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Embarrassing: Pagani Zonda Won't Start in Cannes, Has to Be Pushed

There's a reason why we don't like shed-built supercars. If you take the air vents from Ford and the engine for a Volvo, after which you turbocharge it, the end result might have reliability problems.
Pagani Zonda F Roadster 1 photo
Photo: screenshot from Youtube
But this isn't a Morgan or a Noble we're looking at, it's one of the most exciting supercars of all times, the Zonda F Roadster. A few years back, it was probably on the lips and bedroom walls of every teenage petrolhead in the world. And yet here it is, failing to start in front of a hotel in Cannes.

How many people does it take to start a Zonda? The answer appears to be 7. The unladen weight of one of these F Roadsters is only 1,280 kg (2,822 lbs), which is about the same as an average family hatchback. Some folks can push-start one of those by themselves, but the large displacement of the V12 means there's more resistance here. Oh well, at least we're talking timing chain, not belt business here.

Strangely, the part that failed this beauty should be have a Made in Germany sticker on it. As part of the engine, the electric starter motor was attached to the massive 7.3-liter V12 by AMG engineers, some time between 2006 and 2009, while the Zonda F Roadster was in production.

Only 25 of these bad boys were ever built, boasting no less than 650 horsepower with a maximum speed of 214 mph (344 km/h) and a 0 to 100 km/h acceleration in 3.6 seconds.

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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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