Ricart’s Jewel

In order to understand the Pegaso story, it’s first necessary to understand the man behind the car and the tumultuous times that he lived in.

Wifredo Pelayo Ricart y Medina was born in Barcelona on May 15, 1897. By 1918, he graduated from the Barcelona School of Engineering as an industrial engineer and went to work for a local Hispano-Suiza dealer, before starting his own company in 1920 (Sociedad Anomina Motores Ricart y Pérez). Ricart’s first car debuted in 1922 and featured a 1.5-liter, four-cylinder engine with twin overhead camshafts and four valves/cylinder. By 1927, a 6-cylinder twin-cam competition car called the Ricart España was unveiled. However, political circumstances in Spain at that time resulted in Ricart closing his company by 1931.