Pagani's Big Miss

Pagani's new Huayra disappointed at Goodwood.

The new Pagani has been getting a lot of coverage lately, particularly in evo magazine. But after watching it fire off the line at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last Saturday, I realised it didn't have quite the same impact as the Zonda. In fact, it wasn't even close.

There are two reasons for this. One, it sounds unremarkable at best. Pagani simply hasn't cracked how to make a turbo motor sing. Maybe it should have asked AMG for help, the firm which supplies the Huayra's V12 and manages to make its own V8 biturbos snarl. Although admittedly, even these don't sound as good as the old, normally aspirated V8.

The screaming Zonda F of 2005 with a 600hp V12.

In contrast, the sound a Zonda makes is spine tingling, shocking even. It sounds just like a hypercar should. It also looks the part, which brings me to the second reason I muttered 'meh' as the Huayra whisped off the start line.

I remember a feature in evo a few years ago, where Gordon Murray spent time analysing the Zonda including its aerodynamics. There were flaws, but it was these flaws that made it look so sensational.

The Huayra is a sleeker, more aerodynamically efficient proposition and yet its looks left me slightly cold in the same way a Bugatti Veyron's do. Moveable flaps are all well and good, but they do nothing for me.

Purity of form has been lost on this new Italian hypercar, and I think it will be the Zonda, the car that put Pagani on the map, that will be more fondly remembered in years to come.