Pegaso's brief revival

In my recent piece about the demise of the Pegaso sportscars which I saw at Barcelona in 1950, Andy Charlton of Ricardo Consulting Engineers at Shoreham by Sea has drawn my attention to a rebirth of this promising make. He tells me that in 1988 International Automotive Design of Worthing were given the task of re-engineering the Pegaso, using modern technology, to promote Pegaso trucks. However, the original design was apparently mainly retained, apart from incorporating modifications required by changed legislation. Tony Gardner was in charge of the project and incorporated, in addition, a few styling alterations. The advanced Pegaso V8 engine was replaced by the excellent Rover V8 power unit which was a development of the American Buick light-alloy engine, mated to an Alfa 75 transaxle. The leaders of the venture were Jim Mason, now MD of Daewoo Worthing Technical Centre, and Trevor Mayhew, also of Daewoo, whose Technical Centre now comprises a large part of the IAD engineering team and its premises.

It was intended to build some 60 Pegasos, but only 15 had been assembled when Iveco absorbed Pegaso, making the scheme redundant. IAD then took on the rights along with the Spanish government, launching it in 1992, but when IAD was taken over by Mayflower the project foundered.