The Tale of Horacio Pagani
Born in a small town in Argentina into a family of bakers, Horacio Pagani began designing cars as a child in his room thanks to inspiration of Leonardo da Vinci. da Vinci's philosophy that every object, every piece of creation must be beautiful without compromising its functionality and the balance of art and science would lay the foundation for all of Horacio's project to come; including a mini bike which he built from scratch at age 15, a F2 Racecar in his early 20s and eventually at Lamborghini (with help from his mentor, former F1 champ and good friend Juan Manuel Fangio) in the mid-80s where he helped develop the very first car to be entirely made of composite materials, the Countach Evoluzione. The car that would lay the foundation for all future applications of carbon fiber and composite materials in the automotive industry.
Knowing composite materials would be the basis for which all supercar manufactures would turn to to get all the performance they can from their creations, Horacio insisted Lamborghini invest in their own autoclave (a strong, heated container used for chemical reactions and other processes using high pressures and temperatures). Unfortunately for Lamborghini they believed that if Ferrari wasn't investing in one then it wasn't worth their time. That same day, Horacio went to a bank and secured a loan to buy his own autoclave and started his own company, Modena Designs. He and his team began researching and developing composite materials for F1 teams and the aerospace industry which would ultimately lay the foundation for Horacio to realize his lifelong dream of designing and producing his very own supercar, the Zonda.
After being in production for 10 years and seeing multiple interactions in the form of nearly 20 different models for a total production run of just 135 cars the Huayra made its debut in 2012 again blowing the minds of auto journalist and enthusiasts alike. Enjoy this 30 minute interview with Horacio Pagani telling his own tale which led him to become one of the most respected designers and engineers of the 21st century.
