Experiencing the Pagani Huayra at the Dallas Auto Show

By Derek Shiekhi - March 3, 2014

That quartet of pipes shoots out the by-product of the 6.0-liter twin-turbo V12's 730 horsepower.

I can die happy now. I have finally seen a Pagani Huayra in the metal. At the Dallas Auto Show, I was also able to sit in one. Did I already die and go to Heaven?

No…no…I can feel the heat from my laptop’s battery. Whew! Now that that’s settled, allow me to tell you about a real bucket list car.

Kurt Fegraeus, managing partner of Pagani of Dallas, was officially only supposed to present the new Aston Martin Vanquish Volante. My colleagues and I were understandably excited and curious. And hungry. Lunch was scheduled right after our sit-and-shoot time with the British convertible.

Click click click. Pictures taken.

As I walked away from that section of the floor, I noticed a crowd gathered around the blocked-off Huayra. Dessert would be coming first.

More than 4,000 components make up Pagani Automobili S.p.A.’s sophomore hypercar offering.

I had mixed emotions. It was a privilege to see such a rare, exotic machine, but I was sad about being kept several feet away from it. Fegraeus’s presentation would have to be satisfaction enough.

He said the all-carbon-fiber hypercar’s body panels are made for one Huayra at a time. The weave of each piece visually connects with that of an adjacent one. All of the parts are assembled to test for fit and then removed so that the 6.0-liter twin-turbo Mercedes-Benz AMG V12 and a seven-speed sequential gearbox can be installed. You can almost say each of these Paganis is built twice. Ultimately, more than 4,000 components and 400 hours of labor come together for a dry weight below 3,000 pounds.

Not only is the body made of lightweight material, but so are its underpinnings. The monocoque is a high-science marriage of carbon and titanium. “Unbelievably strong. One of the problems in bringing a car like this into the states is how many cars you have to crash-test to show that they are safe. Because of the strength of the chassis, they had to crash many fewer cars than most manufacturers did.” Only the front piece had to be replaced in trials, as opposed to the whole vehicle.

So. Much. Going. On! Although the Pagani is an Italian car, its hand-assembled titanium alloy exhaust comes from a German company, MHG Group.

Fegraeus’s generosity with his information was then matched by his generosity with access to a breathtakingly expensive (in excess of $1 million) creation. I waited patiently as a throng of other writers swarmed in and around the car, making sure to avoid the sniper firing lines from so many lucky digital camera shutters.

Then it was my turn.

I got several eyefuls of the unpainted carbon shell (a $100,000 option), whose clear coat had its share of nicks and scratches. This particular Huayra was a demonstration copy which had racked up 2,000 miles while being transported amongst four American dealerships. Fegraeus said Pagani Automobili expects 15 to 20 of them to be sold in the U.S. each year. He’ll be quite happy if three of them are moved in Dallas in the same time period. Speaking of which, once the Huayra is approved for U.S. distribution (which should be very soon), one of the first specimens should find its way to Texas.

Like a tourist, I sat in the driver’s seat and had my picture taken. My back was gripped snugly and firmly. I felt as if I was a baseball in a catcher’s mitt. Were I to have taken this four-wheeled spaceship out on the road, I’m confident my torso would have stayed put while my pulse raced.

Drivers can use the seven-speed sequential gearbox, which only weighs 211.6 pounds, to get from zero to 62 miles per hour in 3.3 seconds.

“Driving it out of here Sunday night’s going to be a fun drive home,” Fegraeus said. “Might have a slight detour getting back to the dealership.”

Sounds as if he has a bucket list, too.

: More than 4,000 components make up Pagani Automobili S.p.A.’s sophomore hypercar offering.

: The Pagani Huayra is built around a carbon-titanium monocoque backbone.

: Drivers can use the seven-speed sequential gearbox, which only weighs 211.6 pounds, to get from zero to 62 miles per hour in 3.3 seconds.

: If those needles aren’t spun to the right sides of their gauges, some of the Mercedes-Benz AMG engine’s 730 horsepower is going to waste.

: You must pack lightly when zooming around in the Pagani Huayra. There is also some storage space behind the two seats, as well as custom garment bags that hang off of the head rests and dangle behind the finely tooled thrones.