Net Cars Show: Touring

Among all of Carrozzeria Touring’s post-war work, this sole Pegaso is one of their most thrilling. Being a one-of, that allowed it to be much more daring than standard practice. In 1951, Pegaso was building Spain’s only sports car on a steel tube frame, aluminum V8 engine and rear transaxle. Known as the Z-102, these were meant for the high-end market and attracted work from the Europe’s premier coachbuilders.

Three years into production, Wilfredo P. Ricart, a Spanish car designer, approached Touring to make a new show car on the Z-102 chassis. Pegaso’s mother company, Empresa Nacional de Autocamiones S.A., (ENASA) paid for the work. Like many extravagant Pegasos, the Thrill was planned for the 1953 Concours d’Elegance. A cross-haired grill was the only visual cue that marked the Thrill as a Peagso. Touring styled a completely new body shape and interior that was fitting for the car’s name. The design used unfamiliar yet balanced lines and accentuated them with a high-contrast, red-on-black paint scheme. From the outside, the most immediately noticeable trait is the car’s two flying buttresses that form the leading edge of the rear wings. These are a definite nod to America'a jet-age design, but the rounded edges make the Thrill appear less threatening. (supercars.net)

(Photos from supercars.net, coachbuild.com & mgcarclubantwerp.be)

The 350 GTS was the first convertible in the history of Lamborghini. GTS stood for GT Spyder. For the first time the vehicle was presented to the world at the Turin Auto Show in 1965, two years after the founding of the Lamborghini company. The 350 GTS was built on the 350 GT. Only marginal modifications were made to the original car, the roof was removed naturally. Thinking that the concept would go into reduced production, coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring even designed a hardtop for this car. The windows were altered and the trunk was redesigned to store the fold-up top. The Lamborghini engineers enhanced the design of the whole vehicle with additional elements. This increased the weight from 1050kg to 1088kg. However, Ferruccio Lamborghini and company management were more focused on the construction of high-speed cars and convertibles did not fit in the business plan. As a result, only two prototypes were built.

In 1982, Automobili Lamborghini SpA performed a conversion on another 350 GT. Chassis #0160 was converted into a 350 GTS for a French customer. The 350 GTS had a manually folding, canvas roof. It was possible to purchase an additional metal hard roof for the winter. The interior of the GTS is not different from those of the interior of the normal GT. Some changes have taken place under the hood of the car. The V12 3.5-liter engine can produce 300 hp.

In the 1990s, two 400 GT Spyders were converted from the more powerful 400 GT model by Jerry Fandytis of Arizona.

(lambocars.com, lambo.com.pl, classicdriver.com & ultimatecarpage.com)