Autoblog

Back in February, we opined the fact that the production Pagani Zonda R, a track-only carbon fiber supercar powered by a 750-horsepower V12 to go along with its 1.2 million euro price tag, didn't make the trek to Geneva. It seemed at the time that there just weren't enough orders for the vehicle for Pagani to be able to offer it. That issue could soon be rectified, if rumors floating around on the Teamspead forums prove accurate. It seems that five roadgoing versions of the Zonda R will be created, known as the Zonda Cinque, which, appropriately enough, means five in Italian. Could this version of the Zonda be what we've seen testing in spy shots these last few months? It's hard to say for certain, but we do detect the pairs of triple headlights on both the spied cars and the supposed image above of the Cinque. Draw your own conclusions, but we think there is always room for another carbon fiber supercar in our dream garages.


[Source: Teamspeed Forums]

click above for more high-res images of the Pagani Zonda R

We've been waiting to see the production version of the Pagani Zonda R for about a year now. The track-only version of the Zonda was announced around this time last year and in July we got word that it was headed for production. We're clearly excited to be in the presence of a car boasting 750 horsepower, a bare naked carbon fiber body and a price of 1.2 million euro. Unfortunately, while we'll be in attendance early next month at the 2008 Geneva Motor Show, the Pagani Zonda R will not be.

Word has it that Pagani's intentionally delayed the development and official reveal of the Zonda R to focus on other projects, not the least of which is the car slated to replace the Zonda, internally known as the C9. The boutique exotic automaker originally claimed that it planned to sell only 10 examples of the Zonda R, but needed to sell all of them to cover the cost of the project. According to the source we linked, the last count was at six to eight buyers who had paid a deposit for the car. We're not sure if failing to meet the target number of buyers (if true) has derailed progress on the ultimate Zonda to some degree, but regardless, Pagani reportedly promises to provide more official specifications for the Zonda R, as well as photos, in the coming months. But for now, we've been stood up by the prettiest car at the show, and that hurts.


[Source: Argentina Auto Blog (no relation)]

Click for photo gallery

It might look very similar to the Zonda F it's replacing, but in truth, there's only about 10% carryover from Horacio Pagani's previous creation to his latest. No matter. Awesome is awesome, regardless of everything else, and the Zonda R belongs next to the term in the dictionary. As these latest computer renderings show, the carbon fiber-bodied Zonda R looks like some kind of formidable stealth weapon. Unfortunately for drivers, it most certainly is NOT invisible to radar, and this 7.3-liter, 750 horsepower, 523 lb-ft beast is more than capable of lighting up police-issue units with ridiculous numbers. Power is directed to the wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox. Autogespot puts the price at around €2 Million (in the Netherlands, including taxes), which means it will be garage ornamentation for a very select few.

This thing looks like it could go out and compete at Le Mans out of the box., and for €2,000,000, maybe Pagani should throw in a pit crew, too. Enjoy the five new renderings like the one above that we've added to the gallery.

[Source: Autogespot]

Click on the image for a gallery of images of the Zonda R

Pagani, makers of one of the hottest supercars on the planet, have now built an all-out track version called the Zonda R. The Zonda R is not a racer, but rather like the Ferrari FXX, it was built without regard to any rules package. The customer who initially commissioned it just wanted the fastest possible toy to play with on track days and with a 750hp engine derived from the Mercedes CLK GTR powerplant, that shouldn't be much of a problem.

While it looks somewhat like the road-going Zonda F, it only shares 10% of it's parts and has a 47 mm longer wheelbase. The bodywork is optimized for down force, with a longer splitter, larger rear defuser, and more substantial rear wing, among other changes. At somewhere north $1.2 million, this is one exceedingly rare and pricey toy.

See the press release after the jump.

[Source: Pagani]

Rumors of a high-po track version of the capable Pagani Zonda have materialized as true today in the form of official looking pics and info on the Swedish website Sportbilen.se. No translating utility we could find was able to decipher the site's cryptic native language, but we've picked out what we can and combined with knowledge from elsewhere on the net can tell you that the Zonda R will feature a 750bhp V12 engine likely sourced from Mercedes that also produces 523 ft-lbs. of twist. The current king of Pagani's stable is the Zonda F, which produces 594 hp in stock trim from a Mercedes 7.3L V12. From the pictures it is also clear that the Zonda R will be longer and lower than current models and be fitted with a number of aero enhancements to keep it sucked to the ground at high speeds. Chances are it will probably lighter, as well.

Clearly the Zonda R takes after such exclusive track cars as the Ferrari Enzo FXX and Maserati MC12. It will likely be produced in numbers even more limited than a standard Zonda and purchasing probably comes from invitation only. Street legal? Not likely.

[Source: Sportbilen.se]