What would you do if you had aroundR120 million burning a hole in your pocket? Commission a special longtail version of the Pagani Huayra, of course. Meet the Codalunga…

Pagani has whipped the covers off its new Huayra Codalunga, a special longtail version of the potenthypercar limited to just five units. The starting price? A cool €7 million, which translates to around R118 million at the current exchange rate.

So, where did the idea come from? Well, the Italian firm says two collectors approached founder Horacio Pagani back in 2018 to produce a longtail version of the Huayra coupé. The intention was to create “an elegant hypercar with a clean and streamlined design”, which would feel equally at home on the road and on “display at international Concours events”.

Pagani says the clients were “actively involved in the development of the project” and liaised directly with Pagani Grandi Complicazioni, the automaker’s special projects division. Even though just five units will be produced, the company claims “significant resources” were deployed to create a hypercar that would “comply with global regulatory requirements” and be fully certified.

Inspired by the world of aircraft design as well aslongtail Le Mans racers of the 1960s, Pagani restyled the Huayra’s rear engine cover, rendering it 360 mm longer than that of the coupé. Of course, under that lid you’ll find a twin-turbo 6.0-litre V12 petrol engine, here tuned to deliver 618 kW and 1 100 Nm to the rear axle via a 7-speed sequential transmission. Pagani has not released any performance figures.

The lack of rear grilles lends onlookers an unobstructed view of the Huayra Codalunga’s exhaust system, which is fashioned from titanium and weighs a mere 4.4 kg. It furthermore features a special ceramic coating and culminates in Pagani’s signature four tailpipes.

Pagani claims the new model tips the scales at just 1 280 kg (somewhere around 70 kg lighter than the coupé) and boasts “extremely high aerodynamic efficiency”, thanks in part to the slippery body’s extra length (not to mention the active-aero system).

Each of the five Codalunga units will be offered in a neutral colour, with either semi-matte or fully matte paint. Inside, the seats will be finished in a woven leather/nubuck upholstery, while the various aluminium components will each be machined from a single block.

“We decided to use the simple linear style of the Huayra coupé as the starting point. We made the Huayra Codalunga longer and smoother, as if it had been caressed and moulded by the wind, to design lines that were even more elegant than the coupé,” explained Horacio Pagani.

“We drew inspiration from the longtails of the 1960s that raced at Le Mans, which had very clean lines. The Huayra Codalunga comprises very few essential elements; we have taken away rather than added. Simplifying is not at all straightforward, and this vehicle is, above all, the result of a complex pursuit of simple ideas.”