Pagani has released a special edition Huayra paying tribute to the Italian Air Force… and it’s as “impetuous as a fighter jet”.
The Huayra Tricolore is a tribute to 60 years of the Freece Tricolori (“tricolour arrows”), an aerobatic demonstration team in the Italian Air Force.
Just three will be made, echoing the three leaders of a flying formation, the three planes in the Freece Tricolori logo, and the three colours in the Italian flag.
It’s priced at €5.5 million (A$8.85 million) and is a follow-up to the Zonda Tricolore, released back in 2010 to celebrate the team’s 50th anniversary.
There’s a new, more pronounced front splitter designed to aid aerodynamics. A new air scoop allows for greater air flow to the engine and its design is intended to evoke the Freece Tricolori’s Aermacchi planes.
Down back, there’s a new rear diffuser and wing, with the supports of the latter designed to resemble the tail fins of the Aermacchi MB-339A P.A.N.
Naturally, there are tricolour stripes running along the side of the car and extending up to the rear light clusters, resembling the colourful smoke trails left by the Freece Tricolori aircraft.
The body is finished in a translucent blue carbon colour, while parts like the side air intake frames are machined from billet.
Inside the cabin – or should we say cockpit? – the aviation theme continues, as do the tricolour stripes.
Aluminium components are said to be made from aerospace grade alloys and machined from billet, then anodised in blue, while the gear shifter is carved from a single block of aluminium and carbon before being hand-polished.
The two-tone white-and-blue seats have leather inserts with white, red and green stripes, while the Freece Tricolori emblem is found on the headrests and seat belt fastener.
Perhaps the most overt nod to the Italian Air Force is the anemometer in the bonnet-mounted Pitot tube, which detects and displays the air speed.
While it can’t soar through the sky, it can tear up the road.
Power comes from a Mercedes-AMG-sourced twin-turbocharged 6.0-litre V12 engine producing 618kW of power and 1100Nm of torque, sent to the rear wheels via a seven-speed automatic transmission.
