Pagani’s one-off Zonda ‘Aether’ is up for auction for $5.5m

This is a Pagani Zonda. You may remember it from such hits as the ‘F’, the ‘Cinque’, the ‘Tricolore’, the ‘LH’, the ‘Uno’, the ‘760 RS’, and countless others. This particular one is special in that a) it’s actually up for sale, and b) it’s a V12 roofless supercar with a manual gearbox and a ruddy roof scoop.

So, let us welcome (again) the car world’s most unkillable car. This Aether uses the Zonda Roadster as a base, and is treated to a full exposed carbonfibre body and a socking great V12 shoehorned in the middle.

Not just any V12. There's 7.3 litres of pure AMG – via Pagani, of course – punching out 760bhp. It’s not attached to a dual-clutch automatic gearbox with paddles, either. This one comes with a six-speed manual gearbox, and at this point, Car Nerds the world over can rejoice:. It's a V12, rear-drive supercar with a manual.

There are matte and gloss carbonfibre elements across the car, red accents, a rear wing, black wheels, and a rear diffuser. You will also note that despite not actually possessing a roof, Pagani has excellently fitted a roof scoop. Or… scoop.

Its racing influences continue inside thanks to door straps in place of handles, a starter button to kick the engine into life (pinched from the wonderful Zonda R), and did we mention a 7.3-litre V12 and six-speed manual? Not sure we did.

RM Sotheby’s is offering this particular Zonda at a sale held after the Formula One race in Abu Dhabi, and they reckon it’ll go for anywhere between $4.5m and $5.5m. Considering these Zonda one-offs rarely come up for air, we suspect it’ll be at the top end of that. Maybe more...

Granted, very few people on earth have the means to afford such a thing, but part of the reason we show you these things is to allow you to simply sit back and bask in the glory of a really cool thing, and hopefully brighten up your day in the process.