Horacio Pagani, creator of the Zonda ( Spanish version click here )

WHAT THE MIND THINKS, the hand creates

Can the mixture of intellectual ability and craft skills with which so many artists were endowed during the Renaissance be considered a diachronic value?

In other words, could that ability to create “with the mind and the hand”, which produced so many masterpieces in Italy and Europe, be retrievable nowadays?

This is a question that Emozioni wanted to examine in the current edition with the creator of the Zonda itself, Horacio Pagani. After all, while this car excels in diverse areas on the one hand (comfort, crash-test, speed, acceleration, braking, etc.), demonstrating its full use of the sector’s most advanced technology, on the other, it is also – or especially – a work of craft, an example of automotive ‘art’ (in the etymological sense of the term). Add the fact that its inventor is a keen Renaissance enthusiast, and the next question has to be whether the blueprint for the Zonda featured a historical-philosophical dimension; in other words, why was the bodywork of this four-wheeled gem crafted entirely by hand (no mean feat) and the work done mostly by women?

Mr Pagani, let’s talk about the Renaissance first of all. What aspects of this period interest you most and which of them have effectively been applied in the creation of the Zonda?

The Renaissance, and more specifically the Italian experience, was distinguished by a great verve, an energy which I call “manual intellectuality”, i.e. when the power of the mind runs through the heart before transmitting its creative impulse to the hand. This process has yielded works with an innate added value, realised not only by the great masters of the period, but by thousand of artists with varying degrees of fame, who helped to turn Italy into a genuine open-air museum.

Off all the Renaissance masters, is there one artist you admire in particular?

No question about it: Leonardo at Vinci, because he was more than just a great painter. He was an all-round genius: scientist, philosopher, plumber, even an expert on the flight of birds. Leonardo, in other words, was able to reconcile art and technology, intellectual ability and manual skill, to perfection.

In your opinion, how can this “manual intellectuality” be transferred to the automotive sector?

You need to introduce that element mentioned earlier, i.e. add people who have the insight of a designer and the technical capability of an engineer.

Of course, it is not easy: finding engineers with artistic training and designers with technical training is a complicated business. This obstacle is also due, in a large part, to the current education system. All the same, I declare myself “optimistically pessimistic” about it, or “pessimistically optimistic” that the situation will change.

Can you give us an example of how “manual intellectuality” is applied within your company?

In the early stages, the plans are still drawn up in pencil, and the models of the cars are moulded in resin, so we can maintain a “physical contact” with what we are building. Later on, of course, computers come into the picture, as they allow us to work with much greater accuracy.

Do you think that this is what gives the Zonda its beauty?

The beauty factor is subjective. But from a technical view point, there is scientific data available which proves the balance we have obtained with this car, which – incidentally – remains one of the few cars whose bodywork is fashioned, by hand, from a single piece.

What does the Zonda mean to you ?

On a personal level, it is the outcome of 40 years’ work, and therefore an immense satisfaction for me. For the company, it is a stopover on a longer journey, one that will bring us soon to the release of a second car.

Are there any particular objects that inspired you when you were designing the Zonda?

Yes, Riva powerboats, among others. Because, even though times were hard in Italy in the immediate post-war period and during the sixties, Riva sensed the importance of manual skills and style.

As well as wanting to recover Renaissance standards, in particular its interpretation of manual labour, you have also recoveredsomething extra: a substantial female contribution...

That’s right, women outnumber men in my company in some areas, including the chassis building and some of the bodywork, because they have demonstrated a superior ability in craft skills. Plus, carbon fibre is particularly suited to processes in which women can show their talents.