Spy Shots: Pagani C9 supercar gives up its gullwing doors

Another day, another spy shot of the upcoming Pagani C9 hypercar...and another revelation, this time from Autoweek.nl. We've been waiting rather impatiently to see what Horacio Pagani will give us to replace the dearly beloved Pagani Zonda, so every nugget that drops has us straining to see if the sequel will be even half as good as the original. The Zonda is revered by many, so the followup needs to be something really special. That kind of buildup tends to put a lot of pressure on designers, particularly at a small automaker. One way to avoid the heat is to design to avoid direct comparisons – Think of the McLaren MP4-12C and its iconic F1 forebearer. Another is to give the new car something to make it stand out, something like gullwing doors.

This latest spy pic – and another posted with the one above over at Autoweek.nl – clearly show that the C9 will be sporting upward swinging hatches. With Pagani's reverence for Juan Manuel Fangio and the resulting ties to Mercedes-Benz, the introduction of the new SLS AMG and the need to differentiate between old and new Pagani models, perhaps this shouldn't be much a surprise. It does, however, fill in one more piece of the puzzle – and the finished product is looking better by the day.

The V12-powered C9 is expected to make its official debut by the end of this year. In the meantime, check out another look at this prototype by visiting our friends at Autoweek.nl.

[Source: Autoweek.nl]