Horacio Pagani (born 10 November 1955) is an Argentine-Italian businessman and engineer in the

automotive industry The automotive industry comprises a wide range of companies and organizations involved in the design, development, manufacturing, marketing, and selling of motor vehicles. It is one of the world's largest industries by revenue (from 16 % such ...

. He is the founder of

Pagani Automobili S.p.A. Pagani Automobili S.p.A. (commonly referred to as Pagani) is an Italian manufacturer of hypercars and carbon fiber components. The company was founded in 1992 by the Argentinian Horacio Pagani and is based in San Cesario sul Panaro, near Mod ...

, an Italian specialty auto-maker. Prior to founding his own company, Pagani worked for

Renault Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English; legally Renault S.A.) is a French multinational automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company produces a range of cars and vans, and in the past has manufacture ...

and Lamborghini.

Personal life

Horacio Pagani was born in

Casilda Casilda is a city in the provinces of Argentina, province of Santa Fe Province, Santa Fe, Argentina. It is the head town of the Caseros Department, and lies about west of Rosario and 202 km south-southwest of the provincial capital Santa Fe, ...

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

to Luca and Maria Pagani. His father, Luca, was a baker from

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

Career

Pagani took an interest in engineering while still living in

. However, he felt from the beginning that the rural town into which he was born was inadequate for fulfilling his dream of an engineering career. He opened a small shop where he worked at a very young age, gaining valuable experience in craftsmanship. By the age of 20, Pagani had designed and built his first F3 racer. The turning point in Pagani's life came when he was hired by Renault to improve the body of a racing car. His work offered staggering improvements and Pagani was able to showcase his talent. After having success on this small scale, Pagani visited Lamborghini and met with the company's chief technical director

Giulio Alfieri Giulio Alfieri (10 July 1924 – 20 March 2002) was an Italian automobile engineer, affiliated with Maserati in Modena, Italy since 1953, where he was central to the development of racing and production cars in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Alfieri ...

. In 1982, he decided to move to Italy and he was hired by Lamborghini. Pagani began working basic jobs such as sweeping the floor, however he was able to work his way up the company. He became the chief engineer at Lamborghini and he built the Countach Evoluzione concept. He tried to persuade Lamborghini to buy an

autoclave An autoclave is a machine used to carry out industrial and scientific processes requiring elevated temperature and pressure in relation to ambient pressure and/or temperature. Autoclaves are used before surgical procedures to perform sterilizati ...

so they could extend the production of the carbon parts for the Evoluzione. They refused, saying that Ferrari did not have an autoclave, so Lamborghini didn't need to have one. Pagani borrowed the capital to buy his own autoclave late in 1987 and then, in 1991, he broke away from the company and founded his own consultancy called Modena Design which continues to make carbon fiber composites for

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

cars and clients like Daimler, Ferrari and Aprilia. Pagani Automobili Modena was founded by Pagani in 1992. The first car he produced was the Zonda, which took seven years to complete, followed by the Huayra, named after

Huayra-tata Wayra Tata ("Father of Wind"), also transliterated as Huayra-tata, was a god worshiped by the Puruhá Quechuas and Aymaras of the Bolivian and Peruvian Andes prior to European colonization. The god was represented as a human figure with two h ...

, the god of the wind in

Incan The Inca Empire (also known as the Incan Empire and the Inka Empire), called ''Tawantinsuyu'' by its subjects, (Quechua for the "Realm of the Four Parts", "four parts together" ) was the largest empire in pre-Columbian America. The admin ...

Culture.

References

Bibliography

* Morelli, Roberto, and Hugo Racca (2010). "Pagani, the Story of a Dream." Italy: Edizioni Arteimmagine. . :: Interviews and commentaries by

Gian Paolo Dallara Gian Paolo Dallara (born 16 November 1936) is an Italian businessman and motorsports engineer. He is the owner of Dallara Motorsports, a company that develops racing cars. Biography Dallara was born in Parma. Automotive and motorsport He g ...

, Valentino Balboni, and

Gordon Murray Ian Gordon Murray (born 18 June 1946 in Durban, Union of South Africa), is a South African-born British designer of Formula One racing cars and the McLaren F1 road car. He is the founder and CEO of Gordon Murray Automotive. Early life Born t ...

External links

Horacio Pagani biography
(in

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

) {{DEFAULTSORT:Pagani, Horacio 1955 births Argentine inventors Argentine emigrants to Italy Argentine people of Italian descent Italian automotive engineers Italian automotive pioneers Italian founders of automobile manufacturers Lamborghini people Living people National University of La Plata alumni Pagani (company) People from Casilda Compasso d'Oro Award recipients