The Zonda ought to be the car that best represents what Pagani is. The Zonda, the firstborn of the Italian hypercar manufacturer, embodies everything that the company was once known for more than 20 years ago: speed, power, rarity, and a tonne of distinctive flair.
Among the less than 200 units of Zonda ever made – and yes that’s counting the various versions of the mid-engine hypercar – only 40 units of the Zonda S Roadster were made. One of them arrived during a track day in the Netherlands, and YouTuber cvdzijden was able to document its appearance in the wild and its magnificent V12 sound.
A Mercedes-AMG naturally aspirated 7.3-liter V12 engine was used to create the sultry music in the above video. When the Zonda S Roadster was released in 2003, it produced a respectable 547 horsepower (408 kilowatts) and 553 pound-feet (750 Newton-meters) of torque.
Surprisingly, the grid for the hypercar track day included additional intriguing vehicles. The first of these was the extremely rare Apollo Intensa Emozione, which supports its outrageous appearance with incredible power from a naturally aspirated V12. It is even uncommon than the Pagani here because there were only 10 units of the Apollo IE produced.
Moving to Pagani, the Italian automaker debuted a new Huayra model in June of this year. Its production was handled by the company’s Grandi Complicazioni division and was given the name Huayra Codalunga. The 1960s longtail Le Mans racers served as the inspiration for only five Codalunga units, all of which have already been sold.
In the meanwhile, Pagani is optimistic about the future, especially when it comes to electrification. It started looking into EVs in 2018, and most recently, a story claiming that the corporation had given up on the project surfaced.
Horacio Pagani refuted the assertion and affirmed that the company still makes investments in electrical technologies.