Not for U.S. Sale: Pagani Zonda C12 F

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Not for U.S. Sale: Pagani Zonda C12 F
The Great Enabler: Pagani cooks up a Zonda to honor Fangio
MATT DAVIS
Published Date: 9/5/05
PAGANI ZONDA C12 F
ON SALE: Now (not in United States)
BASE PRICE: $585,000 (est.)
POWERTRAIN: 7.3-liter, 594-hp, 549-lb-ft V12; rwd, six-speed manual
CURB WEIGHT: 2712 lbs
0 TO 62 MPH: 3.6 seconds (mfr.)

It?s reaffirming to spend time in perhaps the last serious Italian supercar, one that presents the kind of excitement you read about in books on the postwar origins of the Italian sports car.

The Pagani Zonda has gone through a handful of versions since its first official generation went on sale in 1999. Version No. 1 was the C12 that came with a 6.0-liter 402-hp Mercedes V12. At Geneva 2002 Pagani unveiled the C12 S with a 7.3-liter AMG V12 mated to a six-speed manual. All Paganis get Mercedes engines, as this was a requirement laid down by Mercedes racing legend and Horacio Pagani pal Juan Manuel Fangio, the car?s inspiration.

Before this year?s Geneva show Pagani created a track-minded Zonda Monza for an American customer who wanted only to turn a few hot laps now and then. That indulgent one-off presages the Zonda C12 F you see here. The Monza, among other changes, has 600-plus hp, a modified gear set and clutch with tighter-throw shift lever, performance exhaust, dry-sump lubrication, sleeker aerodynamics and greater downforce from a single rear wing, plus more rigid suspension settings. The C12 F gets many of those same features.


First off, more horsepower and torque coupled with less weight is always a step in the right direction for this part of the market. Whereas the C12 S has 547 hp at 5900 rpm and 542 lb-ft at 4050 rpm, the C12 F jumps to 594 hp at 6150 rpm and 549 lb-ft at 4000 rpm. Dry weight drops from 2822 pounds to 2712 pounds here. Acceleration to 62 mph (100 km/h) takes just 3.6 seconds instead of the 3.7 seconds seen in the C12 S.

Better still, there is a Club-sport edition ($675,000) of the Zonda C12 F that notches up to 641 hp at 6200 rpm and 575 lb-ft, has a racing exhaust, crisper shift action and upgraded onboard electronics.

The C12 F is all about striking the perfect balance between road comfort and on-track performance. The overall rigidity of the chassis (tubular steel fore and aft structures with a carbon fiber passenger tub) is up significantly on the coupe. More adjustability is built into the Ohlins pushrod dampers to allow greater choice in compression rates and travel. The custom forged-aluminum wheels from APP are 19 inches in front and 20 inches in the rear, and have specially engineered Z-rated Michelin Pilot Sport 2 tires. You can get Ceramic Composite Material Brembo brake discs at the corners for roughly $21,000 (standard on Clubsport).


It?s particularly nice Pagani has kept a standard door opening, making getting in and out of the car no problem, and the carbon fiber doors are light as a feather. The aluminum-framed binnacle unit is beautiful and relatively undramatic.

The level of our test car?s burgundy-accented leather interior cannot be touched by any exoticar manufacturer. Getting that old-car shine into the new leather doubles the cost of the 10 cowhides used. Nardi designed a gorgeous classic wood treatment for the steering wheel, gear lever and handbrake.

The drive time could go on for hours and we wouldn?t mind. Which is amazing when you consider the firm settings of the suspension, the larger, low-profile Michelins, and the car?s extreme proximity to the ground. The reworking of the Ohlins shocks hits an admirable balance. Driving on the unforgiving roads in the hills south of Pagani?s Milan headquarters on a sunny day really brings out the beast.


The sheer cornering ability of this higher-performance Zonda is the great enabler. Hanging the inside front wheel off the road in turns is simple to do and the chassis hugs the pavement level all the while, thanks to the tire choice, greater downforce and stiffer chassis. Lateral acceleration stands at a retina-shifting 1.4 g, and the drag coefficient drops from 0.39 in the C12 S to 0.37 in the F.

New to the 7.3-liter powerplant is a lighter-weight intake manifold that flashes its design in high-polish, thin-walled hydroformed aluminum and allows greater breathing ability to the cylinders. Also new is the exhaust manifold in nickel-rich inconel steel that is then coated in a ceramic layer. Both showpieces provide high heat resistance and lighten the weight of the C12 F.


Whereas the C12 S boasts considerable braking talents in the 0-to-200-km/h-to-0 exercise, the fresh CCM Brembo discs?14.96 inches fore and aft?are a smooth revelation. While CCM brakes on the Ferrari Enzo and Porsche Carrera GT often grind, these new platters for the C12 F are quiet and progressive. And they stop the car as a pillow-covered wall might do. Even while approaching 180 mph into a long sweeper on empty highway, braking hard does not pose a threat to your life. The ABS and torque-sensing differential help keep the tail end glued down.

The ground-hugging aerodynamic trim in front runs so close to the pavement that we managed to make contact a few times. The C12 F carries new three-unit headlights, a more pronounced center nose contour and slick new side-view mirror housings with remote adjustability. Diffusers have a new, more efficient design for airflow at the rear, and the wing has a 15 percent range of adjust?ability depending on the downforce desired.

The first delivery of an F was in Singapore in July. Over the next year or so just 25 will be built. Twenty are anticipated to get full Clubsport treatment.