Hammond’s Car of the Year: Pagani Huayra

“My Car of the Year is not going to revolutionise personal transport, reinvent motorsport or solve the looming energy crisis. It is a machine so unlikely ever to be a real, material presence in most of our lives that it may as well be a unicorn. And there it is: the Pagani Huayra. Perhaps unicorn is the best way to describe it…

Well, someone had to nominate the Huayra. And Richard – being someone who embraces guilt-free boyish excitement – fell in love with the most outrageous car of 2012. A car that not only represents the cutting edge of car technology, but the poster-possible styling that comes from the beautiful mind of Horacio Pagani. In this month’s Top Gear magazine, Richard finally gets a chance to play with the Huayra around our deserted Dunsfold track, and it’s fair to say he comes away impressed. And the scent of tortured tyres attracts a certain white-suited individual...

Read all about the Huayra being put through its paces by Richard in Top Gear magazine's Awards Issue: out now.