| |
If you dial 059.952811 in Italy, your call will be placed to an office at San Cesario sul Panaro, in Modena, a town made famous by Ferrari and Lamborghini. Chances are, however, that the person at the other end will be one Horacio Pagani, who may well try and sell you a Pagani Zonda, which just happens to be a supercar. Horacio Pagani is the man behind the Pagani Zonda, and, as such, is a rather colourful character. Horacio Pagani started very early in life, at the age of 12 in fact, when he used to carve models of supercars from wood.
He dabbled in racing cars, designing a Formula 3 car that competed in Argentina under the colours of the official Renault team. But he found his true calling when he met Juan Manuel Fangio, his childhood hero who introduced him to a wonderful world known as Modena. Pagani started work as a bodywork mechanic at Lamborghini, but soon found himself promoted to manage the new composite material department.
He had a hand in the LMA Jeep, the restyled Jalpa and the design of the full-carbon Countach Evoluzione. It was his dream however to build his own supercar and, deeply influenced by Fangio, decided to design a car that he thought of calling the Fangio F1. Fangio in turn encouraged Pagani and, being a Mercedes man, suggested he get the powertrain from Mercedes. In 1994, Mercedes officially agreed to supply its powerful V12 engine. After Fangio’s death, Pagani decided to change the name to Zonda, after a wind that blows in the Andes – rather like Maserati, which also names its cars after desert winds.
The first Zonda was the C12 and was presented at 1999 Geneva Motor Show. The car that’s the Desirable Car this month is, the Zonda F – a variant of the Zonda. The F stands for Fangio and the car is made by hand completely, to the highest standards known to man. It’s a car that is light, yet safe, while offering fabulous performance via the use of the best technology available. This is primarily because carbon fibre, aluminium alloys, titanium, avional, chrome-molybdenum alloy, and selected leathers have been used to craft the car..
|
|
| |
So what makes the Pagani Zonda F so desirable? Well, all supercars have super engines in them, and this one is no exception. The motor is a Mercedes-Benz 12 cylinder V 60°, worked upon by AMG. The cylinder head has 48 valves, and the engine has a displacement of 7,291cc. What it places in the driver’s hands is a maximum power of 602bhp at 6150rpm and humongous torque of 560lb/ft at 4000rpm. The Weight-to-Power ratio works out to 2.04 kg/hp. There is a Clubsport version too and this has 650bhp at 6200RPM and 575lb/ft at 4000rom, giving it a Weight-to-Power ratio of 1.89 kg/bhp. The power and torque is fed via a twin plate clutch and a 6-speed gearbox to the forged aluminium/magnesium alloy APP wheels shod with Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tyres, 255/35/19 at front and 335/30/20 at the rear.
The Zonda F is 4435mm long, 2055mm wide and just 1141mm short. With a wheelbase of 2730mm and a dry weight of 1230 kg, the Zonda F employs aerodynamics a la an F1 car for a total of 600 kg of down force at 300km/h for the Clubsport version, 270 kg at front and 330kg at the rear. Aerodynamics has a large role to play in a car that accelerates from 0-100kph in 3.6 seconds, 0-200 km/h in 9.8 seconds and stops from 200km/h in just 4.4seconds! That’s quicker from 0-200km/h and back than what a lot of cars take to get to 100km/h! Top speed is over 345km/h.
The Zonda F is quite a good-looker too, especially from the side. Look at the body closely and you will see the carbon-fiber grains that let you know that this is no ordinary car. The rear treatment is a little unusual in that the four exhaust pipes come out together in the centre, but that’s what makes the Zonda instantly recognizable. The best thing about the Zonda is
the care that goes into the interior as well. After all, rather than being a racing car adapted for the road, it’s actually a car that is equally at home on the track and the road.
So anybody want a Pagani Zonda? You know where to call! |
|
