Museo Horacio Pagani

The Horacio Pagani Museum and Atelier in San Cesario sul Panaro explores the cars and design history of Pagani Automobili. The museum’s collection includes milestone Zonda and Huayra models alongside unrealised designs, while the atelier represents the company’s continuing work in automotive design and manufacture.

Why it matters

The museum traces Horacio Pagani’s path from Argentina to the Modena area and the development of his own automotive company. It brings together the objects and ideas behind a marque known for combining design, engineering and composite materials.

What to notice

Among the vehicles highlighted in the collection are the first Zonda, the Zonda R, Zonda Cinque and Huayra. Design studies that never reached production show how a car’s form evolves before manufacture. The museum’s relationship to the atelier places these designs within the same broader story of making and materials.

Context and history

Born in Casilda, Argentina, in 1955, Horacio Pagani studied industrial design at the National University of La Plata before moving to Italy. He worked at Lamborghini from 1983 to 1991, then established Modena Design, a composites company. The Zonda C12 made its debut at the Geneva Motor Show in 1999; the Huayra followed in 2011, and the Utopia was introduced in 2022.