plexiglas covered chassis displaying the mechanicals. These photos are not identified by year or location, and Tony was writing not about these images but of the International Motorsports Show in particular. We always assumed that these photos reflected that event. But in doing further research, we find a lot of confusion.

And here is where we need your help, dear reader. We don’t think these were taken at the International Motor Sports Show after all, which was held at the Grand Central Palace, where indeed the Pegasos were also displayed, but at the New York World Motor Sports show held earlier at Madison Square Gardens (III) on February 21, 1953. And of course, don’t forget the Harford, CT. show!

Your comments are welcome.

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Comments

  1. The site below may give some clues, and it includes great pics of the Pegaso display. It includes 1952-1956 New York shows, The World Motor Sports Show at Madison Square Garden and the International Motor Sports Show:
    http://reservatory6.blogspot.com/2013/07/new-york-city-auto-shows-1952-56.html
    I came across the site while researching a ‘special’ I had discovered and acquired. The only photos I could find of my car were two period snapshots I had found elsewhere, which identified the show as being in California! I knew it was my car, and was confident it had never been in California. Upon further ‘magnifying’ (these are tiny snapshots!), I realized my car was sitting at the show next to the Rockefeller, a one-off car which I believe was only ever shown at one show….The World Motor Sports Show in New York. In the background of my snapshops is a vendor’s banner “California Speed & Sports Shop”, so that is evidently why the photos were mis-identified. I also found it helpful that the Fiat Zagato and Adler Trumph have placards in front of them, with graphics matching the placard in front of my car.

  3. Notice the banner in booth for Brewster Motors . They were located
    at Oyster Bay on Long Island, Shortly after the New York show I
    wrote them for literature, and received a nice packet including an
    Owners manual in Morraco leather!

    Curiously, one of their cars, a blue coupe by Touring did a tour across
    America and landed in Pasadena at the Peter Satori dealership where I
    saw it that year and then on to San Francisco for display, it was all so
    exciting, just 18 months after their debut at Paris Salon 1951.

    Jim Sitz
    Oregon

  4. Mario Laguna wrote the definitive Pegaso history ‘La Aventura Pegaso’ (in Spanish only and now out of print I believe) and has this to say about chassis 0118:
    Designed by Anderloni and Ricart and built by Touring it was known as ‘El Tibidado’ and first shown in Paris in 1952. It went back to Touring for some better weather protection modifications – those Plexiglass wind deflectors included – before being shown at the World Motor Sports Show from February 21st to March 1st 1953. However, chassis 0121 which was first shown at the Paris Salon in October ’52 was then shown at a ‘Salon’ in New York before being bought by Trujillo for 29 big ones. There is curiously a photo on page 28 of the car with a sign on the wall behind ‘EXIT TO 49 ST.’. Grand Central Palace was on Lexington between 47th and 48th, close, but no cigar. Madison Square Garden is over on 32nd, and has been since 1968, but the previous version was on 8th Avenue between 49 and 50. This sign is visible in some of the photos in the blog referred to above by Bob, as is the Brewster Oyster Bay sign, although with the car at a different angle in relation to same from the photo featured above. Possibly the base the car sits on was revolving? Or it was moved during the show? I have emailed a link to this page to Mario to see if he has anything to add.

  5. Fantastic how these things can come together; thanks to Pegasin’s link above to the Youtube film my suspicion about the car being on a revolving base is confirmed. That explains the different angles of the available photos. Thanks.

  6. I’m pretty sure Jerry Lehrer’s images were taken at Madison Square Garden and not at the Grand Central where mine were taken – also, the Touring Spider was not present at Grand Central – I’ll try to get some images to Pete for him to publish –

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