10 AUTOCAR.CO.UK 7 AUGUST 2019
H
oracio Pagani, the
founder of Italy’s most
extravagant hypercar
maker, has confirmed
that a fully electric hypercar
is in the works – but the highly
regarded V12 engine will stick
around for some time.
Pagani is a man who hasalways found it difficult to
say no to his customers. His
company’s first hypercar,
the Zonda, had its retirement
delayed for years because
affluent buyers, including
Lewis Hamilton, begged for the
chance to buy one.
Now we’re facing what is
meant to be the last version of
the Huayra, the BC Roadster,
although Pagani himself admits
that plan may slip.
“It is scheduled to be
the last production model,”
he told Autocar. “But I am
also listening to some private
collectors who are asking
maybe for a one-off or a
limited edition, which willprobably extend the lifespan
a little more.”
Pagani remains ultra-
exclusive even by the
standards of Italian hypercar
makers, producing around 40
cars a year. But the company
is profitable and has always
taken a long-term approach
to planning, with Pagani
saying that work is well
advanced on the Huayra’s
replacement – known internally
as the C10 – ahead of a launch
scheduled for 2022.
“This next model will have a
similar philosophy. It will have a
traditional combustion engine,
a new-generation Mercedes-AMG V12 twin-turbo,” he
said. “We have a very close
relationship with Mercedes
already and this new V
engine will be homologated
until 2026.”
Pagani is also working on an
EV that will be developed from
the same core architecture
as the conventional hypercar.
“The C10 will have a regular V
but, at the same time, there
will be a full-electric vehicle,”
he said. “It is not going to beexactly the same platform.
It will be modified.”
Horacio Pagani said the
company’s changing customer
b a s e h a s b e e n i nte g ra l to th e
move to electrification, as well
as environmental legislation.
“At the beginning, our clients
tended to be car collectors in
Europe in their 50s or above,”
he said. “Now the average
age has dropped significantly
Pagani plots electric hypercar
NEW CORSA UNDERCUTS 208 SIBLING
The new Vauxhall Corsa is now available to order,
priced from £15,550. Two petrol engines and one
diesel are offered, with the range topping out at
£25,990 for Ultimate spec. The EV variant, with a
211-mile range, commands a premium at £26,790.
PEUGEOT 20 8 PRICED FROM £ 16 ,26 5
Alongside the Corsa, pricing for its Peugeot 208
sibling has also emerged. It starts from £16,
but, unlike the Vauxhall, a more potent 128bhp
p e tr o l i s of fe r e d fr o m £ 2 1 , 49 5. T h e E V va r i a nt
starts at £28,700, rising to £33,300 for GT trim.
EV will follow a new V12 hypercar that’s due in 2022 and the firm isn’t ruling out an SUV
Huayra cranked to 791bhp for ‘run-out’ BC Roadster
PAGANI HAS REVEALED a
lighter and more powerful
version of its Huayra hypercar,
the BC Roadster. Named to
commemorate Benny Caiola,
the Ferrari collector who was
Pagani’s first customer, the
BC Roadster follows a coupé
version, revealed in 2016, but
has a removable carbonfibre
hard-top and an uprated engine
with even more power.Pagani claims the BC weighs
just 1250kg, 30kg less than
the regular roadster, with a
structure that incorporates
conventional carbonfibre
alongside even rarer and
lighter materials.
New aerodynamic elements
and the vast rear wing create
a claimed peak of 500kg of
downforce at 174mph. The
car even has flaps next to the
exhaust’s catalytic converters
to divert gases over some of
the underfloor elements like an
F1 car’s blown diffuser.
As with other Huayras, theBC Roadster uses a version of
the Mercedes-AMG-sourced
M 1 5 8 t w i n - tu r b o V 1 2. H oweve r,
revisions such as newly
designed turbos increase
power from the 740bhp of
the last model to 791bhp.
Torque peaks at 775lb ft from
2000rpm to 5600rpm.
BC Roadster, scheduled to be the final production version of the Huayra, costs £2.8m plus taxes
Cinque was meant to be the last Zonda but more specials followed Huayra, first revealed in 2011, is nearing the end of production
and we have a lot of younger
buyers in Asia Pacific and
also in North America and
Silicon Valley.”
Beyond 2025, Horacio
Pagani said, the brand may do
something radically different
and he even admitted that
plans for an SUV have beenconsidered.
He said: “If I had to come
u p w i th a Pa g a n i SU V, i t wo u l d
need to have a price tag of
€3 million or above to be in
line with our current strategy.
We don’t know if there is any
market for such a product,
but there could not be any
compromise. If there is a
Pagani badge on a vehicle,
i t m u st b e th e h i g h e st
quality. But it is something
that has been discussed
a number of times with
collectors.
“We would access the
technology of Mercedes-
Benz because they produce
SUVs, and because of the
close relationship we enjoy,we could maybe use the big
SUV platform. It’s something
that has been in the back of
my mind, but the journey from
concept to reality for anything
like that is a long one.”
MIKE DUFF
`
The next model will have a next-
generation AMG V12 twin-turbo
a