When you go on a holiday to Italy you surely have to go to ‘Supercar valley’ when you’re a petrolhead. The factories of Lamborghini, Ferrari, Maserati and of course Pagani are all relatively close to each other in the beautiful region of Bologna. Martijn Knop was in Italy at the end of August and visited the factory of Pagani and send us his experiences.
It was on Thursday, 28 August, when I woke up around seven o’clock AM. Normally it was harder to wake up, but today it was a special today. Today is the day that I’m going to visit Pagani. We left at half past eight AM to Modena and we arrive two hours later. The first thing that catches my attention is that they have raised the Dutch flag. The walkaround starts at eleven o’clock, but I decided to call the people there if it isn’t possible to start it earlier. That isn’t possible, but I still enjoy my moment because I’m standing next to the Pagani Zonda 764 Passione. The car is started and warmed up, after that some big revs are following. The 7.3 liter V12 made by AMG let hear itself very good.
Short after that it’s eleven o’clock and a charmant lady comes to us and opens the fence and asks us to come in. We are introduced and could photograph the silver Huayra and Zonda R in the showroom. After that the lady asks if the walkaround can be started. I agree with that, so as the others.
She starts with telling the specicifations of the Huayra and the Zonda R. After that she tells us about the history of Horacio Pagani and his brand Pagani. While she is telling us that, she suddenly stops: ‘’Hi mister Pagani.’’ Horacio Pagani himself is walking into the factory. Good to see that the establisher of the company still is very close to the development of the cars.
The lady goes on with her story, and a ask her a few questions, like how many Huayra’s will be made every year, the biggest export countries and how many orders there are. She said that they are making 20 cars per year, the biggest export countries are in Asia and America and that there are 80 Huayra’s are ordered. After that she tells that more cars will be made in the next year because they are going to move to another location, the current location will be used for research and development. 
When she’s done with her story we move on to the atelier. Too bad we aren’t aloud to make any pictures to you must do with the following words. When we enter the atelier the Pagani Zonda 764 Passione drives away for some final tests..
We enter the compact garage with three Huayra’s in it. We walk on, to the smallest section of the garage, the place where the carbon-titanium panels are made for the Huayra. Pagani uses the mixture of carbon fiber and titanium to have strong but also ultra-light cars. We see some craftsmen working hard to create new panels, and are also aloud to take a small piece of it in our hands to feel how light is really is and how experienced the men at Pagani are. Good to see how passionate everyone is at the factory.
We move on to the place where the cars are finished, in the biggest part of the garage. Here are a few autoclaves, an oven with a variable temperature and pressure. The panels will be finished here. At the moment a body stands here, they are working hard on it. After that we go back to the central section of the garage, where they to all the other things of assembling the car.
We can take a look here easily on the cars and what’s going on at the garage. The first car in the row is almost completely empty, only a chassis without an interior. The one after that also has got an engine, suspension and wheels. Also the panels, painted in aubergine are waiting to get mounted on the car. The brake calipers of the car are painted in the Italian Tricolore, in my eyes a really cool combination. I really hope this one will ever get spotted! As a final, a bright green Huayra with matte black wheels, which recently appeared on Autogespot! Also this one has got a really cool combination in my eyes with the matte black wheels. 
In front of us Horacio Pagani is talking to some visitors. As a final we take a look at the display with several parts of the interior in it. We can see a complete speed-o-meter, and also brakes. At that moment the craftsmen have a break some we are asked if we can leave the atelier. I take a final look and beseech how special this brand is. We walk back into the atelier and Horacio Pagani asks us if we can make a photo of him together with the visitors. No problem for us and after I go on the photo with him as the last of the group, he says that I can take place in the car. After making a picture of me in the car I thanks him for the amazing experience and Horacio walks back into the garage.
After that the Pagani Zonda 764 Passione drives back on the domain of the factory, I’m just in time to make a photo with my mobile phone. A take another short look in the showroom, before a buy myself a Pagani-poloshirt as a reminder for this unforgettable experience!
