Do you want to feel old? This fountain marked 25 years since the Pagani Zonda was launched at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show. A quarter of a century. It suddenly came to establish Pagani as a true blue Italian manufacturer that could stand shoulder to shoulder with its neighbors at Ferrari and Lamborghini, and its special editions still roll out of the company’s Modena factory today, even if it has been. it was followed first by the Huayra and then the Utopia.
The Zonda, then, deserves a fitting gift to mark its quarter century, which has just been awarded by students at the Istituto Europeo di Design (European Institute of Design) in Turin, Italy.
Working in collaboration with Pagani, 24 students of the school’s transport design master’s degree have created the Alisea concept, a tribute to the original Zonda and its updated design for 2024.
The result is a 1:1 scale model with clear Zonda DNA, but which is its own independent product. The Zonda’s striking forward stance and cockpit have been exaggerated and refined, with a reinterpretation of the smallness of its twin headlight arrangement.
At the back, which is more recognizable than the Pagani motifs, the quad exhaust pipes, arranged in a circle, sit between new intakes on the rear arrangement of the Zonda C12 rear spoiler. It also has the side mirrors mounted on top which were a distinctive feature of early Zondas.
While the actual model doesn’t feature the interior, interior renderings reveal three pedals and a manual gearbox, along with a floating pod layout for the gauge cluster and center screen. Alisea’s designers say it’s meant to house – what else? – AMG V12 engine.
Between this and the Koenigsegg CC850, it seems that the supercars of the early 2000s are now considered old and deserve to be recycled. Unlike Koenigsegg, the Alisea is likely not intended for production, but still – what a gift.