Open wide and say ‘R’

You have to admire the sheer chutzpah of the treble Zonda owner who phoned up Pagani and said, 'Yeah, not bad, but don't you reckon it's a bit... well, slow?'

It's a true story. These are the first sketches of the Zonda R, the most track-oriented and powerful Pagani to date.

It's aimed at those discerning drivers who don't reckon that the Zonda F's 641bhp and sub-four-second 0-60 time quite cuts the mustard.

Using only 10 per cent of the components from the Zonda F (pay attention to those letters, Bond, they're important), the R is constructed around a carbon fibre chassis and sits on a wider wheelbase for increased stability.

Pagani has ditched the 7.3-litre V12 from the Zonda F. Instead, the R gets a dry-sumped 6.0-litre V12 from the Mercedes CLK GTR.

This engine will develop 750bhp at 8,000rpm, and although there's no word on performance at the moment, we reckon the Zonda R should dispatch 60 in around three seconds - putting it firmly in the same track 'n' road supercar camp as the Enzo FXX.

It's every bit as expensive as the Enzo FXX too, with Pagani putting the R's price tag loosely in the $1.2 million bracket.

Not that you'll be able to walk into a showroom and snap one up anyhow - Pagani only built 25 Zonda Fs, and there's likely to be even fewer Rs produced.