One of the cars I was most looking forward to seeing at the 2016 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance was the Pagani Huayra Roadster. When CarBuzz spoke to Pagani at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show earlier in the year we were told to expect the car at Pebble Beach. Well, Pebble has come and gone without any sign of what is sure to be one of the most hardcore roadsters ever made. So what the hell gives? Why didn't Pagani bring the Huayra Roadster to Pebble Beach? We have a few theories.
Theory One – Pagani didn't want the Huayra Roadster to be overshadowed: The Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance attracts some incredible cars. In one short loop I was able to see the Bugatti Vision Gran Turismo (complete with its Saudi Arabia plates), Rimac Concept One, Vision Mercedes-Maybach 6, Aston Martin Vanquish Zagato, Cadillac Escala concept and so much more. Down on the main lawn by the ocean there were more classics than you could count, with cars from all eras of internal combustion on display. Had Pagani debuted its Huayra Roadster at Pebble it would have had to compete with some of the rarest and most valuable cars in the world. Oh, and it would have gone up against the Lamborghini Centenario Roadster.
It's not like people wouldn't have paid attention to Pagani, but there's just so much going on at Pebble Beach, both in terms of cars to see and things to do. We can't imagine the boutique supercar company would want to potentially play second fiddle to the Centenario Roadster or have attention diverted from its existence by Jay Leno cracking jokes in an attempt to raise money for charity. Side note: Leno ended up raising over $50,000 for the Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County in about 15 minutes. He's definitely still got it.
Theory Two – The Huayra Roadster isn't ready to be seen: Motor Authority (MA) reported that Pagani showed off the Huayra Roadster at a private event for its top customers back in early July. MA didn't attend the event-which was said to celebrate the opening of the company's new factory-but was tipped off to it by someone who did. At some of these events customers are shown unfinished products or even holograms of upcoming cars. Getting customer feedback on these cars is incredibly important. Maybe some last-minute tweaks based on customer comments are being made? In the same article Motor Authority said that the Huayra Roadster will debut at the 2016 Paris Motor Show, which happens about a month and change after Pebble Beach.
Theory Three – Pagani didn't want to steal the Huayra BC's thunder: The Huayra BC made its American debut at The Quail, A Motorsports Gathering, one of the events held before the Concours. Maybe Pagani was worried about a little sibling rivalry? (Huayra BC comes on around the 13:00 mark.)
Theory Four – Pagani changed its mind without telling us: This is the most likely explanation.
