When Argentinian car enthusiast Horacio Pagani founded Pagani Automobili in 1992, he was targeting a very exclusive clientele – car fanatics with some extra money in their pocket. But over the course of the years, Pagani gained global attention thanks to its stunning design and of course insane performance.
Horacio Pagani knew exactly what he was doing when he designed the first Pagani car. He formerly managed Lamborghini’s composites department and, thus, perfectly knew how to use materials to build a racing car that is street legal. He worked with Lamborghini on numerous projects including the restyling of the Lamborghini Countach 25th Anniversary and the Diablo.
Based in a small commune in Italy called San Cesario sul Panaro (near Modena), Pagani presented its first car of the Zonda line, the Zonda C12, at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show. Only five units of the C12 were produced and of those, only one remains in its original state.
The last production cycle of the Zonda was in 2017 with the Zonda HP Barchetta. Only three were produced with one unit retained for Horacio Pagani’s personal collection. The other two were sold for USD 15 million each. Ever since its introduction, only 126 units production cars have ever been built.
However, in recent years, approximately 30 one-off cars have been introduced. One of the most famous might be the 2012 Zonda 760LH (Purple) – commissioned by F1 driver Lewis Hamilton. Including the estimated 21 race cars, that’s a total number of 177 (126 + 30 + 21) Pagani Zondas.
There some rumors that Pagani built a few more one-off cars for exclusive clients who wanted to stay under the radar. The cars have been delivered in secret and kept out of the public eyes only for the sake of owning a Zonda in one’s private collection. If this is the case, the total number could potentially be upwards of 35 one-off Paganis.
On its 20th anniversary, Pagani introduced one special one-off Zonda – Pagani Zonda Venti. It is finished in dark green with dark brown interior as shown in the pictures below. As every engine of Pagani, the V12 beast comes from the sports car department AMG of German car manufacturer Mercedes-Benz. The Venti is a beast delivering 760 HP and is equipped with a 6-speed manual gearbox. The owner, a Chinese businessman, also owns 3 other Zonda’s which include the 760 Fantasma Evo, a F Roadster and a S 7.0. Not a bad collection of Zondas, right?!
However, while most cars lose their charm over time, the Zonda remains in high demand among car collectors even 20 years later. Why? Because Horacio knew exactly what he did when creating the Zonda. He has never dismissed a customer’s request. No matter how complicated or crazy the details might be, the end result justifies the means. This is probably the main reason why the company is so successful. He set the bar really high for the whole industry and some even call him the Leonardo Da Vinci of Hypercars.
The legend of the Zonda keeps living…and there’s no end in sight.
