The new Pagani Utopia has a vintage V12 and a manual gearbox

Leonardo da Vinci, hero and idol of Horacio Pagani, once said how ‘water is the driving force of all nature’. With all due respect, Leonardo was wrong. But what do you want from a tortoise and a mouse as a teacher. No, the all-natural driving force is a custom Mercedes-AMG biturbo V12. This Pagani utopia is proof of that.

Pagani Utopia is only the third model of the brand ever. The company admits it had a hard time determining exactly what this new ‘C10’ (which was previously its internal codename) represented. The Zonda introduced the ‘legend’ while the Huayra introduced things like active aero and carbon titanium parts.

Utopia – a name taken from Sir Thomas More’s famous poem – is born in a world where cars are becoming increasingly complex and sophisticated. Horacio Pagani’s response? No heavy battery, no hybrid power, just a nice V12. Not a dual-clutch system, but a pure manual or seven-speed automatic transmission.’

Description of Pagan Utopia

The mission was to return to work with ‘simplicity, agility and driving pleasure’. And it’s believed that a lot of fun can be had from the 6.0-liter turbocharged V12 built specifically for Pagani. Power is 864 hp and torque is a formidable 1,100 Nm. The car weighs only 1,280 kg due to the extensive use of carbon fiber and titanium.

Instead of attaching this executioner to a dual clutch automatic, Pagani installed an Xtrac automatic unit. In 2023, the hypercar will get a real manual seven-speed gearbox. They insist that a ‘manual gearbox’ will not be acceptable. We wonder if they mean anything by it. The shifting mechanism in the car seems strange.

Suspended

The monocoque is made of the popular carbon fiber, the subframes are made of tubular steel and the wishbones are made of forged aluminum. It sounds boring, but just look at the picture. What a work of art. There are active dampers as a modern addition. In addition, there are big six-piston calipers up front and the rims are 21 and 22 inches. You can guess which ones are where.

The car should offer simplicity and all the aerodynamic parts are subtly hidden. Although there will be enough special editions and major spoilers and spoilers. Pagani is building just 99 units of the Utopia and they will cost around $2.5 million each, excluding taxes.