Happenings

The Last Of Its Kind

BY Jek Ray

Pagani builds the ultimate Zonda to celebrate the end of its production run.

 

The Pagani Zonda was first unveiled in 1999 as a GT car. With good looks, decent power and a lightweight carbon fibre bodyshell, journalists and owners alike found the car to be quite capable on the track, and that was the direction Pagani was heading in with the Zonda. In 2003, the 6litre V12 was ditched in favour of a 7.3litre V12. In 2005, the car was reengineered to form the basis for the F, and in 2009, the R was built. A wide variety of one-offs and Zondas in various trims followed the R, including the infamous Zonda Uno and Zonda Cinque. The Cinque was intended to be the final car in the series, but demand from customers led Pagani to build a few more one-off editions, before the lack of availability of the 7.3-litre V12 caused road-going Zonda production to stop with the 764 Passione. Now however, Pagani has revealed yet another one-off Zonda, and they promise us that it will be the last Zonda ever. Step inside the world of the Zonda Revolucion. 

Unveiled to clients and family during Vanishing Point 2013, the International Pagani gathering, the Revolucion would be the ultimate Zonda. Just like the Cinque and the R, the Revolucion has a Carbo-tanium central monocoque which weighs it in at 1070 kg. This lightweight shell is pushed around courtesy of an 800 bhp 6.0-liter V12, resulting in an impressive 748 bhp per tonne.

For the best outright acceleration, the V12 heart of the Revolucion is coupled with a 6-speed magnesium transversal and sequential gearbox that changes gears in 20 ms. The ABS system is renewed, and the traction control system has been honed and developed by the boffins at Bosch, with 12 different settings available that enables one to set the car to best suit their style of driving.

Despite being a non-racing homologated sportscar, the Pagani Zonda Revolucion has taken a thing or two from the glorified world of Formula One: the car has a Drag Reduction System, or DRS, that changes the rear wing’s angle at speeds above 100 km/h, while the Bremo brakes now have F1-derived CCMR discs that are 15% lighter than those on the Zonda R’s.

When the likes of the R and the 760 series Zondas were launched, I found it hard to believe the Pagani could make the already mental Zonda even faster and more hardcore. But somehow, they managed to pull it off. With less weight and even more power than its predecessors, the Revolucion looks like it is always ready to rip up any piece of tarmac at any opportunity. It is outlandish, wild, and utterly glorious; the Revolucion is gorgeous and looks to be set to smash some lap records.