limited-edition pagani huayra codalunga reminisces racecars in the '60s

pagani huayra codalunga reminisces the ‘60s

Horacio Pagani, Founder and Chief Designer of Pagani Automobili, believes that a real client is not someone who only buys from you once, but one who comes back again, a testament of belief and loyalty to the brand. In 2018, two Pagani collectors asked Horacio to produce a long-tail version of the Pagani Huayra Coupé with the idea of creating a car design boasting a clean and streamlined design, a model which would feel at home on the roads as well as on display at international Concours events. Pagani Automobili, spearheaded by Pagani himself, listened to their requests and today presents its recent creation, the Huayra Codalunga.

A limited-edition of just five vehicles, the hyper-vehicle was produced in close collaboration with clients, and beneath the car’s concept, shape and design lie Pagani’s signature mechanical engineering. The clients who had been actively involved in the development of the project liaised directly with Pagani Grandi Complicazioni, the re-branded Special Projects division that focuses on creating one-offs and few-offs vehicles. The latest hypercar from Pagani has been approved for road use all over the world, and the price of this new hypercar starts from seven million euros.

images from Pagani

pagani huayra codalunga mirrors racecars

Pagani says the team decided to use the simple linear style of the Huayra Coupé as the starting point of Huayra Codalunga. They crafted the Huayra Codalunga as a longer and smoother-looking vehicle as if it had been caressed and molded by the wind, as the founder puts it. They aimed to design lines that would mirror the elegance of the coupe, so the team drew inspiration from the long tails of the 1960s that raced at Le Mans. ‘The Huayra Codalunga comprises very few essential elements; we have taken away rather than added. Simplifying is not at all straightforward, and this vehicle is, above all, the result of a complex pursuit of simple ideas,’ says Horacio Pagani.

The team says that the coachbuilders of the ‘60s looked into aircraft designs and, in a quest for speed and low drag, created some of the most iconic shapes in automotive history, resulting in the creation of large body panels in aluminum alloy, all made by hand. Today, Pagani uses its know-how to follow this inspiration. The rear engine cover of Huayra Codalunga, which has a footprint of more than 3.7 m2 and is 360 mm longer than the one of the Huayra Coupé, conceals a mechanism devised by the car company: the Pagani V12, which, in this series, can develop 840 HP with 1,100 Nm of torque. The lack of rear grilles makes space for a visible view of the Codalunga’s exhaust system, which is made from titanium and weighs only 4.4 kilos.

The special ceramic coating completes the homage to the racing cars of Le Mans and the symphony that emanates from the signature four tailpipes reminisces automotive passion. Pagani’s mission of taking away rather than adding unveiled a record weight of just 1,280 kilos, and the car’s shape and extra length benefit from high-aerodynamic efficiency. The four flaps with variable profiles represent the very latest in active aerodynamics, a feature that had its world preview in 2011 and which has been subsequently refined with each model.

Limited-edition Pagani Huayra Codalunga reminisces racecars in the ’60s

pagani huayra codalunga born from collaboration

Neutral colors and semi-matte or fully matte paints decorate this special model as Pagani’s ethos of evoking the shades of the past and bringing out the simplicity of the car’s design. This car’s concept also plays a fundamental role on the inside where the seats are finished with a woven leather or nubuck upholstery, and its aluminum components are machined from a single block. This recalls the manual techniques of the past when the artisan would polish each element by hand, a kind of labor that is still practiced today by the experts in one of the world’s sports car industries, Italy’s Motor Valley.

The team members of Huayra Codalunga pitched in their thoughts on the company’s latest release with Alberto Piccolo, a concept and interior designer of Pagani Automobili, noting how its colors and materials recall the cars of the 1960s and that the paint on the outside blends into elements of the cockpit while structural parts retain their exposed carbon-fiber finish. He also says that the artisan touch can be seen on the internal finishes with woven aged suede leathers. As for Hannes Zanon, the company’s Commercial Director, he reinstates that all Pagani projects are born from visions and dreams, and some of the exclusive Pagani cars stem from the vision and dreams of clients. He expresses the ability of Pagani Automobili to develop and oversee these bespoke projects for single clients, much like the Coachbuilders in the ‘60s, while in compliance with today’s differing international requirements.

back view of Pagani Huayra Codalunga