Australian Penthouse

Engineer Horacio Pagani designed the stunning Pagani Zonda F sports car for racing supremo, Juan Fangio. At its heart lies a 7.3-litre, V12 Mercedes engine

Balcarce, Argentina, 1988. The young designer looks the man with short grey hair directly in the eye. “My friend,” he says quietly, “I want to dedicate a car to you. It should bear your name.” “What an honour,” answers the older man, “but I have one condition: I was, and am, a Mercedes man––so the car’s engine must have the star…”

It’s a fair guess that this demand was one of the easiest ones for Horacio Pagani to fulfil on the long road to building his own supercar. And it was clear that he would keep his promise, if only out of respect, since his friend was five-times Formula One champion, Juan Manuel Fangio.

It was, however, this respect which determined that Pagani’s creation never could be called the ‘Fangio F1’, as he had planned.

Because Argentina’s national hero died in 1995––before the first completed car was presented––and Pagani didn’t want to lay himself open to accusations that he was using Fangio’s famous name for marketing purposes. The car was thus named the ‘Zonda’. Says Pagani: “That is the name of the wind in the Argentinean Andes which Fangio always missed so much when he was back in muggy Stuttgart.”

Horacio Pagani, who made it to the position of head of carbon-fibre processing at Lamborghini, unleashed an avalanche of enthusiasm among experts with the Zonda, built in Modena, Italy.

Pagani’s cars are not only high-performance machines equipped with as much performance and the most aerodynamic shape possible––they’re more like sculptures made from carbon-fibre, leather and aluminium.

His finest creation, the Zonda Roadster F––the ‘F’ is in honour of Fangio—is a work of art which adds stature to affluent clients and provides them with the lofty feeling of possessing something highly exclusive; namely one of the world’s fastest and most bewitching vehicles.

The technical base alone is enough to have connoisseurs drooling: the chromium molybdenum steel space frames; the engine from Mercedes’ AMG high-performance division (V12, 7.3-litre capacity, 650 bhp, 760Nm of torque); the 15-layer carbon-fibre chassis––unpainted carbon-fibre is available on request.

The shape is vaguely reminiscent of Mercedes’ old Group C racing car, although in terms of comfort the machines are diametrically opposed.

It goes without saying that a Pagani spoils you with air-con, sat-nav and electric windows. The interior is dominated by the upholstery––leather, perfect to the last stitch––complemented by discrete amounts of expensive wood and a shed-load of polished aluminium. Every switch is specially manufactured from aluminium for the Zonda; the upright pedals are finely-chiselled light alloy carvings. The luggage compartments are located at the sides, next to the engine, and can be closed off using classic-style leather belts. To do this, you open the large engine cover, which in turn gives you a view of the mid-engine. This is where the V12 performs, protected by and stiffened with cross-over steel braces, encased in carbon-fibre, and using the best that aspirated engine technology has to offer.

Mercedes’ parent company, Daimler, promised to deliver 100 of these engines, and since 1999, Pagani has fitted almost 80 into its cars. It’s therefore no surprise that production of the Roadster F has been limited to a maximum of 25 units. After that, the search is on for another Daimler power source.

So, let’s get into the work of art, before the aspirated engine becomes obsolete. Leg room is positively palatial––the pedals, extremely responsive. The sound is self-assured but not overbearing, thanks to 90kg of sound insulation. Now it’s off to do a test drive in Paganiland, located next door to Ferrari and co., between Bologna and Modena in Italy.
The Pagani Zonda, which––depending on the extras you select––can cost up to $800,000 Euro (AU$1.5 million), is by no means a candidate for a museum; as beautiful as it may be, a Zonda needs to feel the wind on its wings.

Some spirited footwork on the accelerator is rewarded with a 0-100km/h sprint in just 3.6 seconds––those keen to take their chances with Italian motorway police can push the car up to 345km/h on the motorway through the Terra di Motori region. At 300km/h, the single piece rear spoiler provides an additional 330kg of downforce for the 1.3-tonne car; at the front you get 270kg. Thanks to this power and the 335-spec tyres on the rear wheels, the Zonda’s roadholding, even at high speeds, is as sticky as aphid resin on paintwork.

Electronic support systems such as traction control and ABS ensure that the car doesn’t do anything untoward and, if worse comes to worst, the carbon-ceramic brakes will bring the almost 4.5 metre-long car to a standstill from 200km/h in just 4.4 seconds. Thanks to the power-assisted steering and brakes, winding your way through city centres in this extreme supercar is as easy as in a small run-around. The manually operated six-gear transmission slips playfully through the Cima gearbox. The only thing that a Zonda F city driver has to watch out for is the car’s enormous width of more than two metres.

The Pagani Zonda Roadster F is, quite simply, the gentleman among supercars. It is a pity, then, that Pagani must soon fit a different engine. And when it comes to possible names for a successor, the sophisticated car builder has two options: Zonda J and Zonda M––for Juan and Manuel.

ZONDA F ROADSTER

PRICE: TBA
ENGINE: 7291cc Mercedes-Benz AMG V12, 48-valve
POWER: 478kW (650bhp) @ 6200rpm
TORQUE: 760Nm @ 4000rpm
TRANSMISSION: Longitudinal mid-engine; rear-wheel drive with self-locking differential
BRAKES: Four ventilated Brembo disks; hydraulic power brake
ACCELERATION: 0-100km/h in 3.6 seconds; 0-200 km/h in 9.8 seconds
TOP SPEED: 345km/h

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