Exclusive interview with Horacio Pagani – The Creator of Supercars

An Italo-Argentinean dreamer, who emigrated to Italy in his youth, Horacio Pagani is now being regarded as one of the last remaining old-school builders of supercars. Horacio Pagani has had a surprising life. His passion for cars, speed and design emerged very early and, at the age of 12, he amazed everyone with models of supercars carved from wood or modelled in clay.

It began with a meeting with Juan Manuel Fangio, his childhood hero, who introduced him to Modena, the home of legends like Ferrari and Lamborghini. And the miracle took place at Lamborghini. It was engineer Alfieri who provided the young Horacio with the space to express his imagination. At first Pagani worked at Lamborghini  in menial jobs, but he showed his enthusiasm by being first in each morning at 6:00, and he was the last one out each evening at eight. “Okay, I do this, but remember that I came here to make the most beautiful cars in the world,” he told Alfieri. He went from being a third level mechanic to work in the bodywork department, but was rapidly promoted to manager of the new composite material department and the design dept. He was in fact the first designer to work inside the Lamborghini factory.

Pagani worked with the team that designed the Diablo, the Lamborghini P140, the L30 and the Diablo Anniversary. The difficult economic climate created in 1992 by the events linked to the Gulf War did not discourage Pagani from producing his own supercar. In 1988, he set up Pagani Composite Research which carried out various projects, including the restyling of the Countach Anniversary, for which the company also supplied the final details in composite materials.

Today, Pagani Zonda is one of the most exclusive supercar brands in the world. i-Marbella had the chance to meet Horacio Pagani himself for an exclusive interview:

1.What did you learn from Alfieri?

Alfieri was my first boss and he was actually a very simple person. From him, the most important thing that I learned was motivation. To do great things, you must be highly motivated.

2. Who did you want to become when you were younger?

I have always known what I want to do and I can honestly say that I still work with the same passion, like I was still a youngster working on my first project.

3. Since you have achieved your dream, what are your dreams and aspiration today?

Now I have to try to maintain the level that I have achieved with Pagani brand.  Obviously people have higher expectations and I have to be the one to fulfil them, not to disappoint them. For example, all the kids who play the game “Need for speed” on PlayStation, see Zondas as something really special. So that is what I’m striving for at the moment – to stay at the top.

4.You obviously love what you do. Is there any aspect of your job that you are not that fond of? 

Only one thing – being a businessman can be very complex and you have to face with many difficulties. But then again its inevitable.

5. Where do you get your inspiration?

Inspiration comes from women!

6. Can you name some people who drive Paganis? Do some women also own the supercar?

Usually our clients like to keep a low profile, that’s why we don’t reveal their names. There is one famous actor, Aaron Kwok, who is called the Tom Cruise of Asia. I can say that he owns one. And yes, there is one woman, who owns 9 Ferraris : his husband bought her one of the first Zondas and she now drives it very often.