The 800-hp Zonda Revolucion ends an era (for now)

After close to a decade and a half, including a run of super-limited editions and one-offs, Pagani has released its final Zonda. Or so it seems. A "car designed to amaze both on the track and in a car collection," the Zonda Revolucion brings the legendary line to a close with a bang.

After a lifetime of designing cars and other products, including a stint at Lamborghini during the heyday of the Countach and Diablo, Horatio Pagani first introduced the world to the Zonda in 1999. The Zonda C12 laid the groundwork for a long series of Zonda models, including the open-top Zonda Roadster and track-optimized Zonda R. The R was a particularly extreme manifestation of the V12-powered supercar, but the entire essence of the Zonda – from its look, to its power, to its ultralight composite build – has always been that of a race car that does some street commuting on the side.

Pagani all but replaced the Zonda with its successor, the Huayra, two years ago, but it's continued to build limited-run special editions and customer-commissioned one-offs that pop up at auto shows every so often. The Revolucion appears to be the very last of those special editions and, by default, the very last Zonda. Pagani, however, has been known for prolonging the life of the Zonda, so we wouldn't be surprised if another Zonda sprouts up in the future.

The language of Pagani's press release, calling the new model the "final version of the Pagani Zonda Revolucion" and the "the apex of the celebration of performance, technology and art applied to a track car" alludes to it being the final version, but is ambiguous enough to leave us wondering. We'll just call it the last version (for now).

If indeed the Revolucion is the very last Zonda standing, Pagani has ensured that the Zonda exits the auto scene with as much fanfare as it entered 14 years ago. The automaker builds upon the sheer track aggression and potency of the Zonda R by tuning the same 6.0-liter Mercedes AMG V12 engine up to 800 hp and 538 lb-ft (729 Nm) of torque. A 6-speed sequential gearbox with lightning-fast 20-millisecond shifts helps to transfer all that power and torque as effectively as possible.

An 800-hp V12 would make almost any car fast, but the Zonda's engine won't have to work that hard thanks to the Revolucion's 2,359-lb (1,070-kg) curb weight. Pagani uses such advanced elements as a carbon-titanium monocoque and carbon fiber body to ensure a staggering 748 hp-per-tonne figure.

Helping drivers in the featherlight cockpit maintain control of the open range of wild horses just behind their skulls is a 12-mode Bosch traction control system, Brembo braking system with lightweight CCMR discs, ABS, and a two-mode downforce reduction system that adjusts the rear wing at the touch of a steering wheel-mounted button. Other aerodynamic features include deflectors on the hood and a vertical stabilizer bar below the rear wing.

Unfortunately Pagani hasn't released any other details, such as performance specs. We'll have to be content staring at the 2.7-second 0-62 mph (100 km/h) and 6:47 Nurburgring times of the 750-hp Zonda R and imagine what the boost in power means.

Pagani introduced the Revolucion at Vanishing Point 2013, an international Pagani event held at the company's Italian headquarters last month. Pagani will build just five Zonda Revolucions and each will cost €2.2 million (US$2.9 million).

Source: Pagani