Huge congrats, Matt!

 

Shortly after announce the Addition of Pagani Automobili to the Miller Motorcars family, Pagani Huayra was at the Caffeine and Carburetors Car Show this past weekend in New Canaan, Connecticut.

This time the Huayra is displayed without the controversial VIN plate. I think they did the right thing in removing this, my suspicion is that it was a gross mistake in the making of it, I do not think it was an act of deception by people Pagani, in my personal opinion.

We have no direct responses to the petition of @Mattjs33, but instead, a clear signal. Good job.


Photo Credit: ctboom.com

 

Thank you!

Unfortunately the only real thing this proves is that Pagani acknowledges that the previous data plate was erroneous, and removing it prevents further inspection. The only clear thing is that they have successfully dodged the issue.

Calling Pagani personally is difficult for me due to the time difference. It just so happens that mornings are my busiest time here at work and whatever my intentions upon arrival, I never seem to get that free moment. By midday here Italy's workday is complete. On my days off would be the perfect time to call, but as of late of course my routines are not as they were. I still have the number handy here but as of now enough time has passed that the answer would likely be carefully worded PR-speak, as opposed to a candid answer.

So for those taking me to task for not calling on the phone, you have a valid point. But I also might mention that I have contacted many manufacturers, both large and small, by email in this manner in the past and almost universally have received a response within the same day. Yes I was asking Pagani tough questions but in my view the questions were fair and warranted. That I received no response at all is just a bit telling.

There is one other instance that sticks out in my head in which I received no repsonse to an email inquiry to a manufacturer. When I was researching SSC for the purpose of inclusion in NAPA's parts cataloging software, I inquired on several occasions as to whether the Ultimate Aero was U.S.-legal, without a reply. As it turns out we did get SSC added to the NAPA catalog, but since then I have become 100% convinced that the answer to my question was no.

So the parallel I draw to Pagani here is a bit obvious. If the data plate was simply an error, my inquiry would have been a perfect opportunity for them to say so, and provide some statement that it would be rectified as soon as possible, thanks for asking. Instead, they have clandestinely removed the plate (even though removing the plate was the most obvious course of action) without any official acknowledgement that there was an issue with it. This despite the story being discussed here for at least a few weeks, on another enthusiast forum as well, and having been picked up by CarsUK.com.

The conclusion I draw in both cases is that apparently the best way to answer a question one doesn't really want to answer, is not to answer at all. It's a bit curious, don't you think? If there is nothing to hide, then why not tell us what led to it? At the very least why not take the opportunity to direct the conversation into the direction you want it? Pagani did that with the Top Gear story, and a lot of people bought it.

In the end we really can't say, and will most likely never know. Like you say Tango, it was probably an innocent mistake. I guess it's up to the people at Pagani to deal with now.

We'll be watching!

 

So, since Pagani set up a partnership with Miller Motor Cars, do we have any info as to how they obtained US-legal status? Surely they wouldn't set up a US dealership unless they had or were on the brink of satisfying US regulations, right?

Last I checked, they still hadn't made progress. At least they removed the old data plate to alleviate that confusion.

 

They have been aligning themselves with certain US dealership groups for many months now. Their first showing of the Huayra in Beverly Hills dates back to August 2011, and was sponsored by the AutoGallery which own several high end dealerships. This occurred right around the time the news broke that they would not receive the exemptions from US laws they were seeking so was probably already in the works when they hit that stumble.

They followed that up with a party inside the Auto Gallery McLaren dealership just over a year ago in Sept 2012. I don't know if deposits were secured at that time but the dealership was definitely fishing for orders back then and landed a few.

>8^)
ER

 

The latest I have heard when was checking for some new info on this topic is that they secured the full certification to become road-legal in the States, not an exemption, but full certification with official announcement coming withing few weeks.

Speaking about orders, they number stood at 14 cars before 2012 Pebble Beach, then new dealer Prestige Imports chimed in and number of orders jumped to 18 or 19 cars, then news broke out that quite a few customers, especially at The Auto Gallery refused to wait for so long and jumped to other options like P1 for example. Don't really know the credibility of all this, but sounds like a possibility.

Also, new rumors suggest that Huayra Roadster will be launched at 2014 Pebble Beach because Pagani hope that US market will absorb majority of them.

 

When the news broke about the exemption request being denied, Pagani basically said it was a moot point by then because it wouldn't be needed. So it is of course quite probable that the passenger airbag operates in an "advanced" manner as required.

Since the mere act of saying it complies, accomplishes compliance, then it would be up to the NHTSA to determine whether the Huayra actually is compliant. Should they be so inclined of course. Personally for that reason alone I would have made certain the plate was correct.

There is no debate that the plate was copied word for word from Pagani's rival up north. Even if one wants to chalk it up as a "mistake", the process of making the plate was still a conscious act. It wasn't, "Whoops, I've accidentally copied the plate from a Koenigsegg", anymore than it was "Whoops, I've accidentally commissioned a set of cheater slicks." So why was it done? Simply because they didn't know how to make one? Or because they needed it to look like the plate of a known compliant car? If anyone has any other theories I'd like to hear them.

In any case what's funny about that is that it's highly unlikely that the person who made the plate did so by looking at a Koenigsegg in person. So I have this scenario in my head of the person in charge of the Huayra's U.S. certification, using Google Image Search to figure out how to word an NHTSA data plate. Forgive me, but like I said earlier, it strikes me as just a bit ameturish.

 

Keep ending up with this message on my screen every time I read this thread.

"You must spread some Reputation around before giving it to mattjs33 again"

I'll add that these labels are serious business. I snapped a picture of an emissions label on a very early production car from a certain manufacturer (not hard to guess) and included it in a gallery of photos I hosted on the web a couple of years back.

A few days later I was contacted by a representative of said company asking me to take that photo down because this car was fitted with a label that left blank a couple of important elements. The cars were compliant in every respect but the final label showing such hadn't been produced before this small batch of cars boarded a ship for the USA. The dealers who received these cars were expected to correct this when they were PDI'd but my camera lens got their first.

This person who served in a very technical role was concerned that it could be spotted by someone of authority who would care and could impose a penalty. Of course I complied with the request - not even sure what motivated my taking that particular shot so it was no big deal to me, but it demonstrates the risks involved here from a manufacturer's perspective.

>8^)
ER

 

Excellent perspective, I'm still following the Pagani story as well.

 

So this morning I finally took the time to give Pagani a call.

Streetrod is correct, they don't bite.

I explained to the woman who answered the phone that I was calling from the U.S. and I hoping to talk to someone who could answer some questions I had about the Huayra that had been displayed here recently. I mentioned specifically about some inconsistencies I had noticed on the data plate attached to the car in question.

I'm fairly sure I must have confused her. She asked if I was interested in purchasing a car, she could transfer me to sales. I replied I could not afford a Pagani but am merely an enthusiast from the U.S. inquiring about the state of the Huayra for the U.S. market.

She suggested that I send an email to info@pagani.com, and it would be directed to someone who could answer my questions.

So I have sent another email, this time from my own outbox rather than the form on their website. I also BCC'd a few media outlets, just in case anyone else has an interest in the story, that may have better contacts with Pagani than presumably I do.

Again I will patiently await a reply.