Pagani, that Italian automotive company that only recently burst into the supercar market has officially revealed the Huarya. The Pagani Zonda replacement's photos were released as a result of press leaks and ahead of its official unveiling at the upcoming Geneva Motor Show. And what I cam say is that it shares the same silhouette as the outgoing Zonda with the exception of a blunt front end (whereas the Zonda was low and swoopy) and those nicely hinged gull-winged doors which the Zonda does not have.

I suppose Pagani had to add those doors to improve the Huayra's 'wow' factor. This is certainly due to that bluff front end. The old Zonda looked perfectly proportioned, like a fabulous Group C racer with that short, low front end and that longish read end dominated by the space requirement of that AMG 7.3liter (in the more powerful Zonda variants). This Huayra, while named after the a god of wind lacks the delicacy of the older car. But Pagani wants us to know that this new car was designed with aerodynamics at the forefront. The front end adds cooling and the whole car has four aero flaps that is adjustable to improve downforce at speed. At least it retains the unique looking four exhaust tip setup from the Zonda which I totally love.

Inside, the Huayra improves on the Zonda instead of taking a step backwards like the exterior. The leather, wood and aluminum trimming looks fabulous. It somehow manages to blend all of this into a cohesively beautiful package that somehow works. This is one of the reason why Pagani succeeded in breaking into the high end super car market. It has such a fabulous interior that outdoes most supercars (Ferrari and Lamborghini included) but it is not garish or too outrageous. And this new cabin adds bluetooth and touch screen entertainment for the driver (and passenger) to 'play' with.

The Zonda weighed about 1,300kgs, which is light for a full borne supercar. The god of the wind however weighs about 120kgs heavier. This is I believe due to the fact that the car has added safety and comfort features as well as being totally homologated to meet the tight US automotive requirements. This is in spite of having a full carbon fiber monocoque tub, carbon ceramic brakes and lots of carbon fiber bits and pieces.

The engine is still an AMG sourced one but this time it is a newly developed 6.0liter twin turbocharged V12 (instead of the earlier 6.0, 7.0 or the final 7.3liter V12 unit) that pumps out around 700bhp and 1000Nm of torque. All that power runs through an XTRAC seven speed sequential transmission mounted transversely behind the engine, much like the Zonda (hence the long rear deck). While no performance figures have been published, it is expected to get to 100km/h from rest in about 3.3 or so seconds and should max out at around 370km/h or 230mph.

Car prices for the Huayra is expected to be in the region of 1 million Euro and production is scheduled to begin sometime in the middle of this year. Expect a Huayra landing on the island of Singapore by the end of the year or even earlier. The reason I mentioned this is that one of Pagani's largest markets for their Zondas is Singapore, with around 22 sold and delivered to various lucky individuals over here since it was launched in 1999. If you think that isn't that many you have to take into account that Pagani has only made about 117 or so Zondas since 1999.

So will the Huayra's looks make it less popular than the Zonda over here? I wouldn't know. We'll have to wait for test reports to come out and see if it really takes the Zonda to the cleaners or not.