Flash rainstorms turn highway underpasses into temporary shelters, where wet mops of humanity huddle together, fumbling with convertible roofs, waiting it out. But it’s windy. You’re soaked. You’re in a Pagani Huayra roadster. The Harley guys just grin at you, the Wrangler bros are busy zipping their plastic windows. What’s your next move"
Behind the conventional doors is a handy soft top folded into one of the side trunks, a standard piece the company hadn’t detailed during the roadster’s debut last year in Geneva. Unlike the removable carbon-fiber hardtop with a glass panel, this top stays with the car as “the perfect solution for emergencies,” according to Pagani spokeswoman Giulia Roncarati. And it’s easier to install this top than the pup tents on a Jeep or a Porsche Boxster Spyder.
Italian motorcycle outfitter Dainese, which specializes in armored body suits and other rider gear, supplies a tough, three-layer fabric that Pagani bonds to its own carbon-fiber frame, which is then stretched out by aluminum and titanium connecting rods. When stowed, the top folds into itself like “origami,” according to Dainese, which took nearly three years to develop the top with the Modenese hypercar maker.
Total weight is just 8.6 pounds. Installation, without the use of a handy YouTube instructional video, appears simple enough. There are two pins at the rear and two conventional latches attaching to the windsh...