Under the Pen: Pagani Zonda Cinque

The Cinque's engine bay

Pagani is a relatively new company in the world of supercars. Argentine turned Italian Horatio Pagani styled it after being inspired from working with Lamborghini [he was a janitor btw]. He was eventually promoted to a consultant but soon after left the company to start his own company. To help with development he consulted fellow Argentine and 5 time F1 champ Juan Manuel Fangio. Fangio suggested the use of the Mercedes engine and to honot him Pagani wanted to name it the Fangio F1, unfortunately, Fangio died long before the vehicle was put on sale. To not look like a scapegoat, Pagani chose to rename it the Zonda after an Argentine wind current, he eventually dedicated the F model to Fangio.

It entered the supercar race in 1999, just as the McLaren F1 was packing up. It's mission wasn't to be the fastest, but to bring a unique and bold look to the supercar market. Upon release it was the most outlandish looking car since the Lamborghini Diablo. It quickly escalated to being one of the "elite" "must have" supercars. But it's 11 years old and despite going through 4 different engines and a massive re-engineering in 2005, It's design has not changed much. The design has stood the test of time longer than most cars [in comparison Ferrari has pushed out 3 successors for the F355; the 360, F430 & 458 in the Zonda's timeline]. There have been numerous models, each as unique as the last. The C12, C12 S, 7.3, GR, Monza, R, F and Clubsport round up the list, but seeing that the Zonda is on its last breath, Pagani decided to release one final model. The Cinque.

The cinque would be the final car to enter a group called the elite four [this list shall grow to 5 soon] Other members include the Aston Martin One-77, Bugatti Veyron and Lamborghini Reventon [Koenigsegg Agera should be next]. These vehicles represent the pinnacle of automobile design blurring the line between race car and street car. They all cost over 1 million pounds and are to be sold only to an elite few. These are no longer sportcars, supercars or hyper cars but a new class of vehicle representing the best of the best. Most of these will never see roads and will end up being museum pieces. The Cinque is no different as only 5 will be made and it will bring the Zonda line to an end.