The Pagani Huayra Epitome is an 852bhp hypercar with a manual gearbox

If you thought the launch of the Pagani Utopia meant the death of the Huayra, think again. If you have the cash, Pagani will build you something bespoke from its back catalogue, and its latest project is this: the Huayra Epitome. With a manual gearbox, road-orientated suspension and an 852bhp 6-litre V12, it's the most analogue Huayra built to date, and the only one with three pedals. 

The Epitome has been commissioned by a customer who already has a Huayra Imola in the garage, and its design and specification have been tailored to their tastes. The front end has been reshaped to improve cooling and downforce, with gold detailing for Pagani’s trademark twin headlights and extractor vents for the front wheelarches. The rear clamshell now has an integrated rear wing that works with an underbody diffuser, the latter aided by a pair of lower exhaust outlets to accelerate airflow from under the car. Every body panel is finished in exposed blue carbonfibre. 

At the heart of the Epitome is an AMG-built twin-turbo V12, revving to 6700rpm and generating 852bhp and 811lb ft of torque (if those figures sound familiar, that’s because they match the Utopia’s). This is connected to a transversely mounted seven-speed manual gearbox built by Xtrac, with a Utopia-style open-gate and exposed linkage in the cabin. A triple-disc clutch has been installed to transfer the Epitome’s colossal torque through the drivetrain, and the differential is electronically controlled to deploy it to the road. 

Pagani uses the same development approach for its one-off projects as it does its series-production cars, meaning that signing off the Epitome’s engineering details and bespoke components took months. Some of this time was spent developing its suspension, which features anti-dive and anti-roll geometry, as well as new active dampers with a ‘super soft’ mode to improve ride comfort. The forged Imola-inspired aluminium-alloy wheels are wrapped in Pirelli P Zero Trofeo R tyres, with Brembo carbon ceramic brakes fitted at all four corners. 

Pagani hasn’t detailed how much the Epitome costs, but if you need to ask, it’s probably too much.