A Brief History of Hot Wheels: Pagani Hypercars

Pagani Automobili has been around since 1992. And if you think about it, the company only has three big names in its portfolio: the Zonda, the Huayra, and the upcoming Utopia. Sure, there are over a dozen variants of the Zonda out there, and a similar strategy has been used with the Huayra as well. If you're a racing enthusiast, you'll probably love to have a go in the Zonda R or the Huayra R.

Chances are that most people would like to experience a road-going Pagani instead. It's all a matter of taste. But it's also a matter of budget. So, if you don't happen to be a multimillionaire, driving one of Mr. Pagani's creations is not likely to happen. That doesn't mean you should abandon the dream. Thankfully, there are quite a few video games that allow for a virtual Zonda or Huayra experience.

But today, we aren't going to talk about sim racing, instead, we'll look at the Pagani replicas that Hot Wheels has created over the years. In case you've never seen one so far, there's a good reason for that. Compared to other brands, there aren't all that many Hot Wheels Paganis out there. Mattel has only created three different castings so far: the Huayra, the 2017 Huayra Roadster, and the Zonda R. Without further ado, let's dig in and see what it would take to start a Pagani-exclusive Hot Wheels collection.

Jun Imai designed the Huayra for its 2013 release. The First Edition was a Metalflake Red item that was part of the HW City: Street Power mainline series. Since then, Mattel has introduced at least one variation for every single year, except 2018. That makes up for a total of 17 items to look for if you plan on having the complete Huayra collection. The first Premium one came along in 2017.

The Metalflake Orange hypercar was featured in the Replica Entertainment: Forza Motorsport series and used Real Riders 10-spoke wheels. You can still get one of these for relatively cheap, as most eBay users have listed them for less than $20. The second Premium iteration arrived in 2020 as part of a Gumball 3000 set. The combination between the Dark Silver paint job and the black wheels wasn't all that exciting, so it mostly went unnoticed by the vast majority of collectors.

The Huayra was also part of the id series in 2019, 2020, and 2021, and prices for these models aren't prohibitive at all. If you have been following the Hot Wheels NFT Garage project, you're probably aware that the Huayra plays a big role in Series 4, which was just launched a few days ago. If you're lucky enough to find the Huayra, you will be able to redeem the token for a physical 1/64th scale model of the car in March 2023.

It seems that only 3,000 units will be made, which means its market value will be set at about $200. Of all the other standard iterations of the Huayra, you might also like the Metalflake Green one that came out in 2014. That kind of color makes it stand out of the crowd, and you can still buy one for less than $5.

The second Pagani casting by Hot Wheels showed up in 2017. Even though collectors had hoped that Mattel would finally bring a scale replica of the Zonda, that wasn't the case just yet. Instead, we got the '17 Huayra Roadster, which was designed by Ryu Asada. There are only eight variations of this casting so far, but we know that a ninth one is on the way for 2023. Without any doubt, the most exciting one has got to be the 2020 Super Treasure Hunt in Spectraflame Green.

We've already looked at this iteration in a previous story, so we'll focus on the remaining ones for the time being. One of the things we've noticed is that all the variations except for the first one have been fitted with 10-spoke wheels. Hot Wheels didn't come out with a new design for 2022, but a 2023 Pearl White one is already in stores right now, and you'd better keep an eye out for the ZAMAC version up next.

2022 was the moment everyone was waiting for, as the Zonda R casting made its Mainlines series debut. The Zonda R is certainly one of the coolest cars ever built, and some of you might remember that it lapped the Nordschleife in 6:47. That was 12 years ago! The First Edition Hot Wheels is a replica of the original car that we all know, and Nero Ossidiana is the color that covers the body.

2023 will bring with it a new version, this time in white. But it might take a few weeks until you'll find it in stores, depending on where you live. And there are rumors that a Premium, Car Culture version will be coming up next year as well. With that in mind, it will be interesting to see what other Pagani models Mattel is considering for the near future. If we were to choose, we'd probably opt for the Zonda F and the Huayra Codalunga. How about you?