Boutique supercar manufacturer Pagani released their first model, the Zonda, in 1999. The car became so popular among ultra-wealthy collectors that production ran for a whole two decades, right up until 2019. Rather than just churning out carbon copies of the same car for those twenty years, Pagani released dozens of separate editions, each with their own unique features.
In total, a whopping 48 different special Zondas were produced. Many editions were specific to one owner, the initials of whom sometimes feature in the name of the model. Listing all 48 editions and their peculiarities would make this article the size of a small novel. So, instead, let's take a look at ten of the most interesting and unique versions of the car that made Pagani a serious supercar player.
10 C12 - Where It Started
The C12 was the first ever iteration of the Zonda, debuting at the Geneva Motor Show in 1999. Like every Zonda after it, the car sourced its power from a Mercedes-Benz V12 engine. In the case of the C12, that engine was tuned to produce either 395hp or 444hp.
A total of 5 C12s were made, but chassis No. 1 was kept by the company for crash testing purposes. It was later restored in-house and displayed at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show to celebrate the car's 20th anniversary.
9 Uno - A Sheikh's Special
The Uno is a one-off special built for Sheikh Abdullah bin Nasser Al-Thani, a member of the Qatari royal family. The car is a unique shade of turquoise, commissioned to add to the Sheikh's collection of multiple other turquoise cars.
Originally, the car was a Zonda F Roadster that was crashed and then sent back to the factory to be rebuilt. It uses parts from the Zonda Cinque, including a new carbon-titanium chassis.
8 Tricolore - A Real High Flyer
The Tricolore was built as a homage to the Italian Air Force's display team, called the Frecce Tricolori. The Italian flag stripes that stretch across the front of the car make it pretty clear where this edition got its name from.
Unique to this model is the wing behind the cockpit inspired by one of the Frecce Tricolori's stunt planes. The asking price for this tribute Zonda? A cool $1,600,000.
7 R - Built For The Track
The Zonda R was the first track-only iteration of the Zonda lineage. It uses a 6.0L V12 engine out of Mercedes' CLK GTR, but power has been upgraded to 740hp. CEO Horacio Pagani hinted at the time of release that the R was a test bed for the Zonda's eventual replacement, the Huayra.
Despite the design of the R looking similar to other Zonda editions, underneath it's almost entirely new. In fact, it's been reported that only 10% of regular Zonda components are shared with the R. The track special Zonda is one of the more common Zonda editions, with 15 sold through a three-year production run.
6 760LH - Lewis Hamilton's Custom Zonda
This very purple edition was commissioned by one Mr Lewis Hamilton, hence the name 760LH. There isn't too much unique about this variant apart from the paint and the inclusion of a manual gearbox instead of the regular paddle-shift one.
Lewis has been quite critical of his custom Zonda, even telling one British newspaper it's "terrible to drive". Nevertheless, he still likes it enough to have kept it since 2013, even getting it repaired after he crashed it in Monaco in 2015.
5 S Roadster - No Roof, Same Power
The S Roadster was the first roofless Pagani, using all the same internals as the hardtop Zonda S 7.3. Pagani promised that performance of the Roadster was equal to the regular S, thanks to a weight gain of only 30kg (66lb).
A total of 40 roadsters were produced, making this edition one of the most common Zondas around. To counter this, several owners later sent their cars back to Pagani for further modification where they would be turned into unique one-off specials.
4 Cinque - Not Actually The Last One
The Cinque was originally planned to be the last of the Zonda line, but exceptional customer demand meant it simply became another iteration of the ever-popular car. Developed at the request of a dealer in Hong Kong, the Cinque was designed as the road-legal version of the R, sharing many parts in common.
Improvements were made to make the car slightly better suited to the road, including three gearbox modes: Comfort, Sport and Race. Track suspension and bare-bones design meant even Comfort mode wasn't exactly comfortable but it was a significant improvement over earlier models.
3 Revolucion - The Most Extreme Zonda
The Revolucion was built as a continuation of the R line, designed to improve on the R's already terrifying track capabilities. The Revolucion added DRS technology inspired by Formula 1, and also made tweaks to braking and electrical systems.
Power was increased slightly to 789hp, and the price was increased significantly to €2,200,000 ($2,667,231). The most extreme Zonda ever made, Horacio Pagani claimed at release that it was the fastest iteration of the car too.
2 HP Barchetta - How Much?
The final edition after twenty years, the HP Barchetta was intended to make the Zonda go out with a bang. It featured a number of redesigned elements and most notably a chopped-down windshield reminiscent of vintage race cars.
It was reported that prices for the car were somewhere between $15m and $17.5m, making the HP Barchetta one of the most expensive new cars ever. Only three examples were ever produced, with one being kept for Horacio Pagani himself.
1 La Nonna - The Grandmother
The La Nonna Zonda, aka "the Grandmother", is undoubtedly the most special Pagani in existence. It's actually the test vehicle that development for every edition of the Zonda has been carried out on. Technically it's a C12 prototype, but it's been rebuilt so many times with new parts that it's very much a separate beast.
Everything from new engines and gearboxes to new body parts were all tested first on this one car. Throughout its many test runs, it's racked up an unbelievable number of miles. The car's odometer is reported to be over 1,000,000km (621,371 miles), surely ranking it among the highest-mileage supercars ever.