Salvat’s 1:43 Pegaso Bacalao for III Gran Premio Via Romano

Before getting to the model, it’s worth saying a little about the real vehicle, because the Pegaso Bacalao was no ordinary race transporter. Built in the early 1950s by Spanish manufacturer Pegaso, it was created to support the company’s ambitious Z-102 sports car program. The transporter was based on a Pegaso bus chassis and bodied by Carde y Escoriaza of Zaragoza, giving it that unmistakable streamlined, almost futuristic profile. Its nickname, “Bacalao” — Spanish for codfish — reportedly came from its unusual shape.

The Bacalao was used to carry Pegaso’s competition cars, including appearances connected with the company’s racing efforts at events such as Le Mans. Although often described as a truck, its enclosed one-piece body makes it feel almost more like an enormous van or coach-based transporter. Only a very small number were built — possibly just one — which adds to its mystique today. Its mix of industrial purpose, Spanish postwar engineering, and dramatic styling makes it one of the more memorable racing transporters of the period.

That brings me to the 1:43 scale version by Salvat. The model came fully painted but without a specific race livery applied. Instead, Salvat included a waterslide decal sheet with three different options, allowing the transporter to be finished in one of several 1964 event guises: Amigos Coches Veteranos, III Gran Premio Via Romano, or Rally Vecchio Piemonte.

After looking over the choices, I decided to go with the III Gran Premio Via Romano version. Purely a matter of personal taste, but I thought it had the strongest visual appeal and really suited the lines of the Bacalao.

Fortunately, my friend Andy, who is an experienced model builder, applied the decals for me, and that turned out to be a very good decision. He said the decals were extremely thin and difficult to work with. In fact, the decal for the loading doors crumbled during application, so he had to reproduce that piece before completing the model.

Along with applying the livery, he added a few extra touches to bring out more realism and character. The finished result looks fantastic. The Pegaso Bacalao is already an unusual and charismatic transporter, and the III Gran Premio Via Romano livery gives it just the right period flavor.

I think it turned out great, and it has quickly become one of my favorite display pieces.