Only five fortunate drivers will own one. Only five 2009 Zonda Cinque cars will be built at Pagani Automobili in Modena, Italy-hence the "Cinque" (Italian, "cheen-kway").
You will need an armored car of American five spots, though, to own one of these carbon-fiber supercars, equal to the best of Ferrari, Lamborghini, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche. The ticket price for the svelte Italian mid-engine is $1.24 million.
This street legal version of the race-only Zonda R carries a 7.3-liter V12, detuned, if you will, to 678 horsepower from that rocket ride's explosive 750. Still, the Cinque accelerates, in equally galactic style, 0-62 mph in 3.4 seconds and tops, the Pagani people say, at 217 mph.
Creator Horacio Pagani consulted with five-time Formula One World Champion Juan Manuel Fangio on the concept Zondas. In 1992, Pagani constructed a prototype; Dallara wind tunnel-tested the first model in 1993. Fangio then introduced Pagani to Mercedes, which agreed to supply its V12 engine. |
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Originally, the Zonda was to be named "Fangio F1," but when the racing legend died in 1995, Pagani renamed the car after a fast-moving Argentinean air current wafting out of the towering Andes. Good choice for a car that will blow past many summit-level sports cars.
Pagani has been designing cars since he was 12, debuting with racers when he was 20 on a project for Renault. The great engineer Alfieri at Lamborghini put him to work. Before establishing his company, Modena Design, Pagani was involved in projects such as the restyling of the Jalpa and the design of the Countach Evoluzione (with a 100 percent carbon chassis), the Diablo, the Lamborghini P140, the L30 and the Diablo Anniversary. Modena Design has also collaborated with companies such as Ferrari and Aprilia.
The Cinque is the latest incarnation of the Zonda, which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in 1999. Altogether, about 100 vehicles, in coupes and convertibles, have been produced, beginning in 1999 with that first Mercedes-Benz M120-equipped Zonda. |
