We Went Inside the Pagani Utopia at Monterey Car Week
The third chapter of the Pagani story was shown to the North American public during Monterey Car Week in California. Following the Zonda and Huayra, the all-new Utopia adds power, increased performance, a better structure and cutting-edge aerodynamics.
It’s the result of more than 4,000 stylistic drawings, ten scale models, one wind tunnel model, two 1:1 scale models and countless ideas, research and experiments on eight complete prototypes for a team effort that lasted more than six years.
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Some of the details are inspired by objects from the 1950s like the streamlined headlamps of Vespa scooters or the fittings of Riva speedboats. The 21-inch front and 22-inch rear forged wheels have a turbine-shaped carbon fibre extractor which draws hot air away from the carbon-ceramic Brembo brakes and reduces turbulence under the body. They’re wrapped in Pirelli PZero Corsa tires that were specifically developed for the Utopia, as shown by the car’s outline on their sidewalls.
Under the dual-pane panoramic roof, and behind the butterfly doors, is an interior that proves even more fantastic. “Neither modern nor retro, it is timeless,” as the company describes. There are no screens apart from the minimal display in front of the driver. All the instruments are purely analog and each of the easy-to-read dials subtly reveals part of its mechanism. Even the steering wheel has been reinvented—it is fashioned from a solid aluminum block, just like the pedals, while the shifter mechanism is still exposed but more sophisticated than ever.
The heart of this new Pagani is the familiar twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre AMG V12, except that output is increased to 850 horsepower along with 811 pound-feet of torque (up from 791 and 774, respectively). It’s also more potent than the track-only Huayra R’s 838 naturally aspirated horses. All this power is sent to the rear wheels. In a car with a claimed dry weight of just 1,280 kilograms (thanks to new composite materials such as Carbo-Titanium and Carbo-Triax), we bet it’s incredibly explosive.
The bad news is that only 99 Utopia coupes will be made and all of them are already spoken for. The price is a cool 2.17 million euros, or approximately $3 million CAD. The good news? You can slip inside the car by watching this little video from The Car Guide's Gabriel Gélinas, who attended the event: