New styling trends launched on the Pagani Zonda R

I spend a less than healthy amount of time on AutoBlog, Jalopnik, LeftLaneNews and any other website that flows a daily dose of Automotive news. It simply amazes me how fast these guys find stories and give great reporting on breaking models. That said I think some neat features are sometimes missed in an effort to be first to break the big car.

The new Pagani Zonda R captured my imagination not for its serious bad-assness (and yes, this is the Italian kick boxer of bad-assness), but the continuous innovation Pagani pushes in their designs. I mean seriously, who ever thought a race car would be a great place to debut some new styling features? Two of which caught my eye. …..And trust me I’m sure you’ll have these for your car by SEMA 2009.

First the tow hook

(See more photos after the Jump)

The only people I know of that think of a tow hook as a styling accessory typically think a 5″ Exhaust tip looks pretty trick on a 1.6 Liter Naturally aspirated engine too. But here, Pagani has integrated it into the lower splitter. Viewed on edge it practically disappears into the line of the lower splitter. Brilliant, sexy and useful.

I don’t know if some other car manufacturer or race team thought of this first, but it’s the first time I’ve noticed it. So if I’m off base let me know in the comments.

Second the Tachometer


Again, the only time I see people adding a tach of this size is typically some guy in a LX notchback about to clip an 8 in the Qtr mile. Funky gauges have always been part of race cars or styling exercises, but placing it in the steering wheel is really cool, but unlike the tow-hook, immensely impractical.

Forget about having this on a street car, unless you want the imprint of a Rev counter on your forehead when an air-bag goes off. On the racetrack it’s also a little silly, yes I know a ton of race cars mount Moteks in the steering wheel, but an analog Rev counter is often read with the peripheral vision, and how can you tell where the needle is pointing if you’re anything but dead center shooting down a straight line……hmmmm, maybe this would be a good location for a Qtr mile LX Notchback terror after-all?

Pagani launches track-only Zonda R.


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