Horacio Pagani discusses what it was like building his “Utopia”

There’s no mistaking a Pagani hypercar. A unicorn in the world of high-performing automobiles, car enthusiasts will flock to one when spotted in the wild.

The brainchild of Horacio Pagani, Pagani Automobili has just turned 25, and with that came an official introduction of the Utopia to the Asia Pacific region. The Utopia (C10 project), comes after its predecessors the Zonda (C8 project) and Huayra (C9 project), and is meant to be Horacio’s dream vision free from digital displays and screens — a pure and simple sports car.

Made in a batch of 99, the Utopia is a culmination of 25 years of experience and blends Pagani Automobili’s performance know-how with Horacio’s artistry. Joined by the man himself along with his son Christopher, we learned just how different the Utopia is compared to its siblings. Taking a step back from the electronics found in the Huayra, the Utopia rids itself of things like digital screens and heads back to Pagani’s analogue roots with tactile mechanical buttons and switches.

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For those interested in the technical side of the now-soldout Utopia, the hypercar is powered by a bespoke twin-turbocharged v12 developed by Mercedes-AMG. This engine allows the Utopia to put down 864 horsepower and 811 lb-ft of torque.

While the body is simple and less aggressive than the Huayra, its performance is equally matched, if not heightened, as most of its secrets lay under the bonnet. On top of the car, we learn more about Horacio’s approach to design, how music plays a big part in the ideation process for his work, and if fans can expect more collaborations like the recent one with BAPE.

Why was the Utopia created?

So in the last 25 years, we have been able to bring a lot of technology in-house so that we can design cars from scratch. So we always start from a piece of paper and do all the simulations and calculations. We have all the tools in-house to make sure that when we do the R&D for a car, we keep all the technology inside Pagani.

Not just that, we can also build all the carbon fibre in-house, as well as all the other materials like aluminium and titanium.  We have 25 years of knowledge of building a Pagani that can be put into a Pagani of today. When we look back at one of the last versions, which is the Huayra Roadster BC, the car performed impressively. It was a car that was able to set the road car lap record at the SPA circuit in Belgium. That car also has comfort tied with it and all its large aero parts like spoilers and external components. These components give it more of an aggressive design.

The goal with the Utopia was to create a car that has a very simple shape, very clean without external components. It still has active aerodynamics, even more so than the Roadster BC but with a clean, beautiful shape design. We were able to achieve that kind of aerodynamic goal by working on the internal airflow. It looks simple from the outside but there are a lot of things hidden underneath at the front and rear bonnet. 

At the end of the day, the goal was to create a car that didn’t take much from the Zonda and the Huayra and was unique on its own. A car that has this kind of timeless design and something that doesn’t affect the previous designs, something that is by itself. 

 

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The last time we spoke you mentioned that the Zonda took inspiration from jet fighters, and was meant to drive like a classic racer. He noted that the Huayra was more like a rocket ship, taking off, or similar to an aeroplane. How would you describe the Utopia? 

For me, the Utopia is a dream. It is the creation of something that doesn’t exist. When you get into the Utopia, you notice that every little object has a tactile detail. Everything has an analogue feeling. They produce a sensation when touched and you can hear them being engaged. The car was designed to transmit feeling back to you. We wanted to remove all the touch screens because, for us, those things age very, very fast and it removes a little bit of the emotion.

Each Utopia is like a son to us, or part of our family that we have to give up to the wild. We create them from our hands, and each client gives them purpose and a second life.

Talking about the brand of Pagani. Hong Kong has historically been one of the top three markets. Is this still true and are you seeing any different kinds of changes in behaviour for some of your clients?

So when we started with the Hong Kong market, it was 2006. We arrived with the Zonda here and here we are now with the Utopia. Nowadays, the ones that are buying the Utopia are pretty much the same ones that were buying the Zonda. We have a nice community of trusted clients who embrace the brand and have been very loyal from the beginning.

They share the same values we have, they have an amazing passion for cars. We also have new clients, but if we look at the numbers, the majority are existing clients that purchased the Zondas and Huayra and then and now the Utopia. Nowadays, the cars that we allocate to a place like Hong Kong are similar to what we were doing in the past. So from 2008 to 2009 it was about 6 cars. Now, looking at the Utopia production, which is less than 100, just 99 cars, we have roughly the same number. The exclusivity worldwide has increased because of course we produce more cars, but there are way more markets now because you have North America, and you have markets in Asia that in the past were not present.

Nowadays we produce about 50 cars a year, so there’s about one per week. But. In comparison, the exclusivity exclusivity is much higher because it’s very hard to find one. So this is this is where we are at the moment. 

Do you still listen to music when designing? If so, what kind of music were you listening to when the Utopia was created?

I have got 2,100 songs saved on my Spotify. Christopher Cross has to be up there. This is why my son is named Christopher. A lot of Latin music. I have enjoyed listening to music since a young age and have composed my own music. I composed around 12 songs before I turned 20 as I had a piano in my workshop at the time. 

They don’t have names just HP1, HP2,.. to HP12. When we launched this Utopia, three of my songs were used at the launch. That’s me playing the piano and on top of the whole orchestra. Music follows me everywhere and so these are the tracks that resonate with the Utopia. The music changes depending on what I am designing. I could be designing a car, the interior of an aeroplane…etc.  I use a different song to get inspired each time. It helps me with multitasking as genres, like Pop, for example, will help me recall memories. I am always working on something.  

I see you guys all wearing the BAPE collaboration. Are these types of collaborations something we might see more of as a way to make the Pagani brand more accessible to fans?

To answer your question, yes, there will be more projects together. Not just with BAPE, but with brands that align with Pagani in celebrating our passion.  When it comes to BAPE, we are lucky to have a relationship with them. We were just with the owner yesterday and we share a lot of the same values. He’s a very humble person. He has a huge passion for what he does.

It’s not really for the business, it’s more of an exercise to bring a group of people together. The number of items that are sold is not something that you can say will either of our businesses in terms of profit, but instead, it’s fun to have our team working with their design team to play around together for these products. 

At the end of the day, this is a way for people to be a part of our lifestyle and to grow the community. It’s a way for our name to enter households around the world, and that is inspiring. 

(Images: Ambrose Leung)