Zonda R

STORY

The Zonda is the car that launched Pagani Automobili. Revealed at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show as the C12, it married Horacio Pagani's obsession with exposed carbon fibre and hand-finished detail to a naturally-aspirated Mercedes-AMG V12. The earliest cars used a 6.0-litre engine; only a handful of these were built before Pagani moved to progressively larger and more powerful versions. In 2002 the Zonda S adopted a 7.3-litre AMG V12, and that displacement went on to define the model's most celebrated variants.

Across an eighteen-year production run the Zonda spawned a remarkable family: the S, F, Roadster, Cinque, Tricolore, 760 series and countless bespoke one-offs. Roughly 140 cars were built in total, including development mules. Far more than a numbers exercise, the Zonda established Pagani's entire design language and proved that a tiny Modena workshop could stand alongside Ferrari and Lamborghini, cementing its founder's reputation as a builder of rolling art.