Stunning Red Head of humble horigins and her Blondie heir: 1959 Fiat 600 Viotti and 2014 Willys AW380 Viotti

Technically speaking, there is only the body color of this car, or the color of the leather of its pristine interior, to qualify it as a red head, or as a Rossa in Italian. Even if back in the sixties most relevant figures in the Italian automotive sector had already been working for several if not most companies and coachbuilders from the country, it would be at least far fetched to bring about some connection between this car and say Ferrari, just to carry on the red theme.

It's nonetheless a beauty, a little gem from the local evergreen automotive industry. I actually find that what qualifies Italy among the most famous countries in the world when it comes to cars, it's not just Ferrari, Lamborghini and all the other loud names in the business, but also the capability to give birth to such great cars regardless of their technical relevance to the world, their price, or their performance. Most coachbuilders from the past and present experimented with small cars, and not simply providing the design of the bodywork or some technical insight in their engineering. It was and still is about creating something unique, special, with a personality in some ways.

Obviously today the market is in a completely different situation. There is no point in calling in the ever present global crisis, as long as Mini can afford to sell a 2.700 € set of wheels on a 30.000 € or so stock Countryman (or simply as long as it sells the Countryman I might say) it is not a matter of money availability. Sure some people suffered the crisis, not going to argue that, but there are still quite some people who can afford to spend quite some cash on rather common and not so special cars. Targeting Mini buyers is quite simple and a bit on the generalist side of things, but you got the point.
What sells is the brand, and even more so the image connected to the brand. I happened to come across a man at the mall last week, dressed with expensive clothes and with a brand new pinkish-iPhone-something, which then walked over to his car. A dented VW Polo MK3/6N. Now I don't pretend everyone to be a car enthusiast, but I couldn't help but notice he was carrying around at least twice, or trice, the money in clothes and phone than what his car was worth. And he was just fine with it which is the most important thing I take.

So is there a place somewhere in a market overcrowded with generalist offerings, premium average cars and brands actually owned by the same conglomerate, for something bespoke and special such as a truly bespoke Fiat 500, or Mini? Simple and short answer, no.
Cars are definitely less "cool" than they were 50 years ago, they no longer represent freedom and independence, and they are often seen just as a mean of transportation, and expensive one because of fuel, insurance, taxes and servicing. It's an open secret that in a few decades cars will be used just as horses are used today. Sports, sporadic trips on the countryside, fairs and little else. We will be hovering over cities with individual egg-shaped pods connected among themselves to move us around as quickly and efficiently as possible, while giving us to have a relaxed conversation, read a book (or play some silly-saga game on our augmented reality visors) and probably have lunch too in the process. What a marvelous thing progress is.

I truly believe that, but at the same time, I feel more and more people not directly involved with progress are just embracing its side effects rather than be a part of it. With people "involved" I don't mean simply engineering, scientists and researchers all around the world, but also people simply interested in science and technological progress, up to date with what's going on. If you don't understand something, it's pretty easy to misuse it, and hi-tech devices casted in the furnaces of hell are no exception. Actually, I'm pretty sure my grand-grandmother would have been even harsher on smartphones and the likes. Luckily, my grandmother has been corrupted by an LCD television a while ago. Internet is still a mistery though.

While digressing is probably my best ability, the point is it's not very common to find such a car as this 1959 Fiat 600 Viotti. Built upon a rather common and simple car, the body of this coupe can compete at any concours d'elegance all around the world side by side by with much more expensive and famous names. An evidence to this is that a Viotti Fiat 600 was featured in the first aired episode of Chasing Classic Cars, one of the few modern "reality" shows worth watching, and probably the only one among those automotive-related. For a car collector from the States to be in love with this rare and quirky little car from italy, it must be something pretty special. Here is a clip from another episode.

The Snail...

Viotti itself is partially back as a coachbuilder with the recently unveiled Willys AW380, which does its best at transforming a Porsche Boxster/Cayman into a modern replica of the Alpine A108 that the Brazilian arm of Willys was licensed to build in the seventies. The scene of its unveiling was the rather disappointing and slowly dying Bologna Motor Show, now the only generalist auto show left in Italy after the demise of the Turin Auto Show in 2002 (the last exhibition being held two years earlier). How ironic that such a pivotal place for cars as Italy is left without a decent show of international relevance.
Viotti is also a design firm in the modern sense, providing engineering know-how and prototyping facilities for new experiments. Indeed, bonus points if you can recognize what they have been working on in the recent years, might as well cover that car as well...

All pictures copyrtight: Damiano Garro for The Italian Junkyard
Press images courtesy of Carrozzeria Viotti Torino Want to know more?

2014 Motori e Sapori, two Pagani Huayras are better than one: one for the Dark Knight, one for St. Patrick's day!

There isn't much to be said about Pagani, the Zonda or the Huayra that I haven't written here already.

We've been to the factory, we've seen the assembly of the cars, talked with the men and women who put those masterpieces together, and we even got to interview the man himself, Horacio Pagani.

As usual with Pagani stuff, there is no better source of material and information as the Pagani Zonda Forum. Be sure to register over there and feel free to contact me if you have any problem.

I'll admit that seeing these cars at events and shows is definitely not the same as the occasional spotting on the road, possibly far away from their own factories. It feels like cheating and it takes away a bit of the specialness built into these cars. They are called exotics for a reason, but when you see them relatively often, you risk to think they are as common as they get.

There is no risk in finding them ordinary though. Among the stars of the 2014 edition of the "Motori e Sapori" event in Castelfranco Emilia (Modena, Italhy), a matte shocking green Huayra is definitely no red Ferrari 458 Italia.

This specific car is the third prototype ever built (ZA9C900P3) and it was rumored to have been used primarily for electronics development, therefore often being referred to as the Bosch prototype. Indeed you could have seen a few videos of a matte black Huayra testing at various locations. It's the same car, bar the vinyl wrap.

It could often been found at Idiada Test Circuit. What's that? Well, you may know it already as the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, as they are the same venue.

IDIADA became slightly more notorious when it readied the most powerful electric prototype car with the help of APPLUS, the car in question being actually based on the stunning Rimac Concept One from Croatia.

During this past winter the Huayra P3 has been completely disassembled and rebuilt so to incorporate some production specs details, and possible parts of future evolutions of the Huayra.

Rumors about the production run for the regular Huayra quotes various figures raging from 75 to 110 units, and every time some Pagani official is quoted as the source so it's hard to say which figure is the right one. Presently, about 40 customer cars have been built, and by the end of 2014 that number should double thanks to the new factory and workforce. Therefore it seems the right time to start testing the next chapter in the Huayra history, and the P3 might be hiding in plain sight.

The company also have other factory cars, including this matte dark gray Huayra, chassis #76014 and based on the second to last validation prototype, the ZA9C900P5 finished in silver and featured at the Huayra unveiling in Geneva 2011, next to the validation prototype ZA9C900P6 finished in red and carbon fiber, and later rebuilt into the first series production Huayra, #76001. That car is now finished in blue and clear coated carbon fiber, often seen in London and Paris registered with plates from Qatar. This blue car is however often seen at the factory too, so it's unclear what kind of a deal is in place between Pagani and the owner.

Other factory cars include the ZA9C900P1 that was recently featured on the TIJ a few weeks ago, and a third prototype, the ZA9C900P4 which was used to develop and refine the drivetrain and was therefore stationed primarily at Affalterbach, not far from Stuttgart, AMG headquarters. It's unclear though what the present status of this car is, and where it might be. The ZA9C900P2 is rumored to have been the crash test prototype, so we lost that for good. Actually, if you're lucky, you can spot it remains inside the Pagani factory.

The #76014 Huayra has changed its skin many times: while the actual bodywork has been mostly the same after its rebuilt into a production car in Spring 2012, from then on it was always wrapped with various vinyls. It all started with the 2013 Mille Miglia when the car featured a matte gray finish with a sketchy map of the Mille Miglia depicted on it, and then they never stopped. At the Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2013 the matte gray wrap was still in place but adorned with weird Italian flag stripes all over the bodywork. It was then finished again in matte gray with a black and red longitudinal stripe. Eventually the car was wrapped in matte bronze with the canopy finished in matte black, but it didn't last much as you can see because this has been its finish ever since January 2014. Stealthy, I approve, and I'm not a fan of matte cars.

The car was recently used for a very special task. Another customer car, believe to be the 34th produced car and featuring chassis #76031, was delivered to a customer from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in Paris. For some reasons, the car arrived with the left rear view mirror damaged, and was temporarily fixed with duct tape... because that's what does the job when years of studies and development just won't cut it!

#76014 was promptly dispatched with famous test driver Davide Testi at the wheel, and the next day both car could be seen together in Paris. Next thing you know, the #76031 Huayra had a new mirror and Mr Test-i Driver was heading back home.

If you think it doesn't make much sense, I'll have to disagree. First of all, you'd have needed to send both the new mirror and a technician to repair or assess the damage, so a two way airplane ticket to Paris was required. It was probably a bit cheaper then sending a supercar about 1.050 km away from home, but eventually you have to consider test cars and test drivers are meant for one thing: to drive. No better occasion to do it too, as that must have been the best customer service ever.

As for Davide himself, in Castelfranco he was a nice chap as usual, allowing people to take pictures of the car, opening the door and so on. When he wasn't on duty, you could see him walking around with his son, showing him cars and introducing him to the great automotive culture. Lucky kid? You can bet on that!

Final note on the finish of the cars. While I won't say much on the refinement of the green Huayra P3, it's a prototype after all and you could see that some parts were missing, the quality of the wraps was a bit disappointing. Maybe the quality of the panels of the P3 has something to do with it, being finished in a raw matte black texture (perhaps primed only?) and having faced many miles and extreme conditions over the recent years.

Performed by Car Wrapping Milano from Milan obviously, northern Italy, the wraps were already showing bubbles, cracks and other signs of wear all over both cars, and the job is barely 3 months old on the matte gray car, and less than two months old on the green prototype. Now taking into account that the matte gray #76014 Huayra was wrapped no less than 5 times over the past 12 months, (even if I assume the base vinyl was always the same in the three initial schemes prior to the bronze one), it may be that the job isn't performed with the best attention to quality as it's going to be removed pretty soon anyway, and probably a sponsorship agreement between the two companies is in place. It's also an effective way to save the actual paintjob from dirt and chips over the years.

Indeed you could spot additional layers been added right after all four wheels to add further protections against small stones propelled towards the bodywork by the massive tires. I hope customer cars won't be affected by this, even if they surely get driven much less than the company cars, plus it's a very common problem among basically all high end supercars. Not surprisingly Pagani added the small carbon fiber element we photographed also on the red Huayra P1.

That said, if you have the means to purchase it, you better take care of it too!

You can really say this is not Ferrari home turf...

All Watermarked Pictures and Words Copyright: Damiano Garro for The Italian Junkyard
Other shots copyright: Pagani Automobili
This article can be linked to from other websites but its content and the pictures can't be reproduced on any other website without my written permission
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