Green carbon and a manual V12: Alonso's new Pagani costs as much as a villa

The two-time F1 champion took delivery of a unique green-carbon Zonda 760 Roadster with a 7.3-litre AMG V12 and manual gearbox, valued at around €10 million.

Fernando Alonso has taken delivery in Monaco of a new Pagani Zonda Roadster Diamante Verde — a hypercar built as a single example. The car has already been spotted on the streets of the Principality: the green carbon body and the sound of the naturally aspirated V12 are hard to mistake for anything else.

This is a 2017 Pagani Zonda 760 Roadster Diamante Verde. Under the bonnet sits a 7.3-litre naturally aspirated Mercedes-AMG V12 producing 760 hp and 780 Nm. The real thrill isn’t just the engine: drive goes to the rear wheels through a six-speed manual gearbox. For a modern hypercar, that’s an almost extinct format.

The Diamante Verde carries one detail from the Zonda 760LM: a special bonnet. Although Pagani has long since moved on to the newer Huayra and Utopia, demand for the Zonda hasn’t faded. The reason is simple: tiny production numbers, dramatic design, a naturally aspirated V12 with no turbos and a manual gearbox have turned cars like this from collector items into something close to icons.

Delivery was handled by Mechatronik, a German specialist in rare sports cars. According to the source, Alonso’s Zonda is valued at around €10 million — roughly $11.7 million.

It’s not Alonso’s first rare car, but this Zonda stands apart even in the Formula 1 driver’s garage. There’s no fashionable electrification, no records for screen count. Just an open body, a manual gearbox, a V12 and a single owner who now holds a car with no twin anywhere in the world.