After cheekily first unveiling it in a freaking mobile phone game, Pagani has announced its Huayra BC Roadster, named again for Pagani's first and favorite customer Benny Caiola. While it looks just like the Huayra BC coupe with the roof chopped off, it's actually had a fair bit of work done to justify its US$3-million-plus price tag.
The engine, for example, is new and by AMG, a 6-liter, 36-valve, 60-degree, twin-turbo V12 making a healthy 791 horsepower (590 kW) and 774 lb-ft (1,050 Nm) of torque between 2,000 and 5,600 rpm. A decent amount of shunt for a rear wheel drive, but certainly no challenge to the wild electrics and hybrids we've been seeing for the last few years.
The transmission is an Xtrac 7-speed automatic manual – you do your own shifting with the paddles or the stick – with an electro-mechanical differential.
Where the original Huayra famously used carbon-titanium "carbotanium" weave for its strong, lightweight bodywork, the BC Roadster moves to a new composite developed by the Pagani team that's 12 percent more torsionally rigid and 20 percent more rigid in a flex.
Aeros and suspension have been reworked, the former with the goal of developing 500 kg (1,100 lb) of downforce at 174 mph (280 km/h), and the latter with electronic active damping. As a result, Pagani says it'll pull up to 2.2 G of lateral acceleration in the corners, so be sure to sticky-tape your face on.
Forty will be built, at a price of €3.085 million. If that sounds a little steep, well, that new carbon composite is four and a half times as expensive as the old carbotanium, for starters. And it doesn't matter anyway, they're sold out and will be unavailable to the likes of you and I until they start popping up at auction for twice that price.
