Remember the Zonda Tricolore? Revealed back in 2010, the €1.3-million roadster was built to celebrate the 50th birthday of Italy’s ‘Frecce Tricolori’—the Italian Air Force’s aerobatics team. Now, a decade later, Pagani has cooked up a special Huayra to mark the squadron’s 60th. Welcome one and all to the 829hp Pagani Huayra Tricolore.
Originally, Pagani was going to build just the one Zonda Tricolore but, sensing an opportunity to make copious sums of money, it eventually built three. The Huayra Tricolore will also be limited to three cars, each costing an astounding €5.5 million (more than P323 million).
And they won’t simply be numbered one, two, and three, but zero, one, and ten after key members of the Frecce Tricolori. Aircraft one “leads the patrol during all aerobatic maneuvers,” while number ten “splits off from the group in the most spectacular sequences” to “show the high performance of the aircraft in flight.” Zero refers to the Commander, who “directs the display from the ground” and takes care of “all the stages of mission planning and training.”
The incredibly intricate design and detailing pays tribute to the Frecce Tricolori’s Aermacchi MB-339A PAN aircraft. First, the new aero package. Up front, there’s a more pronounced front splitter for increased downforce, and a new front bumper shaped to make the intercooler more efficient. Meanwhile, the central airscoop has been fitted with “an innovative air conveying system that allows for an even greater flow of cold air directly to the engine,” the splitter has been redesigned, and the new wing (with supports styled to look like the MB-339A’s tail fin) gives “perfect aerodynamic balance” and compensates for the added downforce from the front splitter.
The most striking nod to the MB-339A is the pitot tube—a little metal tube, here mounted centrally up front, used to measure the airspeed of an aircraft. It’s hooked up to a dial inside that gives your airspeed in knots. Of little use in a car, where what you want is ground speed, but quite fun all the same. All three cars wear the same livery—with a red/green/white graphic on the side, lots of little Tricolore logos, and blue-tinted exposed carbon bodywork that most definitely does not come cheap. The wheels (20 inches at the front, 21 inches at the rear) are styled to resemble a turbine.
As for the Tricolore’s tech spec—you’re looking at 829hp and 1,098Nm from the familiar AMG-built 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged V12 engine. That’s 38hp and 50Nm more than you get in a Huayra BC, which is not slow. It drives the rear wheels through a seven-speed single-clutch sequential gearbox and an electromechanical differential. Pagani claims the “entire transmission system” is 35% lighter than a dual-clutch transmission.
The chassis is made from the “latest generation composite materials, such as Carbo-Titanium HP62 G2 and Carbo-Triax HP62.” Dry weight is 1,270kg.
Goodness.
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
