Pagani Museum

7 December 2023

My First Ever Hour in Italy - Pagani Museum

If you haven't already read my thoughts on the Enzo Ferrari Museum (here), I visited Italy for the first time ever with someone very special this past Easter holiday. It was by chance that things aligned for us to visit Modena first - The home of Ferrari many would say.

However, in the modern day, the true unsung hero of the Italian hypercar world is undoubtedly Pagani. And that is why our first drive from the hotel was to the Pagani Automobili Museum.

Pagani - The brand which makes you want one of their cars even if their AMG-derived +7.0L N/A V12 engines never worked (thank God they do...).

The brand where you can sit and stare at all Zonda variants and enjoy each "final edition" and their ridiculously minor differences.

So, why is all that stuff such a big deal? A few months ago, SQIDD very cleverly examined in their ~30 minute video the one thing Horacio Pagani did so well - Just like Leonardo da Vinci, Mr. Pagani sought ("seeked" for my Greek readers), and managed to create a combination of Art and Science. And this only supports my arguments against the future being full of EVs even more:

The fact that a car can be both, a reliable and practical tool and mode of independent transport, but also a thing of art and aesthetic intrigue is one of the reason so many of us love watching a garage door open to reveal anything from a Mercedes SLR to a Honda S600, to a tuned R34, or even just a big, American Hummer H1.

The marriage of engineering and dedicated design just completes so many of people's interests of the horse-and-carriage way of living that humanity has strived from.

The history of Horacio Pagani is also worth learning.

What do I mean:

When renovating a house, you aim to start with the one thing you cannot change: Location. Once you find the perfect property for your needs, you try to develop what already exists with a smart way of course, while adding modern touches, know-how, and tools and materials. However, if you really want to make a difference, you find a beautiful building, with a unique selling point, such as an amazing view, and a romantic aspect to it, such as unique and chic design - not just the same copy-paste, budget-friendly lines and squares of today's boring designs. Because you don't call a house a home if it is just made by numbers and clever tricks alone. You want it to feel and be special. And finally, you give that home purpose. The perfect home must have a perfect heart to live in it.

That is what Horacio Pagani did to the supercar.

Location and Property: The Argentinean-Italian engineering-lover found the best "property" and location to start with: Lamborghini, in Modena.

You will immediately feel his "down-to-earth" character (if you don't already) when you learn that Mr. Pagani was just sweeping floors for Lamborghini when he came to Modena after getting rejected by Fiat, Ferrari, Maserati, and Detomaso... and Lamborghini. But it was his love for the beauty of Italian supercars that overpowered all of that and made him want to be a part of the world-leading movement of supercars made in Italy.

Unique Selling Point and Design: He then used his skills of molding carbon fiber bodies to prove to Lamborghini, and to the world, that "this new expensive technology is the future of supercars" - tying his passion for engineering with the Italian Supercar Beauty - He was obviously right. No copy-pasting such as the Nissan 300ZX headlights in the Diablo, the Corrado mirrors on the McLaren F1, or Ford, GM, Volvo and VW-Audi Group parts generally being used in everything in the 90s.

The Perfect Heart: Finally, Horacio wanted this artwork to have a V12 to match the Group C car-inspired design, and was smart enough to use his connections with Mercedes, and use their 6.0L V12 for the C12 - "C" for "Group C & Christina (his wife's name), and 12.... for V12 of course. The choice to use Mercedes's amazing N/A V12 giant throughout the models is also just a boss move that you have to respect. He wanted a V12, and didn't care if it had his name on it. Just awesome..

And then, don't forget that he went to the CRAZY 7.3L AMG V12 for the Zondas, also used in the R129 SL73 AMG.

Finally: My Favourite Part:

The Craftsmanship. Look at ANY Pagani interior, and even that is a reason you will just want to own the car. JUST for its interior alone. Or I do at least.

What an awesome man, and what an awesome brand. GO. VISIT. PAGANI.