In 17 captivating minutes, Horatio Pagani presents the new Roadster BC and extra-hardcore Imola
Because the 90th Geneva Motor Show got canceled at the last minute amidst the coronavirus outbreak, Koenigsegg had to present its revolutionary four-seater—along with the fastest car the company ever make—without a physical audience present. Horacio Pagani found himself in the same boat, opting to head back to his Atelier in Modena for the introduction of the brand new, track-focused and ultra-limited Imola, as well as the almost-equally-hardcore Roadster BC.
As it turns out, 2020 is “the year of performance” for Pagani. Which begs the question: what were the last 21 years about, then?
With just five slated for production, the Imola coupé is an expensive exercise for Pagani, priced accordingly for those five lucky individuals. It’s basically a road-legal successor of the wild Zonda R, and with an upgraded AMG V-12 producing 811 lb-ft between 2000 and 6000 rpm, it doesn’t leave too much on the table. Pagani put 155,000 test miles into its new chassis, 10,000 of which were done at Imola, close to the V-12’s now 6500-rpm redline. Thanks to Pirelli, this track special archives 1.9 g of lateral force without being uncomfortable on the road, while weighing 2733 pounds—the same as a modern Ford Fiesta.
While working for Lamborghini, Horacio Pagani was all about developing composites, the result of which was the Countach Evoluzione of 1987. Yet from that point on, Pagani needed another six years to figure out how to paint composites at a quality befitting of a supercar. And because resins are nearly impossible to make any lighter without compromising rigidity, it’s the Imola’s paint job that Pagani made 20 percent lighter than the brand’s previous finishes.
Pagani’s second new product, the Huayra Roadster BC wasn’t even supposed to happen, as Horacio was already busy working on the upcoming C10 model. However, with requests and deposits flying in Modena’s direction, Pagani’s team created an open-top BC that’s not a chopped version of the previous coupé, but rather a significantly upgraded model featuring new a aero package, an altered suspension geometry, Pirelli’s latest asymmetric tires, a triple-plate clutch, and a V-12 producing 774 lb-ft of torque.
All this visual, aural and physical drama in a package weighing 2645 pounds. Sophisticated madness, as usual, and presented here by the master of the genre himself:
