Fire Extinguisher Mishap Leaves Smoke Billowing From Pagani Utopia

It’s really not a good look to have smoke pouring out of your brand-new, multi-million quid hypercar at a show full of rich prospective customers. But in the case of the clouds erupting from a Pagani Utopia at The Quail recently, it turned out the car was entirely innocent, and it was all the fault of an attendee at the event, which is part of Monterey Car Week.

A video on social media was doing the rounds over the weekend with the caption “Pagani in fire at the Quail presentation,” and was subsequently picked up by various outlets. Ironically, the source of the smoke was something used to prevent fires.

Responding to a Road & Track story about the incident, Pagani’s head of marketing said:  “A guest of the event was touching switches on the inside of the car and set off the engine’s self containers [sic] fire extinguishers”. Whoopsie.

All of this happened late morning on Friday. Given that the accidental release of the fire suppression system left vapour coming from the engine, we can see why some people assumed they were looking at something more sinister. Still, it’s good to know they work, should any Utopia owners have to deal with a real blaze back there.

You’d definitely want to save what’s going on under the hood from a crispy demise, as the Utopia uses a 6.0-litre twin-turbo V12 to develop 864bhp. And that’s its only power source, unlike the similarly expensive and hybridised quad-turbo V12 Zenvo Aurora which was on display at the Quail.

Interestingly, though, both cars weigh about the same - around 1,300kg, assuming we’re talking about the more driver-focused, rear-wheel drive Aurora ‘Pur’. We’re not sure which one has the best fire extinguishers, though, or if the Aurora has them at all. That’s a question to ask when placing your order, we guess.