Pagani Huayra - La Monza Lisa

The Autodromo Nazionale di "Monza", the legendary Formula-1 circuit, famous for its flat straights and numerous tight chicanes. The flat straights make Monza an apt metaphor for 'speed'.

The Mona Lisa, a highly mysterious, debated masterpiece made by an Italian genius, artist and engineer, Leonardo da Vinci.

The amalgamation of characteristics of these highly disconnected objects discussed above, is the Pagani Huayra "La Monza Lisa".

The Pagani Huayra is the second hypercar produced by Pagani Automobili, after ending the production of its hyper-successful hypercar, the Zonda. The Zonda was sold in no less than eleven editions and avatars apart from over a dozen custom one-off models for its uber-elite clientele.

The first one-off Huayra, aptly christianed "La Monza Lisa" was commissioned by Kris Singh in early 2014. Kris Singh, who is a self proclaimed Lamborghini fanatic, is an Indian-born American investor, shot to fame in 2013, when he purchased the 1-of-3 Lamborghini Veneno LP 750-4 at an eye watering price tag of US$4 million. Unlike other special editions, which are only seen gracing auto shows and events around the world, Mr. Singh's Veneno is regularly seen zipping across the streets of Florida, where he resides. So it is safe to say that Mr. Singh's cars aren't "Garage Queens" like most cars of the segment.

Stunning interior and exterior bodywork coupled with the engineering prowess of Italian automotive genius, Mr. Horacio Pagani and a V12 BiTurbo engine, customized and tuned for instant power delivery and speed, it is hard not to draw parallels between the "La Monza Lisa" and those of Monza, the Mona Lisa and Leonardo da Vinci.

From the moment it was commissioned upto its delivery, Kris Singh kept his 100k+ followers on Instagram updated by putting up snapshots of the unfinished product yet never actually revealing the exact specifications of the car.

Kris Singh's "La Monza Lisa" features extremely bright red seats, a special mixture of red which is created in such a way that the color looks exactly the same in pictures as it looks to the human eye, while the stitching and piping on the seats is done up in white. The wheels, which are finished off in polished silver, are taken from the mighty Zonda R and it is said that the owner has a separate set finished in black to complete the cars sinister look. The exterior borrows a lot of design cues from the various editions of the Zonda produced over the years. The exposed carbon fibre bodywork has a thin clear coat over it, which accentuates the beauty of the weave of the carbon fibre while lending a beautiful shiny glossy finish to the whole exterior. The Italian TriColore stripe in the centre is inspired from the Zonda Revolucion and the customary tramline along the side is done up in Italian TriColore as well.

The engine in the La Monza Lisa is the same Mercedes-AMG sourced V12 Bi-Turbo as seen on other Huayras, however, in a different state of tune. The details on the exact power output of this custom built engine aren't known, but it is most certainly producing more than 730hp and the 1100Nm that the 'regular' Huayras are known the produce. The engine is built by Michael Kubler, who incindentally happens to be the owners good friend and the only one of two people in the world trained to build this mighty powertrain.

Other interesting custom features on the La Monza Lisa include missing sound dampners between the cabin and the engine, so as to enjoy the symphony produced by the V12 orchestra. The engine bay also has signatures done by the whole Pagani team including those of Horacio Pagani and his family, which were done at the special request of Kris Singh.

La Monza Lisa is not a car, but an expression, a work of art which only shows that passion and right ideas can create something which can only be bettered, not replaced.

We, at Automobili Ardent, feel proud that two of the worlds rarest ,costliest and powerful machines are owned by an Indian. We, on behalf of the entire Indian petrolhead community, would like to congratulate Mr. Kris Singh on the "La Monza Lisa" and hope that he continues to make us Indians and the ever growing automotive scene in the country reach new heights.

Naturally Aspirated Ferrari V8's - The end of an Era.

For a commoner, the word 'Ferrari' instantly evokes a red snazzy looking car or the prancing horse logo which has become synonymous with the brand name that Ferrari is. To the slightly more technically sound petrolhead, it reminds them of a roaring exhaust note or the aerodynamically designed body with every curve and vent having some functionality. For the most hardcore Ferrari fans however, it is the Naturally Aspirated(NA) mid-mounted V8 engine which brings the biggest grin to their face. The mid-mounted V8 configuration became the most popular and the most heavily sold configuration in the marque's history. Ferrari's constant efforts to imbibe F1 technology into road going cars coupled with a sharp handling chassis, comparatively lightweight bodies, lightning quick transmissions and the naturally aspirated, rev-happy V8's powering the rear wheels made the monsters from Maranello extremely desirable machines to drive and own. The world is constantly asking for greener and cleaner products from the automobile industry, hence, auto manufacturers are looking at more efficient, light weight yet powerful engines which eventually reach a point of diminishing returns, hence, this leads to the two dreaded words for hardcore NA Tifosi's - Forced Induction. While Ferrari have attempted to produce turbocharged cars earlier, including the halo'd F40, the turbocharged variants never found a strong fan following as compared to their naturally aspirated counterparts. Finally, much to the disappointment of Ferrari fanatics, it was announced recently that the 458's successor will be powered by a turbocharged unit, borrowing technology from the turbocharged Ferrari F1 cars. The NA V8s which have left millions of fans drooling over their eargasmic exhaust notes and engineering, started from the Ferrari 308 in the mid 70's, continued through the stunning 348 and 355 right up to the new age 360, F430 and the most recent 458, which shall soon be a part of an unforgettable part of automotive history. We at Automobili Ardent, would love to pay an homage to the glorious era of Naturally Aspirated Ferrari engines. How would we do it? By looking at the two most recent models sporting this configuration. The Ferrari F430 and the 458 Italia. The F430, while being based on its predecessor, the 360, had a striking exterior designed by Pininfarina and borrowed design cues from various Ferrari legends. The quad rear lights were inspired by the Enzo, while the F430 moniker was etched on the side mirrors just like on the Testarossa while its body vents remind us of the 60's Ferrari race cars. However, there was one major change compared to the 360, the engine. A newly designed 4.3L power plant powered the F430 to a blisteringly quick 0-100 in 4.4seconds. In its six year life cycle, the F430 was made into a number of variants like the F430 Spider, the wild 430 Scuderia and Scuderia Spider 16M and the track only F430 Challenge. Overall, it proved to be a very popular and successful Ferrari. The 458, unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, was an entirely new design concept, designed by Pininfarina again. A sharp and aggressive design language unlike its predecessors is what sets it apart. The 458 is powered by a 4.5L NA V8 redlining at an ear shattering 9000 RPM. New technology included a bigger engine and a dual clutch transmission which helped the 458 Italia knock off over a second as compared to the F430's 0-100, doing it in a terrifyingly fast 3.3 seconds. It is produced as a hardtop Spider while its 430 Scuderia equivalent is called the 458 Speciale. The roaring 4.5L V8 in the 458 Speciale will be the last hurrah for the millions of Ferrari NA Tifosi's out there who have revered, respected and worshipped the engineering marvels made by the magicians at Maranello. As all good things must come to an end, so has the era of Naturally Aspirated V8's in Ferrari's. As the turbocharging era kicks off at Ferrari, with the California T and the soon to be launched 458 successor, we wish Ferrari the best and hope they continue to dazzle, surprise and shock us with even better machines. It is said that history repeats itself, wouldn't it be great to see this part of history repeat itself sooner rather than later? We've got these two final torch bearers of the NA V8 Ferrari configuration to pose, roar and play along with us. Stay tuned for more such automotive action from India and around the globe. Thanks for the continued support, love and admiration.