A visit to Pagani Automobili

Introduction It’s a beautifully warm, sunny day in Northern Italy as Oli and I gather ourselves together, check out of the hotel and begin our journey to see one of Italy’s premier automobile manufacturers, Pagani Automobili in Modena. Truly, today has been a day we’ve been looking forward to for several weeks, ever since speaking with Roberta Bicocchi and making arrangements for our visit. Experiences like these are truly “once-in-a-lifetime”, and everyone at Pagani went to considerable effort to accommodate our needs and answer our questions during the visit.

While we did get an opportunity to experience the awe-inspiring new Zonda F, the purpose of our visit was to learn about Pagani, their heritage, their engineering principles and their company values. The Zonda series of roadcars have been in production since 2000, spanning four different models over the five year production period. To date, only sixty of these truly spectacular automobiles have been produced, with no two cars being exactly alike, as each car is individually tailored to the customers’ unique requirements.

...every journalist who has experienced it has raved unequivocally about both its form and function...

So what is it that makes the Zonda such a spectacular car? Virtually every motoring journalist who has experienced it has raved unequivocally about both its form and function, yet no one has delved comprehensively into the background of Pagani as a company. Just who is Pagani Automobili, as an entity? It was time for festivalofspeed.net to find out…

Contents:
1.1 Introduction (above)
1.2 Modena Design
1.3 A bit of background
2.1 Engineering Elements
2.2 Design
2.3 Testing
2.4 Production
3.1 Construction and Assembly
4.1 So you want to buy a Zonda?
4.2 Interesting Facts

Modena Design The facility is tucked away from the main road in an industrial complex – very unassuming for such a high-tech car manufacturer, though the facility itself is rather striking architecturally, with a large sloping glass frontage providing entrance to the showroom area, which houses a Zonda Coupe and Roadster for prospective customers to examine (or us to drool over, as the case may be.) Also present is the engine from the Zonda F on a stand, Mr. Pagani’s first automobile (more on this later) and all the color/material books for customers to choose finishing options. The main area is very cleanly laid out – everything clearly has a place, the tile floor is immaculate, and the overall ambience is rather like a fine art gallery, except instead of showing the works of great masters like Sandro Botticelli or Pablo Picasso, on display is the great work of Horatio Pagani.

It is here we first met with Roberta and Hannes to learn about the background of Pagani Automobili before being allowed to explore the manufacturing floor. This company’s employees have impressive backgrounds that include experience working for both Ferrari and Lamborghini – thus, it’s easy to understand how Pagani has been able to achieve such high levels of success in only five years of Zonda Production.

A bit of background Born in Argentina, Horatio Pagani has been passionate about motoring and motorcars since a very early age. From humble beginnings of carving car bodies by hand (many of which can be seen on display in the Pagani showroom) to building his first race car in his garage at the age of 21, the picture of a man so dedicated to his art is quickly apparent. His first race car, a Formula Renault, built when he was only twenty-one years old, quickly attracted the attention of Juan Manuel Fangio, the famous Argentinean Grand Prix driver. In discussions with Fangio, Pagani expressed a desire to build a car to honor Fangio and his accomplishments. The two men agreed, but Fangio stipulated that any car built to honor him must be powered by a Mercedes engine – hence the reason why all Zonda supercars are powered by AMG Mercedes engines.

In the early 1980’s, Mr. Pagani came to Italy where he began working for Lamborghini. It is testimony to his talent that he was quickly promoted to the head of composite materials in the mid ‘80’s, where he built the Countach Evoluzione to prove the feasibility of using composite materials in road car construction. The car was a resounding success, weighing in at five hundred kilograms less than the production Countach and achieving speeds of 205mph. Later that decade, Mr. Pagani led the Countach Anniversary project, which was released to the general public in 1989. Before moving on to begin his own company, Modena Design, he also led the work on the Countach’s successor, the Lamborghini Diablo supercar.

Modena Design’s foundations were established by selling design and engineering efforts as well as selected composite components to Lamborghini. Much of the carbon fiber expertise that Modena Design possesses is developed from the substantial amount of experience Mr. Pagani gained while working in composites for Lamborghini.

Between 1991 and 1992, Modena Design produced the first drawings of the Zonda supercar. From even these early sketches, the design elements of the production Zonda are clearly visible, testimony to the timelessness of the original design. In the mid-90’s, true to his word, Juan Manuel Fangio would introduce Pagani to the principals of Mercedes Benz, and the engine platform for the Zonda was chosen. (In fact, a letter from AMG, detailing the choice of engines, is framed and on display in the Pagani showroom.)

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