With One Word, Pagani has Made its New Supercar, the Most Important Enthusiast Car of Our Time.

What's in a name? Pagani Utopia

Pagani Utopia: Image from Car and Driver Magazine

Author's note: My strength is not in rummaging through stats and history to bring you information you cannot get elsewhere. I myself got my information from the same elsewhere you would go to. My strength is in talking through the philosophy and relevance of cars and their character to everyday drivers. Still... I do owe you some vital stats so that the article is whole. So here they are.

• AMG-developed twin-turbocharged 6.0-liter V-12

• 852 horsepower and 811 pound-feet of torque

• 7 speed manual transmission available

• Dry weight 2822 pounds

• 99 will be produced... 99 are already spoken for by select buyers

• 0 to 60 ... not sure it matters, but guaranteed to be fast

I was on the fence about writing an article for this car. Sure it's fast. Sure it's a work of art and sure it is absolutely rare. But that's the thing. Even if I were rich, I'd probably still not be able to afford this car without fear of departing with one of my kidneys to fund its first brake job. You see cars like this aren't for the rich. They're for the mega wealthy. If you're going to buy a car like this ($2.5M), you should be able to afford 10 of them without making your bank account twitch. Also, if you have a $6M home, you'd better hope its just your summer home otherwise your Pagani Utopia parked out front might come across as "trying too hard". For these reasons, all though I did drool over this car when I first saw it, I passed it by because it's simply built out of unobtanium. But then Pagani did something that makes this car relevant to the masses. They named it... the UTOPIA.

Why is this so important to us? We drive things with common names like M2, MX-5, 370Z, S4 and even the odd 911 or two. What does a hyper exotic have to do with us? To explain this... let's talk fashion. What we wear and what we think is cool is all dictated to us by those at the top and those in the know. Fashion houses like Gucci, Prada, Louis Vuitton, Dior and Givenchy present radical designs. Then famous people like Rihanna, Gigi Hadid, Kendall Jenner and Bella Hadid buy them and wear them and make sure they're seen by massive adoring audiences. Next thing you know, the Target down the street has clothing that looks just like the trend setting clothing everyone saw on their favorite celeb.

In the car world, Gordan Murray might have the market cornered on drivability design, Ferrari and Lambnorghini are locked in a never ending battle for heritage, Koenigsegg is the leader in forward thinking hypercar technology, but Pagani has the lead role when it comes to style. By calling a car Utopia, Pagani has slammed its hand on the desk and has made a statement that the entirety of the car world will hear. Driving perfection does not rely on electricity, fast transmissions, awd drive 0 to 60 sprints or even large touch screens. It comes down to beauty, craftsmanship, optional manual transmissions, handling and big characterful V-12 engines. I could also just quote Horacio Pagani himself when he said that the guiding principles for the creation of this car were "simplicity, lightness, and the pleasure of driving ". Keep in mind, this is not some farewell ICE extravaganza car like so many other manufacturers are creating at the moment. It's a new chassis. It's a replacement for the Huayra. Pagani is ignoring the dictates of the ESG software and politics driven lust for electrification and is following the well funded guidance of its customers. Customers who may drive vegan automobiles to business meetings but desire a thick cut of wagyu steak, a cigar and a whiskey behind closed doors. What's amazing is that while this is a fire breathing throwback powertrain, it still meets current California emissions standards.

Just like in high fashion, the trends at the top of the car market trickle down to the everyday consumer. Pagani is offering a manual transmission in the Utopia. Gordan Murray is offering a manual in the T.50 and even Koenigsegg is offering a transmission that behaves like a clutch actuated Manual in the CC850. These are all multi million dollar cars. These are manufactures at the top of the game. These leaders of industry have all stated that this is what driving pleasure is about. But when Pagani called this the Utopia, they dropped the microphone and walked off of the stage. It will be interesting to see if this causes a trend where manufacturers start to acknowledge the importance of combustion and engagement in sports cars. Toyota and Porsche are heavily invested in synthetic fuel research. Toyota added a manual option to the Supra. The swan song Lotus Emira has a manual option as well. Is this the beginning of a huge class distinction between sports cars/exotic cars vs commuter cars where the masses will be driving electric crossovers and specialty cars will continue to vroom? Who knows. But looking back, mechanical watches are now the most expensive and highly regarded timepieces on Earth due to their character, engineer beauty and timelessness. Think Rolex. Think Omega. Hell, think any old mechanical watch from an original manufacturer back in the day. They're all highly valued now. But they used to be what everyone wore. Over time, they became symbols of taste and membership in the aficionado class of consumption. We could see the same happen to sporty combustion engined cars.

As far as design goes, this will go down as a bit of a polarizing shape. Some call it ugly, others call it genius. What it is for certain is different. To stand out in a world of focus group driven exteriors you must be the one willing to create the Picasso... the Sagrada Famillia. Pagani does this. Noticeably the Utopia does not have angry headlights. This is particularly impressive given that studies show consumers love an angry looking car because it makes them feel protected. Almost like driving a guard dog down the road. But the Utopia's headlights are simply just the ones the designers and engineers "felt" like putting on the car (safety requirements taken into consideration, of course). This break from convention is a thing of beauty and we can only hope to see more of this in dealerships near you... with price points that could land some of this artful disregard in our own garages.

Photo from Road and Track Magazine.

Photo from Car and driver

Photo from Car and Driver