Despite not receiving an immediate offer from Renault, Pagani was undeterred and boldly moved to Italy in 1983 with his soon to be wife, Cristina Pérez. His hope: design beautiful cars. His supplies for the journey: a tent for camping and two bicycles. Living in a campground,
Horacio found work doing gardening and welding while Cristina worked in a shop selling handmade items to tourists.
The situation was short-lived, as Alfieri of Lamborgini soon called Horacio with an offer to start as a third-level worker in the experimental body shop unit. Demonstrating through talent and hard work – it is said Pagani was always the first to arrive and the last to leave – Horacio was able to convince Lamborgini to appoint him as manager of its Composites Division, wherein he was able to work with and learn about materials such as carbon and Kevlar.
Pagani Introduces Carbon Fiber into the Auto Industry
It was not long before Pagani was commissioned to design the project for the 25th anniversary of the Lamborgini Countach.
With a prototype ready in four months, and the car receiving success globally upon its launch, the Countach Evoluzione became the first car
with a carbon fiber frame. However, Lamborgini was not convinced and refused Pagani’s request to buy an autoclave machine – a large machine that uses heat and pressure to cure thermoset parts made of composite materials such as carbon fiber, for the automotive industry (see photo below).
As should now be clear, Horacio was not one to be deterred. He approached a bank for a loan to
buy an autoclave at his own expense. Successfully obtaining the loan and buying the autoclave, Pagani rented an industrial warehouse and founded the Pagani Composite Research Company to further experiment with carbon fiber and various resins and paints. A year later, he presented some carbon components of the Lamborghini Diablo to the company. The components weighed 40 percent less than the original parts and were incredibly resilient. Lamborghini saw and understood the value proposition and bought into the idea and process, becoming the first car company to introduce carbon fiber into the automobile industry.
Achieving such success, Pagani soon closed the Pagani Composite Research Company and opened Modena Design S.p.a. on land
80