Cinque Roadster: Straight out of a comic strip

Italy's largest independent supercar maker has finished another late night session on the drawing board and this road-ripping Cinque Roadster is the result.

As suggested in the name (cinque is Italian for five, duh), there will only be five of these Dh6.6m Zondas produced, and if the previous Zonda Cinque - the coupé version - is anything to go by, they should be sold already. Or maybe not. We can only hold our breath in anticipation of one coming to the UAE.

This is a truly beautiful machine, although very similar to all previous models in the Zonda range. Horacio Pagani has easily outdone himself again with this monstrous beast. Through all its functions, the Cinque has certainly been transformed with sheer menacing elegance. The lines sweep back from the front spoiler, past the spider-eye light clusters, hugging the front wheels as they fold around the exposed cabin, rolling over the rear arches and smoothing back down towards the tarmac at the back. The result is reduced drag and 750kgs of downforce with the aid of the prominent rear diffuser.

This stylishly moulded carbon fibre body wraps the rigid carbon-titanium monocoque chassis, which has been modified to add stability to the ruthless Cinque Roadster. Intent on keeping the weight identical to that of the coupé at a mere 1,210kgs dry, Pagani has added - excluding skeleton and skin - a few featherweight extras in place of their more bulky counterparts: magnesium and titanium suspension, magnesium rims and carbon-ceramic brakes, making this one of the few roofless wonders with the ability to match the weight of its hard-top equivalent.

In addition to the Roadster's animal-like dexterity and visual prowess is the immense pulling power of the 678 horses derived from the Mercedes-Benz V12 AMG engine. At 7.3-litres, this hungry brute is fed air through the intake directly behind the driver, increasing the audible pleasure as the pedal edges closer to the cockpit floor. Deafness will certainly be an acceptable side effect as the quad-tipped titanium exhaust's vocals increase to thunderous levels.

Boasting such power and bearing little weight to speak of, this Pagani evolution will nail you to the carbon-framed seats with its awesome 780Nm of torque propelling you to 100kph in just 3.4 seconds as it bounces through the six-speed robotised sequential transmission to reach a jaw-dropping top speed of 349kph.

This close to the floor, it will feel like you're disembarking the Battlestar Galactica in your Viper to take on some Cylons. Or maybe just an Enzo or something?