Pagani has stayed true to its Latin heritage by registering an Andean name for its second-generation supercar.
Set to replace the Zonda - a car that established the brand’s credentials and spawned a nearly infinite number of limited edition models – the new Pagani will debut at the 2011 Geneva auto show in early March.
Although details revealed concerning the new car’s technical specifications promise pure supercar drama – gullwing doors, a bespoke AMG-built V12 and aviation-quality composites – its name has been nothing but a simple engineering code – C9 – up to now.
No more hot wind
Pagani’s (finally) announced that the name ‘Huayra’ has been registered for use on the company’s products in Europe, essentially validating this as the new car’s de facto nameplate.
Huayra means wind in Quechua, an ancient language indigenous to people living in and around the Andean mountains. This ties in nicely with its predecessor’s name, Zonda being the name of a dry wind that blows eastwards off the Andes mountains into Argentina.
Do all these Latin American geology references seem out of place? Well, actually not at all. Company founder and boss Horacio Pagani is Argentine by birth, having moved to Italy in 1983 to pursue his vision of producing a supercar.
Pagani has been active as a company for a decade, after being established in 1999. It remains the only independently-owned supercar manufacturer in Italy.
Set to replace the Zonda - a car that established the brand’s credentials and spawned a nearly infinite number of limited edition models – the new Pagani will debut at the 2011 Geneva auto show in early March.
Although details revealed concerning the new car’s technical specifications promise pure supercar drama – gullwing doors, a bespoke AMG-built V12 and aviation-quality composites – its name has been nothing but a simple engineering code – C9 – up to now.
No more hot wind
Pagani’s (finally) announced that the name ‘Huayra’ has been registered for use on the company’s products in Europe, essentially validating this as the new car’s de facto nameplate.
Huayra means wind in Quechua, an ancient language indigenous to people living in and around the Andean mountains. This ties in nicely with its predecessor’s name, Zonda being the name of a dry wind that blows eastwards off the Andes mountains into Argentina.
Do all these Latin American geology references seem out of place? Well, actually not at all. Company founder and boss Horacio Pagani is Argentine by birth, having moved to Italy in 1983 to pursue his vision of producing a supercar.
Pagani has been active as a company for a decade, after being established in 1999. It remains the only independently-owned supercar manufacturer in Italy.