Watch Specialty Automaker Horacio Pagani Build a Huayra Roadster
Pagani is what Lamborghini wishes it still was: Wild, and obsessed with radical design.
The story of Horacio Pagani is almost what one would expect of the kind of man who manufactures supercars in his own name. Born to Italian immigrants in Argentina, Horacio adopted an interest in engineering at a young age, and after gaining experience in his own engineering firm and with Renault, he moved to Italy and was hired by Lamborghini at 27, albeit as a janitor. Within a few years, Horacio was chief engineer at the company and drew up the composite-constructed Countach Evoluzione concept car.
Horacio wanted Lamborghini to purchase an autoclave, integral in the manufacture of carbon fiber, but his bosses said no, so he ponied up the money himself for the machine. He parted ways with the company in 1991 and opened up shop to develop his first car, the Pagani Zonda, which debuted in 1999.
Despite its seven-figure price tag, the Zonda remained in demand through 2017, when it was fully replaced by its successor, the even more refined Huayra, which can cost up to $2.8 million. Your $2.8 million fetches a hell of a lot when you buy a Pagani, with the Huayra BC's 6.0-liter, twin-turbo Mercedes-AMG V12 heart beating with 790 horsepower, and 811 pound-feet of torque—enough to make most of the world's truck owners sputter.
Performance is far from the only feature that draws the bourgeoisie to Horacio Pagani's cars. His interiors sport more machined metals and leathers than a steampunk cosplayer could dream of, and being independent from major carmakers (save for its engine supply) means not a single knob nor button in a Pagani is plucked from the parts bin: All are in-house.
Care to see Pagani's craftsmen assemble a Huayra with added headroom? Watch the video below, and feel your inner engineer bang on the glass to be let out.
