Pagani Utopia Heats Up The Ice At  St. Moritz

It’s not every day you see a Pagani Utopia, unless of course you’re the owner of one. There aren’t many since production of the Italian hypercar was capped at just 99 units worldwide. Catching a glimpse of one literally anywhere is a special experience, but seeing one venture out onto the ice covering a frozen lake in a Swiss town during the winter is a real treat.

The Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut will attempt a new speed record in 2024.

That dramatic scene unfolded recently and while we and likely you weren’t there, someone took video of the event and uploaded it for all of us to enjoy. Of course, the experience is as much about admiring the beauty of the Utopia as it is experiencing the aural effect of the twin-turbo 6.0-liter V12 developed by AMG.

When you watch the video, put on your headphones and crank the volume. You’ll be glad you did.

Some mistakenly think the Utopia is just a repackaged Huayra. While there are some similarities between the two hypercars, Pagani insists it went back to the drawing board, designing a completely new structure made of Carbo-Titanium. The composite and metal mixture has been patented by the boutique automaker, which is supposed to be not only incredibly rigid but also lightweight.

If that’s not enough to get one’s blood pumping, the 852-horsepower Utopia comes with a stick shift. Horacio Pagani is big on the pure pleasure of driving, hence the foregoing of an automatic. You can hear the driver in the video accidentally stall his hypercar out right before driving out onto the ice.

Every year, the owners of modern exotics and classic cars converge on St. Moritz, a luxurious alpine resort town, to show off their rides at “The ICE” or the International Concours of Elegance. The unique setting on the frozen lake helps set this apart from other concours, with the genesis of the gathering stretching back to the middle of the 1980s.

It appears this video was taken before the official concours, which was cancelled at the last moment thanks to a severe snowstorm. Since the event is so closely tied to the natural elements, sometimes nature wins out as it did in 2024. The hope is that for 2025 the concours will be held without interruption, which is usually the case.

Images via The19Tommy85/YouTube