The million-dollar 1950s supercar you never knew existed

You've heard of Ferrari, Maserati, Aston Martin and Alfa Romeo, but the chances of anyone hearing the name "Pegaso" and immediately thinking of a car are slim to none — which is a shame because the Z-102 Series II Berlinetta, coming up for auction this week, is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful early supercars ever built. 

The Berlinetta's chassis was built in Spain by Pegaso using bleeding edge Superleggera technology, which entailed removing massive amounts of non-essential weight and unsightly shape from the chassis with a drill the size of your fist. The naked chassis was then shipped off to Paris where the artists at coachbuilder (like a bespoke tailor, but for cars) Jacques Saoutchik got to work sculpting the interior and exterior to perfection. 

Unlike many clunky touring cars from the day, the Pegaso employed a killer five-speed transmission, that when paired up with the right engine pushed this beauty well over 160 miles per hour.

Unfortunately the engine in this chassis — while spectacular for being completely original to the car — isn't the more desirable supercharged 3.2-liter V8 that pumped out a whopping 360 horsepower, more than any other street legal car of the day.

There are only rumored to be a handful of these left, and it wouldn't be a stretch to say that this one most exemplifies the beautiful, minute detail of its construction.

Every body panel you see is original to the car, a truly rare occurance considering this particular example lived in a barn for 30 years after its last owner (a retired Air Force pilot) put it in hibernation.