Pagani reveals one-off 864hp Huayra Epitome
The best bit? It's a manual
Another new Huayra, you say? Surely not. Wasn’t it replaced by something equally bonkers? Well, yes - it was: the Utopia launched in 2022 and is very much in production. But Pagani can’t seem to leave the Huayra alone. Devotees might recall that even after the first Utopia was delivered to its owner, it launched the Imola Roadster, which was basically a limited-edition, road-legal Huayra with all the track special R bits stuck on. It developed 850hp from its 6.0-litre V12 and was built in vanishingly small numbers for what we assumed was a seven-figure send-off. But then there was the Huayra R Evo at the start of the year. And now there's this.
Thanks to one lucky, supremely deep-pocketed punter, you're looking at a one-off ‘literally unique’ Huayra called the Epitome. Now, that’s an objectively cool name, so it’s very pleasing that Grandi Complicazioni (Pagani’s special project division) has come up with something objectively cool enough to do it justice. This seems about right when you consider that the initial design phase took nine months, followed by ten months of engineering. Little wonder that its maker says it, ‘represents the pinnacle of Pagani’s current technology available for road-legal cars.’
For a start, the twin-turbocharged AMG-built unit has been tweaked again to output 864hp. And 811lb ft of torque. But it gets better. For the time ever in a Huayra, Pagani has mated the V12 to an Xtrac-supplied seven-speed manual gearbox ‘for a purely mechanical driving experience’. There’s a triple-disc clutch and motorsport-derived driveshaft to transmit all the power to the road via an electronically-controlled diff, and a six-way titanium exhaust system that becomes ‘even more captivating when the four-exhaust button located on the central tunnel is pressed.’
Obviously this ‘sound symphony’ makes the Epitome a mentalist of the first order, but it’s interesting to note that the car is not just about track smarts. Granted, Pagani has adjusted the geometry for better body control, but it has also fitted a new active suspension system that features a ‘super soft’ button located in the cabin that allows ‘driving on rough roads’ up to 93mph. So perhaps our hero is commuting up and down Welsh B roads all day long.
He’ll want to be wary of scuffing his forged aluminum alloy monolithic wheels if he is. And of catching the new splitter which is a feature of the Epitome’s redesigned front bumper. There are restyled lights, too - including those funky DRLs - but it’s at the back where things really go up a gear. The rear end is completely redesigned to incorporate that dramatic fixed wing, which ‘aims to optimally balance the car in any driving condition’ - while, of course, differentiating this Huayra from any other.
Not that we’ve ever seen another one beyond a show stand. But that’s obviously part of the appeal: not only does the Epitome live up to ‘an extraordinary level of prestige and customisation’ it is also about allowing its ‘co-creator’ the opportunity to realise a dream. And with what must be virtually unlimited resources, who wouldn’t want to resurrect the Huayra for one final spin around the developmental block? Well, we say that - when Pagani describes the Epitome as the first and only derivative equipped with a manual transmission ‘to date’ you do start to wonder what else it might have up its sleeve…
I still think peak Zonda was the (relatively) plain yet still mind-blowing Zonda S:
Still, that's probably a good for me
It's still a hell of a thing to behold though
I remember it looking nowhere near as good as the Zonda, but this looks fantastic.
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I think they mucked up the Huayra front look at launch & have changed it several times since to morph into something very similar to the Zonda front. Which looks brilliant !
But in Switzerland I've seen 4 or 5 being used for days out on *dry* *smooth* roads - 2 things which exist in together often in CH but never in UK.
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