It's quite difficult to imagine that the beautiful, spine tingling Pagani Zonda has been around for over ten years. Mr. Horacio Pagani graced our eyes in 1999 with a 7.0 AMG sourced V12 masterpiece with a steampunk style interior. Its beautiful form, angry looks and frightening performance turned it into a modern exotic classic not seen since the earlier years of motoring. But time has come for Pagani to introduce the Zonda's successor in the form of the brand-new Huayra that made its world premiere today at the 2011 Geneva Salon.
When Pagani unleashed the first photos its hypercar named after a South American god of wind, there seemed to be a bit of negative feedback. Many did not enjoy the looks of the wide bottom feeder mouth and oddly set rear tail lights. As with many cases of change, acceptance has seemed to slowly set in. The car looks much better under the radiant spotlights of the Geneva floor.
Pagani has made a move from the gracious styling that graced the previous model and instead has turned to a more aerodynamic inspired shape on the front end and a more wacky styling in the rear that would honestly make Predator a li’l warm under the collar. The Hauurrera-rrura is a case of function over form from the engineering and design departments.
No matter what you think of the design, the figures are far more impressive. How does 700hp, 6.0 twin turbo V12, 2,976 pounds (1,350 kg) weight and a top speed somewhere around 230mph (370km/h) sound? Well it sounds pretty darn good if you ask me. Another sound that is hotly anticipated has to be the engine note. The last model left you screaming for mercy and performing sign language for the rest of your life.
To those that fear the successor will not be as good , trust Mr Pagani...he seems to know very well what he is doing.
The highlight of Volkswagen's presentation at this week's Qatar motor show is the new XL1, a futuristic looking diesel-electric plug-in hybrid study for an everyday-use coupe vehicle with a combined fuel economy of just 0.9 liters per 100 kilometers or an amazing 261 mpg US. 
The extremely low fuel consumption is achieved through the use of a lightweight construction, carefully honed aerodynamics and of course, the hybrid powertrain that combines a 0.8-liter twin-cylinder diesel producing 48-horses with a 27HP electric motor. If you follow the jump, you can check out live photos as well as on the road videos of the XL1. For more details on the study, read our previous post here. 
