Geneva show: Pagani titillates with Huayra Roadster

ALMOST two years after confirming its existence, Pagani will finally unveil its Huayra Roadster exotic hypercar at this year’s Geneva motor show, promising power from a mid-mounted Mercedes-AMG V12 and unlimited headroom in the cabin.

Based on the high-performing, rear-wheel-drive €850,000 ($A1,198,325) Huayra coupe, the Roadster version will lose its signature gull-wing doors in favour of more traditional entry to facilitate the removal of the roof.

The Roadster is also expected to receive a few more cosmetic tweaks with Pagani founder and CEO Horacio Pagani referring to it as “the most complicated project we have ever undertaken”.

“As we moved forward with the Roadster, we decided to give her a bit more of an edge in order to create a slightly more aggressive shape than the Huayra coupe,” he said.

However, the Roadster will retain the same bonkers 6.0-litre twin-turbo Mercedes-AMG V12 engine, which is good for 537kW of power and a scarcely believable 1000Nm of torque in the base coupe guise.

Combining the monster engine with a seven-speed single-clutch sequential gearbox, active aerodynamics and a 1350kg dry weight results in a zero to 100km/h time of just 3.3 seconds and an official top speed of about 360km/h in the case of the Huayra coupe.

While details about the Roadster version are scarce, Pagani is expected to iterate on advancements and technologies made since the introduction of the Huayra coupe in 2012.

During last year’s Geneva motor show, Pagani revealed a limited-edition Huayra BC which featured a reworked engine to the tune of 552kW/1000Nm, as well as less weight thanks to a new type of carbon-fibre, a titanium exhaust system, stripped out interior and pure-aluminium wheels.

For comparison, Bugatti’s drop-top Veyron Grand Sport packs a 736kW/1250Nm punch from its quad-turbo 8.0-litre W16 engine with a 0-100km/h sprint time of 2.7 and a top speed of 407km/h, while the twin-turbocharged 7.0-litre V8 Hennessey Venom GT Spyder is generally recognised as the world’s fastest convertible with a verified top speed of 427km/h.

The drop-top Huayra is also expected to be a very limited run model, similar to its coupe counterpart which was restricted to only 100 units in base guise, while production of the special edition BC ended after just 20 examples.