Six hours spent roaming in Horacio Pagani’s office

San Cesario sul Panaro, Italy – Last year, Horacio Pagani Museo welcomed 53,000 visitors. Precious few of those hypercar aficionados got to meet the man himself. Even fewer had the chance to lounge about in Horacio’s own “public” office. And far fewer still — probably none, in fact, not even much-moneyed customers arriving to shop Zonda, Huayra or Utopia — were given the time and the freedom to rummage through all his prized memorabilia, rooting out what is near and dear to the heart of perhaps the most creative automotive designer since Battista "Pinin" Farina.

I was fortunate enough to do all three.

To gain such an audience, you either have to be a close personal friend of Horacio's — or the significant other of David “Motor Mouth” Booth, who late June was scheduled to test-drive the mother of all Paganis, the Zonda, which, 20 years ago, vaulted Pagani beyond the Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the day. And I — as She-Who-Writes-About-Cheap-Cars, as Mister Booth likes to call me – was given a choice. I could either hide out in our sweaty, unconditioned Italian hotel; or I could hang out at Pagani headquarters.

Hum, let me think it over —

So, there we were deep in the heart of what the Italian auto industry calls Motor Valley, one Canadian awaiting a test drive in an all-but-priceless white and baby blue Zonda F; and the other consigned to, well, an office.

But not just any office. Horacio Pagani’s office. Or, at least, the room in which he meets his most important guests, where he keeps some of his most treasured memorabilia and, where, at least judging by the design sketches littering the walls, he gets some of his inspiration. So, second place to be sure, but a pretty darned nice second place at that.

So, once Motor Mouth’s hour-long interview is over — and Signore Pagani is rushed to the airport so he can jet off to the première of some F1 flick featuring a certain Brad Pitt — I’m left alone, religiously standing in his private mezzanine that, truthfully, could be a museum all of its own.

I have the whole place for myself for the next five hours, at liberty to peruse all the personal souvenirs so dear to Pagani that they are not exhibited in Horacio Pagani Museo. So please, slip in my flip-flops and join me in this photo essay of automobili artefacts from one of the greatest automotive designers of our times.

Speaking of shoes: These red (and autographed) racing scarpe belonged to Michael Schumacher. They are discreetly standing below an artist’s sketch of Leonardo da Vinci, the legendary Renaissance master being, still today, Horacio Pagani’s inspiration. He speaks of both in hushed tones.