When it came time to develop the Pagani Huayra’s successor, the engine was the first and most important component to figure out. Horacio Pagani and his team worked closely with Mercedes-AMG to develop the motor that made the most sense at the time: a twin-turbo V8 hybrid. However, it quickly became obvious that electrifying Modena’s newest hypercar added too much weight and ruined the family recipe—though there was an even heftier reason why a hybrid Pagani wouldn’t see the light of day.
The Utopia was ultimately unveiled in Sept. 2022, powered by what’s become Pagani’s middle finger to the industry: a 6.0-liter, twin-turbo V12. It produces 852 horsepower and can be had with a traditional manual transmission. No electric motors, no batteries. As Horacio Pagani explained to me at the unveiling of the Utopia Roadster earlier this month, the lack of customer interest in a hybrid (and ultimately, EVs) put the final nail in the project’s coffin.
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