Enzo Ferrari’s memoirs, Le mie gioie terribili, contain a stark description of Wifredo Ricart: shaking his hand, Ferrari wrote, felt like touching “the cold, lifeless hand of a corpse.” The remark reflects the hostility between the two men, whose disagreement at Alfa Romeo became part of the story behind Ferrari’s departure from the company and Ricart’s later work on the Pegaso Z-102.

Ricart graduated in industrial engineering from Barcelona’s School of Industrial Engineering in 1918, aged 21. His first job was at Vallet y Fiol, which made water-pump engines and distributed Hispano-Suiza cars. Faced with fuel shortages, he developed carburol, an alternative fuel. In 1920, he founded Ricart y Pérez with Francisco Pérez de Olaguer to build industrial engines under the Rex name.

In 1922, Ricart designed and built two racing cars in less than 200 days. The Ricart-Pérez had a 1,498 cc four-cylinder engine with twin overhead camshafts, 16 valves and hemispherical combustion chambers, among other features.

Ricart joined Alfa Romeo in Milan in 1936, becoming head of special projects and technical director of its research and development department. He was also given control of the racing programme, which had previously been run by Ferrari. Ricart argued to Alfa Romeo president Ugo Gobbato that Ferrari, who was not an engineer, should not lead the racing team. Gobbato eventually dismissed Ferrari.

The account stresses that Ricart was a contributing factor, rather than the sole reason Ferrari left Alfa Romeo, and notes that the scale of their personal rivalry is largely based on Ferrari’s own recollections. Ricart continued developing cars at Alfa Romeo, including the 512 Grand Prix car, which used a mid-mounted 12-cylinder boxer engine, two superchargers and produced more than 500 horsepower.

After the Second World War, Ricart left Italy and returned to Spain, turning down an offer from Studebaker in the United States. He helped establish ENASA at the former Hispano-Suiza site in Barcelona. The company’s Pegaso Z-102 made its debut at the 1951 Paris Motor Show, with a lightweight-alloy V8, four overhead camshafts and a De Dion rear axle.

In 1953, the Z-102 briefly became the world’s fastest production car, recording an average speed of 243 km/h at Jabbeke, Belgium. Motorsport magazine described the Spanish car as a serious competitor for Ferrari.

Sources: Motorpasión.