You cannot accuse the Pagani Huayra of lacking in theatre or pantomime. The successor to the critically acclaimed Zonda, the Huayra, has seen various iterations over the years. Each one is wilder and even more extreme with a ruthless dedication to art and performance. Pagani Automobili has been known for that and is a major player in the hypercar business with its expertise in design, craftsmanship, and state-of-the-art composite materials. No one does carbon fiber in hypercars better than Pagani, as does the insane attention to detail that oozes from their cars.
The latest one is the Huayra Tricolori, and just like the Zonda Tricolore, this special edition is a tribute to the Italian Air Force Aerobatic Team. Revealed on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Frecce Tricolori, only three examples of this hypercar would be built, thus making the € 5,500,000 + VAT list price a tad obsolete.
In 2010, to celebrate the 50 years, Pagani did the Zonda Tricolore, of which again only three examples were made. Pagani says that amongst all of the Zonda models, this is the most sought after. We would not debate that.
Back the Huayra Tricolore and the MB-339A aircraft of the National Aerobatic Patrol was the biggest inspiration for the design. It gets a new body designed from advanced composite materials. Simultaneously, the Pagani V12 engine has been updated for more, plus various aeronautics-derived technologies have been poured into the making of this special car.
Looking more like a fighter jet, the Huayra Tricolore has a new front bumper with side extractors, while there is also a new air scoop and a rear wing. Even the tail fin’s shape is similar to the jet, while the new wheels mimic a propeller’s design in a turbine.
There is a Pilot tube in the center of the front hood, an instrument that allows each aircraft to measure the macroscopic airspeed and, therefore, determine the aircraft’s aerodynamic condition. Of course, the most recognizable bit is the livery, which is a tricolor.
The new Pagani V12 powers the Huayra Tricolore, the twin-turbo engine specially developed by Mercedes-AMG. The numbers are pure hypercar, and while not quite having the Chiron like 1000 plus hp, the 840hp and the 1100Nm of torque makes this one of the fastest cars since it is much lighter. The new chassis is made from the latest generation composite materials, such as Carbo-Titanium HP62 G2 and Carbo-Triax HP62, which has enabled considerable change to torsional and flexural rigidity.
The Tricolore is all about an emotive driving experience; hence the usual dual-clutch automatic gearbox has been binned in favor of a seven-speed sequential gearbox like the standard Huaryra (if such a thing exists).
However, more than all of that, the fact that something so mundane as the gear knob is carved from a single block of aluminum and carbon while then milled through a five-axis numerical control center plus finally hand polished with the special transparent treatment shows that how each Pagani car is made with painstaking craftsmanship hence elevating it to a piece of art rather than a mere motor car. There is nothing else like this on the market, and it is perhaps staying true to the purest expression of what a hypercar should be.
It is not about plain numbers or how fast it would go, as to how it achieves that speed with raw emotion, and how it makes you feel when you clap your eyes at it for the first time is ultimately more important. Job well done on that front, Pagani!