Pagani Utopia makes driving special again

When I first heard about Pagani some 20 years ago, I was naturally sceptical.

- Christopher Tan

MODENA, Italy - After all, boutique carmakers had come and gone. Even long-established names have had to be rescued by bigger groups. Others have simply disappeared.

As it turns out, Pagani has not only survived, but it is also thriving. Since its first model, the Zonda, was unveiled in 1999, its car prices have risen by nearly 10 times - from under €300,000 for the Zonda C12 to €2.6 million (S$3.7 million) for the Utopia Coupe (its third model launched in 2022).

The company has remained independent, being majority-owned by founder Horacio Pagani, an Argentinian Italian who built a Formula Three race car at 20 and worked for Renault and Lamborghini before starting Pagani Automobili in 1992.

Mr Pagani sees himself as a modern-day Leonardo da Vinci, the legendary artist and engineer who lived more than 500 years ago. Hence, Pagani cars are a marriage of the two disciplines. And the Utopia personifies this union best.

The sports car is meticulously crafted, with its carbon-fibre body and carbon-composite chassis essentially handmade in Pagani's plant in San Cesario sul Panaro, near Modena, Italy.

Suspension components, signature quad tailpipes, steering wheel, gear lever and shift mechanism, instrument dials, air-conditioning vents and all the other shiny bits which make the cabin artisanal are milled from solid blocks of metal - mostly aluminium - and hand-polished.