Watch how Pagani created the Huayra Roadster BC
Back in 2016, Pagani introduced the Huayra BC, a track-focused coupé named after the late car collector Benny Caiola, who also happened to be Pagani’s first customer. Twenty were built, and since all sold out rather quickly, keen customers started to contact Horacio Pagani regarding a roadster version. Horacio thought about it, and the resulting 40 Roadster BCs didn’t just come with 44 extra horses over the fixed roofs, they came with two extra exhaust pipes for a total of six.
To make a folding hardtop roadster with a 6.0-liter twin-turbo V-12 weigh just 2755 pounds, Pagani had to step up its composite game even further. To produce enough downforce without making the chassis dangerously low to the ground, the aero package had to be re-designed. A triple-plate clutch made the Xtrac seven-speed automated manual package even lighter and faster, while Pirelli had to chew through 22 different tire compound variants before settling on the correct Trofeo Rs for this model.
Pagani produced a crisp film about its whole development, as the Roadster BC will be displayed at the upcoming Geneva show along the new flagship coupé, the 827-horsepower Imola. And I guess the most entertaining aspect of the whole thing is how Horacio Pagani keeps bugging people—for all the right reasons. After producing seven engine prototypes for Pagani since 2015, Mercedes-AMG boss Tobias Moers still gets messages about having more power from that V-12, regardless of the strict emission regulations. Closer to home, Pirelli has to understand Pagani’s vision for the upcoming car’s handling, and hand-cuts plenty of rubber that will get turned to dust at Imola. How about Horacio’s own designers and engineers? Well, if they get a Whatsapp notification from the boss in the evening, their plans for the next day may just get altered, significantly.
Pagani will restart from scratch as long as the team doesn’t come up with solutions that can lead to cars that Horacio refers to as “probably the best to have ever been hand-built.” And when you look at their results, all that care shines through:
