The Online Magazine for Italian and French Classic Car Enthusiasts
Photos and story by Hugues Vanhoolandt
From the VeloceToday Archives, November 2018
As you know, Pegasos are very rare sports cars that were manufactured in Spain between 1951 and 1956. The main goal of the company was to build trucks, vans and buses for which there was a need in the context of Spain’s economic recovery after the difficult times of the Spanish civil war and WWII.
By David Beare
The name Pegaso isn’t familiar to many people other than a post-1945 generation of Spanish truck and bus drivers, plus some classic car enthusiasts who may have heard of (but probably never seen) that almost mythical sports-car, the Pegaso Z-102. The Pegaso company was named after another mythical beast, Pegasus, the winged horse, except the Spanish company logo lacked wings – Mobil Oil in the US had trademarked a Pegasus with wings in the early 1920s.
By Pete Vack
As it would be for many a classic car, it was Ken Purdy who introduced the Yanks, (and I would venture to guess a few Brits as well) to the Hispano-Suiza Alfonso. Writing circa 1950, his chapter in Kings of the Road, “Hisso and Isotta, Isotta and Hisso”, elaborated on the merits of the two greatest cars of the inter-war period. Purdy recounted that Hispano-Suiza did not actively participate in racing. Only for a short while before WWI was competition considered, primarily due to the urgings of King Alfonso XIII. In 1909 Alfonso declared that a 226 mile race would be established near Barcelona and yes, Hispano-Suiza was obliged to enter, thank you.
Photos by Jonathan Sharp
Where the cars are
What, even more from Retro? This is part 2 of Sharp’s Retro, covering Fiats to Renaults. While it seems like overkill, Retro is big enough for the like of four or five great correspondents and photographers, including the amazing Jonathan Sharp from the U.K, the magical Hugues Vanhoolandt from Belgium, the dean of all motoring correspondents Graham Gauld, who lives in France, and the evergreen ever-present Italian Alessandro Gerelli. It is where the Italians and French cars meet in glorious abundance.
And so, we do cover it well. It is almost like being there, minus the usually dismal weather. Enjoy!
–Pete Vack, Editor
One of our favorite shows is the “Best of France and Italy”, held every year on the grounds of Woodley Park in the L.A. area. It is low key, a true enthusiasts gathering, and brings out a great variety of unusual French, Italian, Spanish, Brazilian and Czechoslovakian cars. Don Hodgdon was there for us.[Ed.]
Story and photos by Don Hodgdon
Rain was falling when I woke up Sunday morning, but it passed through quickly and I left Santa Barbara under sunny skies. I had thought twice about heading down to Woodley Park, having my doubts that anyone would show up. While the numbers were down from past years, considering the rain there was a good group of cars. Alfas and Fiats, along with a healthy group of Citroens made up the bulk of the show, and I think there were almost as many Tatras (3) as there were Ferraris.
[Read more…] about Best of France and Italy 2011
Hispano Suiza with a stunning dual cowl phaeton, bodied by D’Iteren Freres is one of the prize cars of the San Francisco Academy of Art.
Story by Brandes Elitch, Photos by Petya Elitch..
Riddle me this. One of the greatest car collections in the world is private, not open to the public, and yet you can see it whenever you want, any time of day. There are over eighty fully restored cars, primarily big prewar Classics: Auburn, Cord, Duesenberg, Packard, Cadillac, Pierce Arrow, Rolls, Delage, Hispano, Lincoln, and more. Moreover, thousands of people see these cars every day. Can you answer this riddle?
[Read more…] about Academy of Art and their Automobile Museum