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One-of-five Pagani Huayra Imola gives ‘track car’ a different meaning

This past week, the Supercar Owners Circle (SOC) celebrated its fifth anniversary with a party and drive in the Swiss Alps. The gathering hosted some of the most exclusive, best-performing, and best-designed cars ever released, some old, some new. To the surprise of its attendees, it also hosted the unveiling of a sure-fire future Italian collectible. One of the most-talked-about cars in attendance was the Pagani Huayra Imola, a one-of-five limited-edition that pays tribute to Italy’s famous racing circuit. This is the first time the car has been seen in public. 

Imola racetrack, also known as Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, is located in north central Italy outside of Bologna. It’s one of the most notable tracks in Europe, and it previously held court for Formula One races. Now it’s serving as inspiration to one of the best modern-day Italian performance automakers, Pagani Automobili. 

The Huayra Imola was released quietly in relation to the gargantuan nature of the car, as there are no official images, releases or posts directly from Pagani. So, all information here is gleaned from social media photos, videos and captions. The Imola, of which only five examples will be built, was apparently first unveiled at the track on July 29, but it has been kept a secret until this past weekend. The first example was reportedly delivered to Oleg Egorov, the owner and founder of specialty aftermarket shop TopCar Design. 

We thought we’d seen the Huayra taken to its extreme with the BC editions, but the Imola has an even wilder exterior aerodynamic package. Through extensive use of carbon fiber, the front and rear have been redesigned with a new splitter and new diffuser. There are also several new intakes, new side skirts, a new spine along the rear of the car, and a new wing. The seven-spoke wheels are different, too. Many of the alterations are highlighted by bright red-orange accents that outline the edgy designs. 

Inside, which can be seen on Oleg’s Instagram, the panels have been fitted with prints that honor Leonardo da Vinci and his work, including the Mona Lisa and his preliminary sketches of wings. 

For now, we do not know where the Imola stands on performance, but some of the videos show it in motion doing some lighthearted drag racing. Check out the images and video above, below, and all over social.

September 3, 2019 / Comments Off on One-of-five Pagani Huayra Imola gives ‘track car’ a different meaning
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Even Pagani is considering an SUV

Like flesh-eating bacteria or Agent Smith in “The Matrix,” once SUVs found a way into the automotive ecosystem, they became inexorable. In an interview with Autocar, Horacio Pagani admitted he’s considered developing a jacked-up roustabout because “it is something that has been discussed a number of times with collectors.” In case there’s anyone left bemoaning the death of some Platonic automaker purity, that lonely soul will have at least six years to carry the torch for Pagani, since an SUV wouldn’t arrive before 2025. If a Pagani brute-ute should happen, the captain assures all it will be true to his brand even though he’d lean on his Mercedes-Benz engine partner for more technology. “[The SUV] would need to have a price tag of €3 million ($3.3M) or above to be in line with our current strategy. We don’t know if there is any market for such a product, but there could not be any compromise.” 

Before then, the Huayra successor codenamed C10 should make itself known in 2022. Turns out, though, that the C10 and the Pagani electric car we’ve heard is also on the way are mostly the same vehicle. The standard C10 will use an updated version of the twin-turbo Mercedes-AMG V12 that Pagani has put to good use ever since the Zonda, and that Pagani says will remain road-legal until 2026. The C10 will also come with a manual transmission. The electric version will use a modified version of the C10’s architecture and come in 2024.  

The company head didn’t say anything else about the electric model, but did say that an increase in a different kind of customer encouraged the firm’s electric plans. Whereas the Zonda buyers in the beginning “tended to be car collectors in Europe in their 50s or above,” the years and new models have attracted more younger buyers from Asia and North America. That’s a far cry from Pagani’s sentiment in March, when he said, “None of our customers or dealers want to know about an electric car. They don’t want to know anything about it. They’re not interested. It’s a huge challenge for us, because no one is asking for it.” Perhaps he’s realized that if he builds it, they will come.

For the moment, Pagani’s going to be busy with what’s officially called the last Huayra model, the Huayra BC roadster, for at least the next two years until the C10 arrives, and possibly afterward. Pagani admits that private requests could “probably extend the [Huayra’s] lifespan a little more,” which wouldn’t be anything new for the firm. The Zonda has been playing the Agent Smith game itself, refusing to die for six years now. Scheduled to end production in 2013, then again with the Zonda Barchetta in 2017 — after launching in 1999 — Pagani just introduced a new Zonda in June this year called the Zonda Zun. That’s the kind of inexorable we can get behind.

August 27, 2019 / Comments Off on Even Pagani is considering an SUV
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