Pagani’s Godfather Explains The Genesis Of The Huayra R

If there’s one thing that Pagani Automobili will always be remembered for, it’s breathtaking design and beauty. Cars like the Zonda and Huayra are already iconic pieces of art and would be so even without their astonishing performance. But as car people, we always want more. More power, more beauty, more passion. Horacio Pagani is a true aficionado, and it shows in the cars his company produces. But what inspires the man, and more specifically, what inspires bonkers creations like the Zonda R and the imminent Huayra R? In this short video from the Italian marque, the man himself explains “The Genesis of the Huayra R”.

Pagani says that he and his team had been working on the Huayra since 2003 when he felt the need for “freedom”. He wanted to build a car free of regulations, a car that could decimate lap times while still looking absolutely stunning and remaining very safe. Looking at the racing cars of today, he says that they are almost exclusively molded by aerodynamic efficiency, and that’s true. But in the ’60s and ’70s, cars were “really fast, maybe dangerous, yet absolutely stunning.” Examples he cites include the Ferrari P4 prototype, the GT40 and other Le Mans racers, and his personal favorite, the Porsche 917. We agree – those all look sensual yet fast, something missing from today’s racers. Thus, he built the Zonda R. But that need for freedom arose again, even with something as astonishingly pretty and brilliant as the Huayra.

And so the idea of the Huayra R was born. In initial tests, the car was fantastic aerodynamically, but was “too technical”. What he’s saying here is that the initial design was ugly, and he wanted to fix that. Interestingly, “as the car became more appealing, it also became more aerodynamically efficient.” So although we only have one teaser to go on visually and a single clip of its glorious V12 in action, it seems that Horacio himself is personally guaranteeing that it will look fantastic. The end result will be a moving symbol of “courage, respect, speed, performance, freedom, and racing”. If it’s anything as mad as the Zonda R, we’re sure it’ll encapsulate all of those qualities perfectly.