New Pagani Utopia is a V12-powered throwback with a manual box

Italian boutique supercar builders Pagani have unwrapped their third act, and it’s been christened as the Utopia. Succeeding the Huayra (and Zonda before it), founder Horacio Pagani has chosen lightness and driving engagement instead of electrification packs and electrification for his so called third act.

The Utopia is built around a carbon tub chassis architecture made from Pagani's Carbo-Titanium HP62 G2 and Carbo-Triax HP62 materials, with front and rear subframes made of Chromoly steel. Tipping the scales at just 1,280kg, the Utopia is 67kg lighter than the Huayra model it succeeds, and a whopping 716kg lesser than its electrified rival the Pininfarina Battitsta.

In describing its design, Horacio Pagani says the Utopia’s lines were influenced by a push for a “timeless” and “simple” look. Pagani adds that even customers were brought in and help give their inputs on how the new car should be designed. Much of the exterior is constructed out of a new type of A-class carbon fibre that’s 38% stiffer but equal in density as previous versions of carbon.

Taking six years to develop, the end result sees the Utopia penned with a softer look and stance when compared to the rather aggressive and active aero-heavy Huayra predecessor. The Utopia even ditches add-ons such as spoilers, favouring a more functional design instead that still achieves increased downforce and reduced drag over the Huayra.

Capping the Utopia’s design off is of course a set of ceramic-coated titanium quad-tailpipes – somewhat a staple of Pagani. This perhaps ought to indicate the monstrous powertrain it packs which, like its predecessors, comes in the form of a bespoke 6.0-litre V12 biturbo mill sourced from Mercedes-AMG delivering 864 hp and a whopping 1,100 Nm of twist – the latter from as low as 2,800rpm too.

Pagani says valvetrain tweaks allow the mill to rev up to 6,700 rpm. Though no performance figures were disclosed yet, Pagani were keen to note that the Utopia’s mill complies with all global emissions regulations including California’s, thus enabling Pagani to enter the North American market once more (the Huayra couldn’t be imported to the US on safety grounds, according to the NHSTA).

By the way, customers can opt to pair said V12 with either a 7-speed automated manual (AMT) or a proper 7-speed manual transmission. Pagani even claims the former to be the quickest shifting possible gearbox with helical gears. Both are tasked with managing the V12’s high outputs to the rear wheels where it also features an electro-mechanical differential in the rear axle.

Added control and driving dynamics comes from a tuned suspension setup that employs forged aluminium double wishbones and electronically controlled shock absorbers. Anchors come in the form of Brembo-supplied carbon ceramic rotors plus six-piston (front) and four-piston (rear) calipers. There’s also 21-inch (front) and 22-inch (rear) turbine-shaped wheels with carbon fibre brake extractor wrapped in bespoke Pirelli rubber.

On board, the Pagani Utopia’s cockpit doesn’t follow the trend for having too many digital displays. Instead, just a single screen sits between the analogue speedometer and rev-counter clocks. There isn’t even an infotainment monitor, with Pagani choosing to cover the centre stack with a row of instruments, switches, and the HVAC controls.

Apart from that, there’s the usual Pagani affair for items and bits – like the steering wheel, switches and pedals – that are each milled from single aluminium blocks. These come on top of fine hand-cut Italian leather that covers the seats and dash. Notable too is how the centre stack controls and all the dials are illuminated, all aligning with Pagani’s renowned attention to detail.

With the Utopia, Pagani plans to build just 99 units, though pricing for each – as well as targeted delivery times – weren’t disclosed at the time of writing. But like its predecessors, don’t expect either a bargain or rapid completion times.