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Is an Italian supercar the latest must-have in interior design?

Headshot of Arylene Westlake-Jennings
Arylene Westlake-JenningsWestern Suburbs Weekly

WE haven’t yet got wind of anything this wild happening in Perth but we’re betting it won’t take long to catch on.

Over in the US and taking the term “automotive art” quite literally in an US$8 million (AUD$11 million) oceanfront Miami condominium, a jet-black Pagani Zonda R has been installed as both art and function.

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Let’s disregard for a minute the fact the track-only Italian sportscar costs a cool US$1.5 million (AUD$2.04 million) and only 15 of them are manufactured each year.

Thankfully, car enthusiasts can breathe a sigh of relief in knowing the vehicle has not actually been condemned from a life off the track.

“There is a lot of talk about the Zonda that I have in my house,” owner and Argentinean race-car driver Pablo Perez Companc said in an Instagram post.

“First of all, it’s not my Zonda Revolucion Black Minion — this is just a work of art.

“Structurally, (it) will never be able to receive an engine.

“Race cars are for driving.”

So what turns out to be a replica of one of the few private-owned Zondas in the world has lost its 740hp Mercedes Benz 6L V12 AMG supercar engine and now forms the centrepiece of the 393sq m residence in the Fendi Chateau Residence, serving as a high-impact partition between the living room and master suite.

The 800-pound vehicle was hoisted through the home’s balcony doors by Brazil-based Artefacto Home Staging and Finish My Condo using an exterior crane.

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Once inside, the supercar’s replica shell was rotated on to a custom aluminium and carbon-fibre stand, which the teams worked alongside Pagani to create to complement the Zonda’s aggressive aerodynamics, creating the illusion the vehicle is floating in the space.

In order to complement a supercar with a top speed of 350km/h that can go from 0 to 100km/h in 3.4 seconds, Companc then recruited Artefacto to fully furnish the residence around the car, with a sleek aesthetic of clean bold lines.

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The Zonda divider is the latest and arguably the most eccentric example of Miami’s luxury homeowners blurring the line between art and automobiles.

One needs to look no further than the “sky garages” in the Porsche Design Tower, where a car elevator transports vehicles right into apartments so homeowners can admire their prized possession through a glass wall.

An artist’s impression of a duplex in the Porsche Design Tower with a sky garage. www.designtowermiami.com
Camera IconAn artist’s impression of a duplex in the Porsche Design Tower with a sky garage. www.designtowermiami.com Credit: Supplied/Arylene Westlake-Jennings

And for the ultimate showcase, AutoHouse is essentially a luxury home for your car or motorbike — you can visit and entertain in the condominium’s penthouse social club but you can’t stay the night.

To take a peek inside other drool-worthy homes, pick up your copy of Perth’s Best Homes in this week’s Western Suburbs Weekly or read it online here.