Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta Is Beautifully Bonkers

This could be it. The last Zonda ever made (How many times have we heard that?). Brought to you five years after it was originally supposed to be put to retirement, the Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta was commissioned by company founder Horacio Pagani himself, with a total of three units to be made.

What is the HP Barchetta then? HP stands for Horacio Pagani. A Barchetta is a classic Italian two-seater sportscar which is characterised by minimalism. Minimal weight, minimal body shell (which usually means no roof and often a small windshield), minimal luxury - the whole point was to be able to go as fast as possible with the least amount of wind resistance.

The Zonda HP Barchetta fits that description, at least in spirit. It is no less exotic or luxurious as any other Zonda, but the design harks back to the Barchettas built in the 1950s. 

This Zonda has no roof. It does not feature a soft-top or hard-top convertible mechanism, neither does it get removable roof pieces - it just doesn't have one. The windshield and windows have also been trimmed, they seem to be just enough to channel the air over the heads of the passengers inside as the 7.3-litre, V12-powered Zonda blasts off into the horizon.

The Zonda HP Barchetta features many body parts from one-off models of the past. The front section is directly lifted from the Zonda by Mileson and the rear arches are semi-sealed by carbon-fibre covers like the ones on the Zonda ZoZo. The large air intake placed in between the two seats is reminiscent of the unit on the Zonda 760 AG Roadster.

The wheels, which are carved out of a single block of aluminium alloy like any other Pagani, have been redesigned. The ones on the left are silver with golden highlights, while the ones on the right are silver with blue highlights. They are shod with Pirelli P Zero Corsa HP tyres specially designed for this car!

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Inside, it gets white leather with highlights that match the blue exterior paint. 

The Zonda HP Barchetta will be powered by the latest version of Mercedes-AMG’s naturally-aspirated 7.3-litre, V12 engine paired to a 6-speed manual transmission. Although Pagani has not revealed any performance figures yet, earlier Zonda engines in its most potent road going version developed 760PS of maximum power and 786Nm of peak torque. So we can expect something similar in the HP Barchetta too. 

The chassis of the Zonda HP Barchetta uses the same Carbotanium (Carbon+Titanium) alloy that's used in the company's current flagship Huayra. This is rumoured to give the car a kerb weight of just 1250kg!

Only three units of the Pagani Zonda HP Barchetta will be made. The first unit has been made for Horacio Pagani himself - as it is his wild idea that led it to it being made. The other two are on sale for an undisclosed amount.

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