Unleashed!

The dawn of the hypercar was about more than raw speed, and few convey its sense of shock and awe like the Pagani Zonda and Koenigsegg CCXR

- SIMON HUCKNALL

'Great power involves great responsibility'. While it's clear Franklin D Roosevelt was not talking about nurturing the near-1400bhp combined output of the Pagani Zonda S Roadster and the Koenigsegg CCXR Edition you see here, please permit me some artistic licence. You see, with their manual gearboxes, rudimentary traction-control systems and analogue instruments, these two cars not only represented pinnacle hypercars at the start of this century, but also the last time their drivers would have been fully engaged in extracting each one's prodigious performance. Since then, increasingly sophisticated chassis software, automated transmissions and hybrid or purely electrified powertrains have led to the hypercar class of '24 being even faster and more competent, but also less onerous to drive. Which, ironically, makes these two relatively safe in the right hands: they demand so much input, but command absolute respect while doing so.

Each was also the brainchild of one man, making the Zonda and CC ranges stand out among an already rarefied set of outrageously powerful exotica. While the Bugatti Veyron, Ferrari Enzo and Porsche Carrera GT that joined them in the early-century hypercar league were technically more advanced - all had paddle-operated transmissions, for example they were essentially the work of committees, funded by large, profitable manufacturers. Which is why they are absent here, leaving this Latin/Dutch pair to fight it out alone around Dunsfold's famous test track.