Image: Wikipedia
The Pagani Zonda is a Super Car built by the Italian manufacturer Pagani. It debuted in 1999, and production ended in 2011, with three special edition cars, the Zonda 760RS, Zonda 760LH and the Zonda 764 Passione, being produced in 2012. By June 2009, 135 Zondas had been built, including test mules. Both 2-door coupe and roadster versions have been produced. Construction is mainly of carbon fiber. Some of the early Zonda engineering was done by Formula One champion Juan Manuel Fangio. The Zonda is an immensely customizable machine as one can tell from the many variants which are listed below.
VARIANTS
Zonda C12
The Zonda C12 debuted in 1999 at the Geneva Motor Show. Powered by a 6.0 L (366 cu in) Mercedes-Benz V12 engine producing 394 PS (290 kW; 389 hp) at 5200 rpm and 570 N·m (420 lb·ft) at 3800 rpm mated to a 5-speed manual transmission gearbox. The C12 could accelerate to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.2 seconds and to 100 mph (160 km/h) in 9.2 seconds.
Just five of the original 6.0 L Pagani's were built, though it was still available in 2002 when the C12 S debuted. One was used for crash testing, while another was a demonstrator and show car. The remainder were delivered to customers during the next three years. A woman from Switzerland is confirmed to own the last remaining Zonda C12, rejecting the offer from Pagani himself to redeem the car for historical reasons.
Zonda S
The Zonda S uses a 7.0 L (427 cu in) AMG–tuned version of the engine producing 550 PS (400 kW; 540 hp). It can accelerate to 62 mph (100 km/h) in 3.7 secs, to 100 mph (160 km/h) in 7.5 secs and complete the quarter mile in 11.3 secs. Lateral acceleration on the skidpad is 1.18 g (11.6 m/s²), it can reach a top speed of 208 mph (335 km/h), and carries a price tag of US$500,000.
The Zonda S features an elongated nose, flaps at the rear for improved aerodynamics, and new light clusters and exhausts. Only fifteen 7.0 L Zonda S cars were produced.
Zonda S 7.3
The Zonda S 7.3 of 2002 used a new, larger V12 engine displacing 7.3 L (445 cu in) designed and manufactured by Mercedes-Benz AMG producing 555 PS (408 kW; 547 hp) and 750 N·m (550 lb·ft). And to better handle the power, traction control and ABS were made standard. Performance claims were unchanged from the Zonda S.
In February 2003 the UK automotive magazine Evo attempted a top speed run on the Autobahn in which the car topped out at 198 mph (319 km/h), 10 mph (16 km/h) off the mark of its claimed top speed of 208 mph (335 km/h). Company representatives at Pagani's factory claimed this was the result of the car being in the setting for maximum down force, something that would drop its top speed to around 200 mph (320 km/h). However, the EVO article claimed that aerodynamic parts, specifically ones which created drag were in fact removed during the run, bringing Pagani's claims into question.
Zonda Roadster
In 2003 Pagani presented the Zonda Roadster, a roadster version of the Zonda S 7.3. Carrying the same components as the coupe, Pagani promised no loss of performance, a claim supported by the minimal weight gain of 30 kilograms (66 lb). A total of 40 roadsters were produced.
Zonda F
The Zonda F (or Zonda Fangio) debuted at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show. It is the most extensive re-engineering of the Zonda yet, though it shares much with its predecessors including the 7.3 L AMG V12 engine which through enhanced intake manifolds, exhaust and a revised ECU now produces 602 PS (443 kW; 594 hp) at 6150 rpm and 560 lb·ft (759 N·m) at 4000 rpm. Production of the Zonda F was limited to 25 cars. Named after Formula One driver Juan Manuel Fangio, it came equipped with an extra headlight and different fog lights at the sides, new bodywork (revised front end, new rear spoiler, more aerodynamic vents all around) that improved the car's aerodynamics, and different side mirrors. Further enhancements over the 'S' centered around optional carbon/ceramic brakes developed in conjunction with Brembo, magnesium wheels, inconel titanium exhaust system, hydro-formed aluminum intake plenum and a redesigned 'Z preg' weave in the crash structure to improve rigidity and reduce weight.
Zonda Roadster F
The Zonda Roadster F debuted at the 2006 Geneva auto show. It was similar to the coupe, but with a removable carbon fibre roof and canvas side curtains weighing just 5 kilograms (11 lb). Production of the Roadster F was limited to 25 units. The Roadster F is able to maintain chassis rigidity without any gain in curb weight by eschewing conventional thinking by not strengthening the sills - a process which would have needed more than 35 kilograms (77 lb) of reinforcement. Pagani instead uses racing car thinking, materials and construction techniques, strengthening the firewall structure of the chassis tub together with billet alloy braces that connect the points where the roof rails would have joined. The windscreen is also strengthened for safety reasons. These techniques enable the Roadster to have virtually the same weight as the coupe, 1,230 kilograms (2,710 lb).
The Zonda Roadster F Club Sport was tested by Top Gear's The Stig and James May and achieved a lap time around their test track of 1:17.8, beating the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 tested during the same episode, but lost in a quarter mile drag race against the Veyron by nearly 2.5 seconds. According to James May, the Zonda F Roadster costs £825,000. German racing driver Marc Basseng managed to lap the Zonda F Club Sport around the 20.8 kilometers (12.9 mi) Nürburgring Nordschleife in 7:24.7.
Zonda Cinque
The Zonda Cinque (Italian for five) was meant to be the last iteration of the Zonda, being a road going version of the Zonda R. Only five were built (hence the name) at the cost of £1 million ($2,193,070), with deliveries set to June 2009 for all five cars. The differences over other road-going Zondas are the new 6-speed sequential gearbox, resulting in shifts now taking less than 100 milliseconds, dropping 0–62 mph down to 3.4 seconds. The Cinque also has a revised form of carbon fibre called "carbo-titanium" which incorporates titanium to increase strength and rigidity. Suspension makes use of magnesium and titanium components, and the engine's power has been increased to 678 PS (499 kW; 669 hp). Revised bodywork, which includes a longer front splitter, new sides skirts, rear diffuser, bumper canards and a flatter underside as well as a roof-mounted air intake scoop, enables the Cinque to create 750 kg (1,653 lb) of down force at 300 km/h (186 mph) and 1.45 G of cornering force.
The Zonda Cinque's prototype was designed specially for the purpose of filming a special live-action trailer for Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, developed by Criterion Games, and built for shooting, with Horacio Pagani himself monitoring the construction of the car.
Zonda Cinque Roadster
The Roadster has the same specs as the Coupé from which it is derived and only 5 units were built, with a price of £1.3-million/US$2 million plus local taxes.
Zonda Tricolore
The final mass-produced Zonda was originally conceived as a one-off; there were actually three Tricolores built. It was built as a tribute to the country's aerobatic team. It carries a lot of the body from the Zonda Cinque. The car is unpainted except for a clear blue lacquer and red, white and green stripes that run up from the nose along the top of the car's surface. Unique to this car is a small wing placed behind the cockpit which reflects Frecce Tricolori's Aermacchi MB-339 PAN stunt plane tail wing. The three Tricolore's will be priced at £1.2 Million. It is also 6 mph (9.7 km/h) faster than a standard Zonda at 220 mph (350 km/h).
Zonda Roadster R
Image: Pagani Automobili | Zonda
The Zonda R debuted at the Geneva Motor Show 2007, using the 6.0 litre V12 M120 engine sourced from the race version of the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR. The Zonda R's competition lies with track-based cars such as the Ferrari FXX and Maserati MC12 Corsa rather than the original Zonda's road competitors as it is not road-homologated.
Despite sharing much of the Zonda's shape, the R is almost entirely new, sharing only 10% of the Zonda F's components. It has been obliquely suggested by Horacio Pagani that this car is a testbed chassis for certain components of the Zonda's replacement, the Pagani Huayra (in the same vein as the Ferrari 288 GTO Evoluzione and the successive F40) and that the Zonda R accurately reflects some of the Huayra's features. Only 15 Zonda R were produced.
Zonda Revolución
Pagani unveiled the final version of the Zonda, called Zonda Revolución to clients and family members during Vanishing Point 2013 - The International Pagani gathering. The central monocoque is carbon-titanium, the needle on the scale stops at 1070 kg. The Mercedes-AMG engine is an evolution of the Zonda R powerplant. The 6.0-liter V12 now develops an output of 800 hp (597 kW; 811 PS) and 730 N·m (540 lbf·ft) of torque, resulting in a power to weight ratio of 748 hp per tonne. (Source: Wikipedia)
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