Horacio Pagani, founder of the Italian company Pagani Automobili S.p.A.: biography, study, career

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Horatio Raul Pagani - Founder of Pagani Automobili S.p. A. and creator of sports cars such as the Zonda and Huayra. Starting designing cars in Argentina, he worked with Renault before moving to Italy to work for Lamborghini before starting his own supercar company.

Early Biography

Horacio Pagani was born on 1955-10-11 in the small Argentinean town of Casilda in the Santa Fe region. His great-grandfather Pietro came to Argentina at the end of the 19th century. from Italy and founded the Panificación Pagani bakery, which remains a family business to this day. Horatio's parents were Mario and Marta Pagani, who had two more sons, Nora and Alejandro. From a very early age, Horatio carved wooden models of sports cars. His idol was the Argentine racer Juan Manuel Fangio, whose achievements he followed in sports news.

Pagani and his best friend Gustavo Marani built their own track between football matches to arrange toy races theremachines. This allowed him to put into practice the techniques and skills he had acquired by carving models from wood. Horatio began instructing other kids on how to improve the efficiency of their cars by modifying their aerodynamics, using cardboard, and strategically placing lead weights.

Friends learned about the profession of car designer when they read about Pininfarina, Bertone and Giorgetto Giugiaro. And when Horatio saw the design center, where people worked surrounded by drawings and sketches of innovative technical solutions, he realized what he wanted to do in life.

Pagani continued to quench his thirst for knowledge and his obsession with scale models. In 1966, an electrified track for car models opened in Casilda, and friends became regular visitors, arranging battles on the track. Soon they began to modify these machines as well. Tito Spani, the owner of a model shop in Casilda, became a mentor to the guys, helping them improve their cars and build on their knowledge and skills.

Motorcycle repair and manufacturing

In 1968, Horatio was already fully immersed in the world of cars, design and racing. He learned that the most important skills a good designer should have were technical and aesthetic. Leonardo da Vinci served as an example for him.

At 15, he decided to start his first project with an internal combustion engine. Having bought an old but cheap Legnano, Horatio set out to refurbish it. He dismantled the motorcycle, restoring parts that he looked for replacements in junkyards and repair shops. The work was completed in a few weeks. Horatio soenjoyed the process that after it was completed he sold the bike to start another similar project, this time on Alpino. The result for a 15-year-old with limited financial means was equally impressive.

Then, she and Gustavito decided to make mini bikes from scratch, having previously studied the process in Popular Mechanics magazine. First, they collected all the details they could find. After six long and stressful months, the mini bikes were ready and looking brilliant. The result was so good that the owner of the toy store in Casilda kept them in his window for several days so that the neighbors could admire the children's work.

Horatio's last school project was a buggy. He found a company that made the fiberglass body and installed it on a Renault Dauphine chassis found in a junkyard. To do this, Pagani completely dismantled the car, restored or replaced parts. The project lasted 5 months, but the result was worth it: 17-year-old Horatio proudly drove a unique vehicle through the streets of Casilda.

Study

By 1974, Horatio Pagani was 18 years old and decided to become an engineer, enrolling in the Faculty of Fine Arts in La Plata, about 450 km from Casilda. But due to the unstable political situation in Argentina, classes were canceled and all students were sent home. The following year, the situation did not change, and Horatio decided to enter the engineering department of the National University of Rosario, which was located away frompolitical epicenter. There he spent the whole of 1975, but after a few months he developed a deep sense of disillusionment. The university was not what he expected. He longed to immerse himself in projects like those he did as a teenager. Instead, he faced long hours of theory lectures and exams. Deciding to follow his instinct, Horatio Pagani left his studies and returned to Casilda to start his own business.

Finding your own path

The parents did not welcome the son's decision and were even more upset when he announced that he did not intend to work in a bakery, but wanted to open his own design studio. His father gave him a piece of land on the outskirts of Casilda, which he had bought a few years before. There, Horatio built the headquarters of Horacio Pagani Design with the money received from the sale of the buggy and personal belongings.

Orders were not long in coming. The first of these was to design high chairs for a new bar in Casilda. They had to have footrests and the seat had to be upholstered in leather. It took Horatio 2 weeks to complete them. Orders continued to come in, and after a few months he returned his investment, paid off his debts and even saved a small amount.

Inspired by his success, Pagani decided he could do more, so he decided to build a camper van. After 6 months of hard work Alpine was ready.

In September 1976, he showed it at the exhibition, which was held annually in Casilda, where there was no problem finding a buyer. As expected, his talent was recognized,and after the show, he received several commissions, ranging from building vans to modifying pickup trucks to carry large loads, and even equipping a mobile studio for the local radio station, Radio Casilda.

Horatio's recipe for success was an individual approach to clients. He met with all family members who were to use the car to fully understand their preferences and needs, and then presented them with a preliminary plan for approval. This approach was very beneficial for clients, so he uses it to this day.

The young designer focused on mastering the process of making fiberglass products. This method offered much more flexibility in creating parts than sheet metal, and was faster and cheaper, so it quickly became Horatio's main working tool.

Pagani decided to invest his savings in expanding his workshop. He tiled the floor of the study with his initials, filled the shelves with books collected over many years, put up a piano, a portrait of Mona Lisa da Vinci and a large drawing board.

Horatio constantly increased the complexity and complexity of his projects in order to achieve excellence in all areas of car design and production. He built agricultural machinery, vans and collaborated with Gustavito, who started his own bed and orthopedic business.

Passion for racing

Horaceo Pagani always wanted to get intoracing world, and he had the opportunity when he was approached by Alberto Gentili. The Argentine driver wanted to improve the car, which had problems with reliability and power, which negatively affected the results of his performances.

This work was interesting because it allowed me to improve my knowledge of car dynamics. The Limitada Santafesina were small single-seat cars with 4-cylinder engines in the rear mounted on a tubular chassis. Horatio worked tirelessly for 3 weeks and made profound changes to the design, strengthening some parts and lightening others. Gentili took 2nd place, testifying to the incredible intuition of a young designer who took a car he knew nothing about and completely redesigned it in a short amount of time without doing any dynamic tests.

When it came to designing the car, Horatio introduced a number of innovative solutions, some of which were inspired by Formula 1: suspension arms, central wheel locking, his own brake design. Pagani carefully checked every detail and took parts home to keep thinking about them all night.

His team worked for a year preparing the car, which was unveiled at a dinner in front of 300 guests, including journalists, investors and representatives of the automotive industry. The press unanimously praised the Pagani F2. It remains only to find the driver and the engine. Weeks went by and still no engine. Horatio announced that the Pagani F2 will be powered by Renault and will be part of the official team.

Loading the car onto the trailer, hewent to Buenos Aires to meet with the board of Renault Argentina. He told them about the car and the team, but he was met with indifference. According to representatives of Renault, they received such offers every day. Pagani invited them down to the parking lot so they could see the car with their own eyes. An hour later they came down, asked a few technical questions, and returned to discuss. A few minutes later they returned, the chairman shook hands with him, congratulated him and said that Renault would provide the engine and support it during the season.

It remains to find a driver. They contacted previous season champion Agustín Bimonte, who was looking for a car, and he came to Casilda. He immediately fell in love with the car and immediately signed the contract. In the first race, the car went off the track due to a brake problem. The rest of the season was marked by Pagani-Renault's overwhelming dominance over the rest of the teams.

After 3 years of racing, Horatio decided to reorganize his business again. At that time, the political and economic situation in the country was terrible. The military dictatorship of Argentina almost completely destroyed the country's industry. Horatio realized that there would not be the necessary environment for him and his business.

Italy Dreams

Horatio was in love with 18-year-old Christina, who dreamed of becoming an English teacher. They represented a shared future away from Argentina. Pagani wanted to return to Italy - the country of his ancestors and Leonardo da Vinci, a paradise for automotiveindustry.

One of his special orders came from the Road Laboratory in Rosario for the creation of two prototypes for measuring road roughness. It was a high-tech work, the first examples of its kind in all of Latin America. Horatio turned to the famous Argentine auto engineer Oreste Berta for the necessary computer equipment to perform some mathematical calculations. During this process, he mentioned the idea of leaving Argentina and asked to arrange a meeting with Italian manufacturers. Oreste offered to go to Gordon Murray, a successful Formula One designer who was working for Brabham at the time. However, Horatio was more inclined towards sports cars than racing cars, so he sent him to Juan Manuel Fangio, who had a better understanding of the European market due to his position in Mercedes-Benz, for which he drove in Formula 1.

Pagani met with Fangio at the Mercedes-Benz headquarters in Buenos Aires. He showed him photos of all his projects, from wooden models and buggies to the Pagani F2, explaining each one. Pagani was impressed by the modest and calm Fangio, and he informed him of his intention to move to Italy. They agreed to meet again. Fangio sent letters to Osella Formula 1 team founder Enzo Osella, Alfa Romeo's Carlo Chiti, Lamborghini's Giulio Alfieri, Alejandro De Tomaso and Enzo Ferrari. Fangio admitted that he made many such recommendations, but only two of them were successful.

Trip to Milan

Horatio completed his orders and in November 1982flew to Milan with the intention of completing all the interviews in 2 weeks. There he visited relatives in the small town of Appiano Gentil in the province of Como in northern Italy.

Pagani accidentally discovered that there was a car show in Bologna over the weekend, which he did not know about, because at that time it was not known outside of Italy. He went there, found the Lamborghini booth and made an appointment with Giulio Alfieri. On Monday, he was interviewed by him and Mauro Forghieri, technical head of motorsport at Ferrari. The latter praised his talent and youth, but could only offer a position in a Formula 1 team, not a sports car designer. The interview with Alfieri went well, and Alfieri suggested that he join the development team for the LM military all-terrain vehicle from the middle of next year.

The rest of the interviews were similar, with executives praising Horatio's featured projects but talking about the need for generalists like him, deploring the downturn in the auto industry and not being able to hire new young talent like him.

Preparing for departure

Pagani returned to Casilda in good spirits and with very clear ideas. He asked Christina to marry him to start a new life on the old continent, and she immediately agreed.

Three months later, on March 19, 1983, the young couple married, honeymooned in Argentina, and traveled to Italy. Before the wedding, Horatio completed his last orders, closed accountsHoracio Pagani Design and sold the property that he could not take with him, which allowed him to raise a small amount for the first time in Italy until his new life settled down.

However, not everything was as rosy as they thought. On May 11, 1983, a letter arrived from Alfieri, in which he wrote that due to the financial crisis and delays in the development of new models, Lamborghini had frozen the hiring of new employees indefinitely. Horatio hid the letter and continued to act as if nothing had happened, confessing this only to Cristina and close friend Hugo Racca.

New life

Arriving in Italy, Horatio stayed with relatives for several weeks. The couple worked in the workshop of one of the family members, firmly believing that he would soon find a job in the automotive sector.

Pagani went to the Lamborghini to meet Alfieri again, who was very surprised to see him. Horatio talked about going to Italy to build the most beautiful car in the world, and that he would clean the factory if needed. Alfieri smiled and asked him to be patient so that he could realize his plan.

Horace and Cristina moved to the campsite for the summer because they didn't want to spend their savings too quickly. They traveled enjoying a new life in Italy and went to visit Leonardo da Vinci's home in Tuscany.

Working at Lamborghini

In September 1983, Lamborghini offered Pagani the position of Level 3 Supervisor. He was 27 years old when hejoined a team of 5 people. Thanks to his broad knowledge, Horatio was able to work on several aspects of the LM project, from the hull and mechanics to the interior and air conditioning system. The work was stimulating and interesting.

Horatio Pagani's career at Lamborghini was not easy. Six months later, Alfieri offered him leadership of the department, but he rejected the offer because it was a position of an employee who was forced to retire early against his will.

Horatio agreed with Alfieri that he would give him small tasks from the rest of the team's workflow that would stimulate him, as they required research before the design and production stage. As compensation, he asked for complete freedom to enter and leave the factory at any time he wanted, since he woke up at 5 o'clock in the morning, went to work and did not leave until 8 o'clock in the evening. This was a problem because at the time, employees were not allowed to work after 5:00 pm. And he wanted to be able to take a nap at lunchtime.

Lamborghini created a division to research composite materials, which initially did not have much success due to the resistance of old employees who preferred traditional aluminum. It ended up with the engineer in charge of the project quitting. Horatio Pagani saw the unique characteristics of composite materials such as lightness, strength and ease of fabrication. He led a small team of engineers that in 1985 created the prototype Countach Evoluzione with a large medium V12 weighing only 1050 kg - 450kg less than the first Countach QV5000 carbon fiber chassis car. When they tested it, the car had a top speed of 330 km/h, which was impressive at the time. But the management did not see the potential of this technology, and there were no improvements in this area for several more years.

Pagani was 32 years old when his second child Leonardo was born in 1987 and became the brand's chief designer. He was responsible for the P140 concept car, which was to replace the Jalpa as the entry level car. The project was not approved, but served as the basis for the Lamborghini Calà, the predecessor of the Gallardo, which was launched in 2003 under the auspices of Audi and became Lamborghini's best-selling model.

In 1988, he led the Countach 25th Anniversary project and completed the design and prototype in just 4 months. This time he was allowed to use carbon fiber for some body panels, but management refused to buy an apparatus designed to apply pressure and temperature to pieces of carbon fiber during the manufacturing process due to its high cost and low return on investment in the short term. Horatio only had an industrial oven. The car was commercially successful because with the new design, the Countach was recognized in the as-yet-unconquered US market. This allowed much-needed financial backing until the advent of Diablo in 1990

In addition, Horatio managed to industrialize and streamline the production process, which made it possible to almost double the outputwith the same number of workers.

Modena Design

Once, when the engineer Horatio Pagani was fed up with refusals to buy an autoclave, he decided to buy it on credit and became the official supplier of Lamborghini. Taking another risk, he was several steps ahead of the industry. Thus, he could work independently without the restrictions that such a large company like Lamborghini imposes.

The first project to be developed in the new Modena Design workshop was the Countach's full carbon fiber front hood. Pagani showed it to Lamborghini with great success. The finish was so good and the part was so light that he was asked to make as many parts as possible out of this material for the Diablo prototype, which was to be unveiled in 1990. After analyzing every detail, Horatio decided to make bumpers, front hood, door sills and some parts of the interior.

When Lamborghini finally realized the full benefits of the new technology, it was tasked with creating a division identical to its own.

The next project he was offered in 1991 was to build an all-composite car to celebrate the brand's 30th anniversary. Horacio Pagani was also restyled the Lamborghini Diablo VT at the time and planned to bring in a large number of employees to move to a larger factory as he was going to produce 300 chassis for the L30 at Modena Design.

These plans were thwarted due to the reduction in globaleconomy in 1990. Chrysler, which owned Lamborghini at the time, canceled all new projects and froze developments, including the L30 Horacio. On the 30th anniversary of the brand, instead of the new model, Lamborghini introduced a restyled Diablo.

This weakened the ties between Modena Design and Lamborghini, and Horatio began looking for other clients. The best-known works from this period are products such as ski boots, horse racing sidecars, and racing motorcycle saddles. Modena Design collaborated with Aprilia, Dallara or Daihatsu.

The most beautiful car in the world

Around 1993, Horatio Pagani began work on a project he had dreamed of since childhood. He decided to build his supercar in 1988 as a tribute to Fangio, with whom he agreed that if he ever built a car in his honor, it would have a Mercedes engine. For many years he worked on the machine in parallel to his other work at Modena Design. After completing the design, he built a large 1:5 scale model to perform aerodynamic tests.

Pagani then built a full-scale prototype with removable parts, which later, due to financial constraints, served as molds for the production of carbon fiber parts. As Horatio became more involved in the project, it became obvious that it would be the highlight of his life. At some point, he had to put everything else aside and focus on it, putting himself, his family, and his business at great risk if it failed.

By 1997, the financial situation of the sector beganshow clear signs of improvement, and a restyled Diablo, VT was being prepared at Lamborghini. The management was not happy with the proposed projects, so the marketing director presented the Pagani Zonda C8 prototype, offering to convert it to a Lamborghini and sell it as a completely new model. Modena Design would be responsible for the design and construction of the chassis, while Lamborghini would supply the mechanical components.

Accepting this offer would make 42-year-old Horatio a rich man, but he would have to give up the sports car bearing his name. Pagani decided to discuss this with his wife and children. At the time, he did not have the financial resources needed to complete Zonda, so the sale made sense. The youngest son, Leonardo, who was 10 years old at the time, convinced his father to invest in the project.

And in 1998, a group of investors provided capital to conduct tests and create the first samples.

From Zonda to Pagani Huayra BC

In January 1999, the Zonda C12 was completed. Horatio decided to stun the world at the Geneva Motor Show, where he and his wife Christina presented a silver concept car. He chose this color as a tribute to Mercedes and his idol Fangio.

In 2010, the company launched the all-new Huayra. It was a big step forward because it had the right to be sold all over the world. This allowed the company to enter markets such as the US, China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, etc., where Zonda had to be imported. Thanks to this, Pagani has become a global brand that can competewith companies such as Bugatti, Koenigsegg or Ferrari, which greatly increased the demand for already built Zonda and Huayra, which were resold for 3 times their original price.

Around 1995, Horatio began building a state-of-the-art factory on the outskirts of San Cesario sul Panaro to expand Modena Design's reach. Later, a showroom and office space for Pagani Automobili (Modena) was set up there.

This factory fully satisfied production needs until 2008, when Horacio began to think about creating a more modern space to be able to increase output and have space for research, innovation and development of composite materials. A new factory with an area of about 5800 sq. m with the ability to produce up to 300 cars a year.

Since 2004 there has been a rally that starts every summer from the factory. The happy owners of Pagani travel around Italy for several days, staying in excellent hotels.

In 2016, the Pagani Huayra BC appeared with an improved version of the 745 hp engine. With. The weight of the car has been reduced by 132 kg thanks to the use of a new material that is 50% lighter and 20% stronger than conventional carbon fiber.