Pagani Zonda: A Guide To Every Version

At the 1999 Geneva Motor Show, an upstart supercar company stole the limelight from all the established makes with its jaw-dropping new model that looked like a Group C Le Mans racer had been fused with something from The Jetsons, with a dash of industrial steampunk chic thrown in for good measure. The Pagani Zonda had arrived.

At the time, much of the media dismissed Pagani – founded by Argentinian-Italian ex-Lamborghini engineer Horacio Pagani – as another flash in the pan that would quickly join the likes of Cizeta, Vector and Isdera in the pile marked ‘too much ambition, not enough resources’.

Against all odds, though, the company goes from strength to strength 26 years later, one of the few upstarts to have escaped the usual fate and become part of the established supercar canon. Much of this is down to the Zonda’s staggering longevity. Even now, over a quarter of a century on, a new one-off version of the car occasionally pops up, even after not one but two successor models – the Huayra and Utopia – have arrived. This is a guide to every version of the supercar they just couldn’t stop building, starting with the road-legal production versions.

Zonda C12

This is the original, the one that stole the show at an event that also saw the debut of such enduring cars as the Ferrari 360 Modena, Porsche 996 GT3 and, erm, Nissan Almera Tino. The C12’s staggering body that made extensive use of carbon fibre was complemented by something that’s remained a constant for the Zonda and its successors – a Mercedes-AMG-sourced V12.

In its original 6.0-litre guise, it made either 394 or 444bhp – exact figures for these early cars are a little hazy, but either output sounds a bit weedy in a 2025 context. It’s thought that only five of these original-spec cars were built, one of which was sacrificed for crash testing.

Zonda C12 S

At the following year’s Geneva Show, an updated version of the Zonda was presented. The C12’s original 6.0-litre engine was to 7.0 litres to create the C12 S, which saw power boosted to 542bhp. A further 15 examples of these were produced.

Zonda S 7.3 and S 7.3 Roadster

In 2002, once again at Geneva, the Zonda received another capacity increase. Now at 7.3 litres, power was up to 547bhp. A further year later, an open-top Roadster version was introduced. Production figures were 18 coupes and 12 Roadsters.

Zonda F and F Roadster

In 2005, at Pagani’s spiritual home, the Geneva Show, the biggest update yet for the Zonda arrived: the F. That stood for Fangio, as in Juan Manuel, the legendary Argentinean F1 driver of the 1950s who was also a close friend to Horacio Pagani.

The engine was still a 7.3-litre, but received new cams, cylinder heads, intake and exhaust manifolds, as well as a recalibrated ECU to take power to 594bhp. The suspension and chassis were reworked too, with new adjustable Öhlins dampers, magnesium alloy wishbones and optional carbon ceramic brakes.

An optional Club Sport package saw the fitment of hotter-still cams and intakes and a stunning Inconel exhaust system, all of which lifted power even more to 641bhp.

In 2006 (guess where), a Roadster version of the F was launched, featuring the same mechanical spec as the Club Sport. 25 of each body style were produced.

Zonda Cinque and Cinque Roadster

This is where the ‘this is the last ever Zonda, honestly, we promise’ trope begins to rear its head. Introduced in 2009, the Zonda Cinque – Italian for ‘five’ – was a response to a request from Pagani’s official Hong Kong importer for “the most extreme road-legal Zonda ever created.”

Power saw another increase to 669bhp, and the six-speed manual gearbox found in earlier Zondas was swapped for a semi-auto paddleshift unit. Available as a coupe or Roadster, only five of each body style were produced, as the name suggests.

Zonda Tricolore

As themed special editions go, this one’s rather cool: the 2010 Zonda Tricolore was a tribute to the Frecce Tricolori (literally ‘Tri-Colour Arrows’), the Italian equivalent of the Red Arrows aerobatic display team.

Its mechanical spec is largely the same as the Cinque, and though originally intended to be a one-off, three ended up getting produced.

Zonda HP Barchetta

It’d be another seven years before we got another Zonda that wasn’t a one-off, but it was unquestionably the wildest yet. Essentially Horacio Pagani’s 60th birthday present to himself, 2017’s Zonda HP Barchetta featured a bonkers roofless speedster-style body, with power from the 7.3-litre AMG V12 lifted even further to 789bhp – nearly twice what the original 6.0-litre car was making. Just three were built, and it was the last of the Zondas not to be a one-off.

Race and track versions

Throughout the Zonda’s impressive production run, various track-only versions were built, either for competitive racing or as the ultra-wealthy’s equivalent of a half-caged MX-5 track car. Not among them was the Zonda LM Race Car featured in Gran Turismo 4 – that was a fictional version designed just for the game.

Zonda GR

Based on the Zonda C12 S, the GR was the result of a collaboration between various figures in European and North American motorsport who wanted to take the Zonda racing. Modified to meet FIA GT1 regulations, the GR was primarily raced in the American Le Mans Series, and though it did enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2003, a gearbox issue removed it from the running after just 10 laps.

Image: Lukas Raich, CC BY-SA 4.0

Zonda C12 S Monza

A one-off track-only version of the C12 S developed for a North American client in 2004, the Zonda Monza was essentially a C12 S with any concessions to road usability done away with. Solid suspension bushes replaced the standard rubber items, and adjustable dampers and anti-roll bars were fitted.

The interior was stripped out, and thanks to a racing ECU, dry sump lubrication system and unsilenced exhaust, power went up to 600bhp.

Zonda R

Shown off at the 2007 Geneva Show, the Zonda R was one of the first generation of mega-money hypercars that weren’t road legal but couldn’t be raced either. A 6.0-litre racing version of the Mercedes-AMG V12 produced 740bhp, while full carbon bodywork hosted the most aggressive aero yet seen on a Zonda.

For a while, it was the outright production-based lap record holder at the Nürburgring, and 15 were built.

Zonda R Evolution

A one-off updated version of the R unveiled in 2012, the Evolution featured slightly more power – 750bhp – and more aggressive aero. The sole example was eventually developed into, and isn’t to be confused with the…

Zonda Revolución

Another updated R, 2013’s Zonda Revolución featured a further power increase to 789bhp, even more aggressive aero, now with a drag reduction system, and tweaks to systems like the traction control and ABS. Five were built, and just to complicate things further, one of the 15 original Zonda Rs was later treated to the same suite of upgrades as the Revolución.

One-offs

Especially in the later part of its life, the Zonda became notorious for wild customer one-offs popping up every now and then, many of which were converted from original production Zondas. Plenty share the 760 name, benefiting from a further upgrade to the 7.3-litre engine that takes power up to 750bhp.

Over 35 one-off Zondas have been produced, two of which arrived as recently as 2024, 25 years after the original car debuted. Those included the Arrivederci, bearing a name that suggests it might finally, honestly, really be the last ever Zonda. Don’t bet on it, though.

While we don’t have the time or, frankly, the server space to detail every single one-off, we’ve listed all the ones we know about below as a springboard for you to get lost in your own rabbit hole of uber-exclusive Italian hypercars.

• Zonda PS (2009)
• Zonda GJ (2009)
• Zonda 750 (2010)
• Zonda Uno (2010)
• Zonda HH (2010)
• Zonda Nero (2010)
• Zonda 760 RS (2012)
• Zonda 764 Passione (2012)
• Zonda 760 LH (2013)
• Zonda LM (2014)
• Zonda LM Roadster (2014)
• Zonda 760 (2014)
• Zonda JC (2015)
• Zonda AG 760 Roadster (2015)
• Zonda ZoZo (2015)
• Zonda 760 VR Roadster (2015)
• Zonda Kiryu (2015)
• Zonda 760 Oliver Evolution (2016)
• Zonda 760 by Mileson (2016)
• Zonda MD (2016)
• Zonda 760 Viola (2016)
• Zonda 760 Riviera (2017)
• Zonda Fantasma Evo (2017)
• Zonda Aether (2017)
• Zonda 760 Roadster Diamante Verde (2017)
• Zonda Absolute Evo (2018)
• Zonda 760 Unica Roadster (2018)
• Zonda 760 King (2019)
• Zonda 760 Danubio (2019)
• Zonda 760 Venti Roadster (2019)
• Zonda Zun (2019)
• Zonda Revo Barchetta (2019)
• Zonda 760 Sapphire (2019)
• Zonda 760 MY (2024)
• Zonda Arrivederci (2024)