The Pagani Alisea Concept Is The Zonda’s 25th Birthday Present

Want to feel old? This spring marked 25 years since the Pagani Zonda was unveiled at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show. A quarter of a century. It came out of nowhere to immediately establish Pagani as a true blue Italian supercar maker that could stand shoulder to shoulder with its neighbours at Ferrari and Lamborghini, and special versions of it still occasionally pop out of the company’s Modena factory today, even as it’s been succeeded first by the Huayra then the Utopia.

The Zonda, then, deserves a proper present to mark its quarter-century, which is what it’s been given by students at the Istituto Europeo di Design (European Design Institue) in Turin, Italy.

Working in collaboration with Pagani, 24 students of the school’s transportation design master’s degree have created the Alisea concept, a homage to the original Zonda with its design updated for 2024.

The result is a 1:1 scale model with some very clear Zonda DNA, but one that’s equally its own standalone product. The Zonda’s dramatic cab-forward stance and canopy-like cockpit have been exaggerated and smoothed off, while there’s a minimalist new interpretation of its dual headlight arrangement.

At the back, that most recognisable of Pagani motifs, the quad exhaust pipes, arranged in a circle, sit between a new take on the Zonda C12’s dual rear spoiler arrangement. It also features the high-mounted side mirrors that were a distinctive feature of early Zondas.

While the actual model doesn’t feature an interior, renders of the inside show three pedals and a manual gearbox, as well as a floating pod arrangement for the gauge cluster and central screen. The Alisea’s designers say it’s intended to house – what else? – an AMG V12 engine.

Between this and the Koenigsegg CC850, it seems that the hypercars of the early 2000s are now well and truly considered classics worthy of revisiting. Unlike the Koenigsegg, the Alisea likely isn’t destined for production, but still – what a gift.