Horacio Pagani began his career as an automotive designer at a very early age, carving futuristic body designs from blocks of balsa wood. Inspired by the works of Leonardo DaVinci, Pagani believed it was both possible and necessary to combine art and engineering.

By age 20, Pagani had designed and built his own F3 racer, which led to a chance meeting with fellow Argentinean and Grand Prix legend Juan Manuel Fangio. Fangio became a mentor to Pagani, and at age 28 Pagani moved to Italy to be closer to companies like Ferrari and Lamborghini.

Pagani got his start as a body shop technician for Lamborghini, quickly rising through the ranks to become head of its newly-founded composite materials group. During his tenure with Lamborghini, Pagani worked on projects relating to the LM off-roader, the Jalpa restyle, the anniversary Countach and the Diablo prototype.

Working for others wasn’t Pagani’s destiny, and Pagani left Lamborghini in 1991 to start Modena Design. This was followed by the founding of Pagani Automobili in 1992, and in 1999 the company released its first Zonda C12.

The Zonda evolved through numerous models over the years, and ultimately led to the creation of Pagani’s latest masterpiece, the Huayra.

The history of Pagani will be detailed in a five-part video series, with parts one and two shown here. We’d be hard pressed to name another automotive icon with Pagani’s passion or attention to detail, and we’re sure the rest of series will be as compelling as the first two videos.

________________________________

See more videos on our YouTube sites: The Car Connection, Motor Authority, and Green Car Reports.