Huayra, a Brescian luxury
from "Giornale di Brescia" / April 2014
"Pagani's new model built with COBO (Leno) parts at the Mille Miglia. List price? Just €1.5 million"
BRESCIA Horacio Pagani arrived in Italy accompanied by his future wife with the dream of building sports cars and for a certain period they even lived in a tent. Everything they brought on their long journey from South America was contained in three suitcases and to move around, the couple used two bicycles. It was the early 1980's when Pagani left Argentina where his great-grandfather Pietro, a native of Piedmont, had emigrated in the late 19th century. He comes from a family of bakers: "My father still bakes bread at eighty-five years old". But Pagani's dream was to go to Modena to make cars. His idol was the legendary Argentine driver Juan Manuel Fangio, who he met when he was 21. At that time Pagani designed and built his first car, a Formula Three racer that competed in Argentina with the Renault team. Years later he dedicated one of the top cars of his company founded in 1997 to that five time world champion driver. The company is Pagani Automobili, based in San Cesario sul Panaro, specialized in the production of luxury sports cars. The first name given to the "Zonda C12" model, officially unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show in 1999, was in fact "Fangio F1" (one of the models put on the market was the Zonda F, where F was for Fangio). Yesterday afternoon there was a Pagani Huayra parked in the courtyard of the Museo Mille Miglia. It is a true work of art already in production and developed to replace the Zonda. Huayra by Pagani Automobili has a base price of €1.5 million. In fact, the Museo di S. Eufemia hosted the conference promoted by the COBO Group. The guest of honour was Horacio Pagani, accompanied by his son Christopher, who has collaborated with the group from Leno for nearly twenty years, from the time he worked at Lamborghini.
The Pagani Huayra's dashboard, wiring, LED lights, and some electronic components are made by COBO, which has its core business in the production of components for agricultural machinery as well as for earthmoving and industrial vehicles. The group is comprised of eleven companies, four in Italy and seven abroad, specifically in the United States, Germany, France, Romania, Australia, Hong Kong and China. "Unfortunately we, too, were impacted by the crisis. The most critical time was 2009. But in 2010 we were able to break even and from thereon we have been generating profits. In 2013 the turnover was more than €200 million, back to the pre-crisis levels" explained Carlo Linetti, the Group's Sales and Marketing Director during his speech at S. Eufemia together with the Chief Executive Officer, Wolfango Cozzi and the President, Antonio Finetto. Mr Linetti added that having always focused on internationalization and innovation has enabled COBO to stay the course through a difficult economic time. The group also has an automotive division, dedicated to research and development. "It is the division through which we collaborate with prestigious clients such as Pagani, Ducati, Lamborghini, and MV Agusta," said Linetti. Pagani Automobili has always produced about twenty cars a year, all tailor-made for the customer. But this year the company is getting ready to double its production, that is, forty units. Christopher Pagani adds that "By the end of 2014, our new plant in San Cesario sul Panaro and the new home of the production unit will be completed, while the design and production engineering department will remain in our current facility".
Paola Gregorio