Pagani Zonda

Zonda at a glance

The Zonda is the founding model of the brand described in our history of Pagani. Its successor and the later special editions are in the Pagani catalogue, including the Pagani Huayra Imola.

From Fangio F1 to Zonda

Horacio Pagani designed the car himself. It was originally to be called the "Fangio F1", in honour of the Argentinian Formula 1 world champion Juan Manuel Fangio. After Fangio died in 1995, Pagani renamed it after the Zonda, a hot air current over Argentina.

The first car, the Zonda C12, appeared at the Geneva motor show in 1999. Pagani's own description stresses that it was conceived, designed and developed in the company's atelier. The shape of its body was inspired by the Mercedes "Silver Arrows" racing cars of the Group C era. The very first chassis, 001, was used for crash tests and homologation. It was restored by the company's Pagani Rinascimento department and shown at the Geneva motor show in 2019 to mark the Zonda's 20th anniversary.

Design and construction

The core of the car is a carbon-fibre central monocoque, with chrome-molybdenum steel space frames at the front and rear to carry the engine and the suspension. Most of the body is carbon fibre. The Zonda F of 2005 introduced a new carbon weave called "Z preg" for parts of the crash structure, and the later Cinque used carbo-titanium.

The suspension uses independent double wishbones with coil springs, hydraulic dampers and anti-roll bars. The C12-S had Brembo brakes with ventilated discs (355 mm front, 335 mm rear) and four-piston calipers, OZ alloy wheels and power-assisted TRW rack-and-pinion steering. Pagani says the interior draws on the cultures of the past, present and future, and that the exhaust system was designed to produce the blue flames for which the car became known.

The Mercedes-AMG V12

From the beginning the Zonda used a Mercedes-Benz V12, mounted lengthwise behind the cabin. The C12 had the 5,987 cc M120 with 331 kW (450 PS) at 5,200 rpm and 590 Nm at 3,900 rpm, according to Pagani's specification table. Wikipedia mentions outputs of 300 kW (408 PS) or 331 kW (450 PS) for the first cars, and only five C12s were built with the 6.0-litre engine. From 2000 the C12-S used a 7.0-litre (7,010 cc) version prepared by Mercedes-AMG. From 2002 the S 7.3 had the 7,291 cc engine, and its later M297 form powered every Zonda from the F onwards.

The C12-S introduced a new six-speed manual gearbox from CIMA, and traction control and ABS became standard on the S 7.3. Wikipedia records 0–161 km/h in 7.0 seconds and 1.18 g on the skidpad for the C12-S.

Zonda F and Roadster F

The Zonda F of 2005 was the most thorough update. Its M297 V12 produced 443 kW (602 PS) and 760 Nm. It also got carbon-ceramic brakes with 380 mm discs developed with Brembo, an Inconel exhaust and a hydroformed aluminium intake plenum. Its dry weight fell to 1,230 kg. Pagani built 25 coupés.

The Roadster F followed in 2006, again in 25 examples. The engine was upgraded to 478 kW (650 PS) and 780 Nm, and instead of heavier sills the open car has billet alloy braces and a strengthened firewall. A Clubsport package added more power and carbo-titanium parts.

The F Clubsport made the Zonda famous with a wider audience. On the Top Gear test track the Roadster F Clubsport lapped in 1:17.8, faster than the Bugatti Veyron in the same episode. It did, however, lose a quarter-mile drag race to the Veyron by almost 2.5 seconds. At the Nürburgring, Marc Basseng lapped the 20.8 km Nordschleife in a Zonda F Clubsport in 7:24.7.

Cinque, Tricolore and the final series

The Zonda Cinque of 2009 was built in five coupés and five roadsters. It had 499 kW (678 PS) and a six-speed automated manual gearbox with shifts in under 100 milliseconds. Other features were carbo-titanium bodywork, magnesium and titanium suspension parts, 750 kg of downforce at 355 km/h and lateral acceleration of 1.45 g. Its dry weight was 1,210 kg.

The Tricolore of 2010 was planned as a single car, but it was eventually built three times, with 493 kW (670 PS).

In 2017 Pagani presented the Zonda HP Barchetta at Pebble Beach to mark both the model's 18th anniversary and Horacio Pagani's 60th birthday. With a 7.3-litre V12 rated at 588 kW (800 PS) and 850 Nm and a top speed of 355 km/h, it was announced as the end of Zonda production. Three were built, one of them kept by Pagani.

Track cars: Zonda R and Revolución

The Zonda R of 2007 was a track-only car. With a dry weight of only 1,070 kg it was the lightest Zonda. Its evolution, the Zonda Revolución, followed in 2012 with the same weight. The sources used here give no reliable power figures for either car.

Earlier, the Carsport team had developed the Zonda GR, a racing car based on the S, in 2002. It weighed 1,100 kg, was 2 metres wide and had about 447 kW (608 PS) with an intake restrictor. At the 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours it retired after ten laps with gearbox failure.

One-offs and the HP Barchetta

The end of regular production did not end the Zonda. Pagani continued to build individual cars for clients; a series of one-offs used a 7.3-litre M297 engine with 559 kW (760 PS) and 780 Nm. Other specials include the Zonda C12 S Monza, a one-off track-day car. The Zonda Revo combined the Revolución body kit and a 588 kW (800 PS) engine with the open top of the Barchetta. These cars explain why Wikipedia's production period for the Zonda runs to 2019.

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