New mid-engine Pagani(2006)

[nurbrun]

I hope they do as good of a job as they did with todays Zonda :D

http://www.italiaspeed.com/2004/cars/others/pagani/mid_size.html

[Ian_yamaue]

Can you confirm the link plaese. It's 404 for me.

[nurbrun]

sorry about that :oops:

[Ian_yamaue]

No Problm. What is the name of the car? I'll google it. :D

[nurbrun]

Yea i am trying to find it too :D

[Ian_yamaue]

Yeah, they're all losing the purism.

[HeilSvenska]

nah. I hate seeing super exotic car companies going less exclusive. I call this "whoring out." that really sums up how much i hate less exclusivity

[fabro_s]

So, more competition to the gallardo and 360!

[he7lius]

Wait for a small V8 biturbo mig-engined Koenigsegg...

dani_d_mas do u have more info on this??

[yg60m]

I am sure that they will do a good job. The Zonda is a very good car from what it is said in the press ...

[blah]

well with people getting more and more rich now adays, the market is growing. I hope to be in this market about 10 years from now. Gotta do 4 years of college, then 3 years of business school. But it will be all worth it for a lifetime of Aston Martin, or Ford GT.

[noliebro]

By time this new smaller car comes out, Ferrari will already have it's new modena. I wonder if they put that into consideration.

[Ford Capri 2.8i]

Its good news to hear........on the one hand, that a new segment of "mini supercars" is being created, in fact this is my favourite types of cars ever, once i see that the ferrari 550 or the F40 are too long for me.....and from 2 models that we had very recently (the 911 and the ferrari 360 modena), the lambo gallardo has been added(i wish the jalpa launched in production some years ago in order to compete against the ferrari 328)...and more cars are coming next such as the Mclaren, the aston martin.....

On the other hand its delightful to hear that the handmade manufacturers such as the koenisegg and the pagani zonta did launch their products....and that they are getting a new evolution of their models, and exist the handmade product in the market during some years, instead of getting some models only from some drawing, and not getting into a production a handmade model because its not profiteable

[IgotWRXed]

nah. I hate seeing super exotic car companies going less exclusive. I call this "whoring out." that really sums up how much i hate less exclusivity

bmw and merc did that. they arent supercar, but they used to be exclusive luxo. not anymore :( :( fuckers

[5.7 V10]

Sorry guys Horacio denies the baby Zonda. But a new car is in order, take a look at this article. This is real..
Perfection takes vision and patience

According to Horacio Pagani supercars should be lightweight, functional and beautiful. Richard Lofthouse discovers that his new model will fulfil this philosophy admirably

http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/motoring/news_and_features/story.jsp?story=538353

06 July 2004

Some British journalists reported earlier this year that the new Pagani would be a "baby Zonda", following the pattern of Lamborghini's Gallardo and Aston Martin's AMV8 models, but founder Horacio Pagani denies the rumour.

Totally constructed of composite materials such as carbon fibre, the new Pagani will be extremely lightweight and offer extreme performance even by supercar standards, but it won't be a "lesser" version of the flagship Zonda model.

Take the wheels, for instance. My interview with Mr. Pagani ended with him bringing out a brand new wheel hub he has spent two years designing for the new car. "It started life as a 30kg block of an aerospace metal called avional but ended up as a precision machined featherweight component weighing just 3kg. Compare this to the 6kg Zonda wheel, which is forged from a steel-aluminium alloy, and you get some inkling of Pagani's stratospheric levels of perfectionism and his clean sheet approach to the new vehicle.

Pagani explains: "The Pagani philosophy is that every car be extremely light and extremely functional and beautiful. There can be no compromise on function and beauty because one implies the other where supercars are concerned."

You can bet that current owners of the Zonda coupe and its soft top sibling (three of whom already own both cars) will be queuing up for the new model and not treating it as a supporting role to the main act.

Whereas the Zonda can only be built in 15-20 editions a year, the new car will be built to the tune of 250 units a year in a brand new factory facility expected to be constructed near the existing headquarters on the edge of Modena, Italy. By definition less "exclusive" than the Zonda, the new vehicle will nonetheless remain extraordinarily special even by Ferrari Enzo standards, the latter limited to a total of 399 examples.

In fact Ferrari make about 4,000 cars a year, half the target sought by Aston Martin and Bentley but still high by Pagani standards, making them the Rolexes of the luxury sports car marketplace - highly desirable but comparatively common. Pagani instead sees itself as the Michel Parmigiani of the car world, a brand you may have heard of but probably never seen in the flesh.

Pagani confirms that it has so far sold seven coupes and one roadster into Britain. Pagani says: "I do not even see Pagani as a competitor of Ferrari. How can I be stealing market share with total production of just 20 cars a year? Our cars will always be rare, very rare."

He supports the claim by reminding me that the new vehicle, while somewhat cheaper than the £300,000 Zonda, will still cost at least £200,000, placing it far above the competition in cash terms.

Another defining trait of the new car will be its readiness for the lucrative North American marketplace when it is launched in 2007. Although one American customer has bought two Zondas for track use, it is not street legal, a matter that Pagani hopes to resolve within the next two years. Once the new car arrives, expect a major US-importer to account for as many as 60-70 cars a year, the majority destined for California, Florida and New England. For the time being, do not expect to see images of the new car, the design of which is almost finalised. Pagani says: "The usual pattern, seen historically, is for an ambitious car builder to release an image of a new car before the car is ready.

"It inevitably over runs and time constraints mean that the vehicle has either changed or it looks 'old' by the time it is produced. So I won't do that. The car will be seen at the point when it is launched, and not before." He is probably referring to the 1993 Jaguar XJ220, probably the most dis astrous example of rushing a premature model to market before it was ready. I gain the impression that Pagani knows exactly what he is doing and is well on the way to making himself into a twenty-first century legend the equal of anything previously accomplished by Ferruccio Lamborghini or Enzo Ferrari, respective founders of the local competition.

His secret is not based on a me-too principle plus a steady stream of eager billionaire customers, but on an unparalleled understanding of carbon fibre, the strongest, lightest and stiffest material from which to construct a super car. The result is that the Zonda weighs just 1,250kg, which makes the Murcielago look decidedly porky at 1,650kg. Even the Enzo weighs in at 1,365kg, despite being largely constructed of carbon fibre.

The Zonda has begun to turn a profit since I last visited the company a year ago, and the new car represents the transition of the company from bespoke jeweller to exclusive watchmaker. For Pagani it is a dream partially come true, for the next step is the crucial one. No wonder he is so cagey about revealing his designs for the new car.

But what about the competition for the Pagani? Exclusivity always comes at a price, but never more so than with the Zonda C12S, which costs £303,000 with a hard roof, and £350,000 with no roof. The obvious competitor is the £450,000 Ferrari Enzo, except that it is sold out. Both make the £168,000 Lamborghini Murcielago look like a bargain given that it has virtually the same performance.

However, the Zonda weighs half a ton less than the Murcielago, so they feel entirely different to drive. Arguably, the Zonda offers twice the thrills for twice the money. From a purist point of view, the closest competitor in performance, weight and price is the Porsche Carrera GT, which costs £330,000 and matches the Zonda for looks as well as brawn.

Alternatively, there is the Bristol Fighter, the British heavyweight entrant costing £229,000 and almost going as fast, or the Mercedes SLR McLaren, which costs £313,000. Coming down from the supercar ceiling, there are some amazing "bargains" to be had without sacrificing much by way of performance but gaining much by way of practicality and everyday use options. For Murcielago money you can have an upper-GT segment Ferrari 612, 575 or Aston Vanquish. Much better value than any of these is the Bentley Continental GT costing £110,000, the Aston Martin DB 9 for £100,000, or any of the mega-horsepower Mercedes AMG derivatives ranging from the £66,000 E55 AMG to the awesome £91,000 SL55 AMG.

For my money, however, you'd still be walking away with the best bargain by considering a high-end Porsche 911 such as the GT3, costing £72,000, or even better the Noble M12 400 a monster bargain at £56,000 given that it will match the Zonda to 60 miles an hour, possibly even edging it over. As for the eccentric choice: look no further than the £55,000 Morgan Aero 8, a charismatic BMW powered car with a Spitfire-like cockpit.

Horacio Pagani

Descended from a line of Argentinian bakers, Horacio Pagani went to Italy to realise his boyhood dream of building a super car in 1983. He went to work for Lamborghini and became a composite specialist at a time when little was known about its properties.

He founded his own consultancy in 1991, Modena Design, whose profitability allowed him to undertake a seven year, self-funded supercar project resulting in the Zonda.

Pagani had his eye on cars from the earliest age, designing several in balsa wood at the age of eight. They can be seen at the Pagani showroom and bear a striking resemblance to the Pagani Zonda on account of their low-slung, fighter-plane silhouette and cockpit. He designed and built his first F3 racer at the age of 20.

As his reputation grew, Pagani became acquainted with fellow countryman and five-time F1 champion, Juan Manuel Fangio, who wrote a letter of introduction for the young engineer, which had the desired effect: Lamborghini's chief engineer, Giulio Alfieri, employed him.

Pagani remains a great fan of Lamborghini and was intimately involved in the development of the Countach during the 1980s, trying to shed weight from the leviathan supercar by selectively incorporating composite parts. Later, when he designed the Zonda, he was able to figuratively leap ahead to a mostly composite design. The inspiration was Fangio himself, however, and it was he who insisted: "I am a Mercedes man, so that is the engine you must use." Pagani himself adds: "The German [AMG] engine was lighter and boasted more torque than the equivalent Italian engine."

Silver-haired and bespectacled, Pagani fixes you with a gaze of understated intent that is controlled and Germanic, not at all the hot headed Italian stereotype. He personally test drives every single car in the early hours of the morning, scrutinising it before reluctantly handing it over to customers, and he is believed to have advised Ferrari on aspects of the composite construction of the Ferrari Enzo.

[chipanggo]

wow! at GBP 200,000 how do they expect it to compete with the gallardo, modena, and the ford gt? the new pagani is too expensive.

[bmagni]

ive heard bout it long ago, and havent heard or read any news

[5vz-fe]

I think ppl who buy Pagani would want excusivetivity (i.e. picking leather color, dash color, steering wheel......etc), for ppl who could fork out 150,000 pounds or so would prolly wouldn't mind to pay an extra 50,000 for that. After all, Pagani is a low production car manufacture, so they have to make their profit by having a higer price.

[gottacatchup]

Is everyone just ignoring the part wich says, "North American marketplace when it is launched in 2007."?!?!

Pagani's coming to the US people, common fellow americans wake up, we will soon be able to purchase (i use able losely here) possibly the fastest car in production.

[jpatino03]

Pagani's coming to the US people, common fellow americans wake up, we will soon be able to purchase (i use able losely here) possibly the fastest car in production.

Lets not forget, one of the most achingly beautiful. It looks like nothing else on the road.

[mindgam3]

Sure hope they do build another car, baby zonda or not.... especially with all the rumours of them going bust flying around