POWERRRRR! BEAUTY! And ACTUAL MOON DUST! That's what we're talking about today, ladies and gentlemen, as we examine what might be the most ridiculously expensive paint job ever applied to an automobile – and it just happens to be on a Pagani Utopia, which was already about as exclusive as a dinner invitation to Buckingham Palace. American supercar collector Kris Singh, a man whose garage makes Fort Knox look like a budget self-storage unit, has ordered a Pagani Utopia with a paint job that's literally out of this world. The car has been spotted at the Pagani factory sporting what appears to be the fabled "Moondust" paint – a finish that, as the name suggests, contains actual ground-up moon rock. Because when you're spending millions on a hypercar, why not add a sprinkle of lunar regolith to really set it apart at the country club? The image that's emerged shows the car under a protective cover, which is appropriate for something containing celestial materials. But we can still glimpse the brilliantly shiny white paint job beneath, complemented by an offset blue and red stripe across the front. It looks, and I'm not exaggerating here, like something NASA would design if they decided to start building hypercars instead of rockets. Which, given the price of both, isn't actually that far-fetched of an idea.The man with the moon car: Kris Singh's stellar collection For those who don't know Kris Singh, he's not your average car collector – if there is such a thing. This is a man who owns a Lamborghini Veneno, one of only three in the world. He has a Koenigsegg Agera XS, a Pagani Huayra BC, and a Lamborghini Sian FKP 37. His Instagram feed looks like the fantasy garage of a 12-year-old who's just discovered supercars, except it's all real and it's all his. Interestingly, Singh had originally planned to use this lunar-infused paint on an Aston Martin Valkyrie. But in a plot twist that only happens in the rarefied air of ultra-high-net-worth hypercar collecting, he cancelled that order and decided to apply the stellar finish to a Pagani Utopia instead. One can only imagine the phone call: "Hello, Aston Martin? Yes, I've decided I don't want your $3 million hypercar after all. I'm going to put my moon paint on a Pagani instead. Cheerio!" The paint itself was developed by a company called Karosserie, which sounds like it should be making artisanal cheeses but instead creates some of the most exclusive automotive finishes in the world. The process involves finely grinding actual moon rock – and no, I have no idea how they got hold of it, but I'm assuming it involves the kind of money that makes governments suddenly very accommodating. The mechanical lunar module: what powers this cosmic creation While the paint job might contain elements from 238,900 miles away, what's under the hood is pure earthly mechanical perfection. The Pagani Utopia is powered by a 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged V12 engine developed by Mercedes-AMG exclusively for Pagani, producing 864 horsepower and 811 lb-ft of torque – enough to potentially achieve lunar escape velocity if you're particularly heavy with the right foot. Unlike many modern hypercars that have gone the route of dual-clutch transmissions only, the Utopia offers buyers a choice between a 7-speed automatic manual transmission or a proper H-pattern manual gearbox with a clutch pedal. Yes, an actual manual in a modern hypercar – it's like finding out your smartphone still has a headphone jack. We don't yet know which transmission Singh has chosen for his cosmic creation, but given his penchant for the purest driving experiences, I wouldn't be surprised if he's opted for the manual. After all, if you're going to have moon dust on your car, you might as well have the full old-school experience to go with it. The astronomical cost of lunar luxury While the exact price of Singh's Utopia hasn't been disclosed, we can make some educated guesses based on what we know. The base Pagani Utopia starts at around $2.5 million before you add any options. But this is Pagani we're talking about – a company that considers carbon fiber an entry-level material and whose option list includes items that would make a Bentley salesman blush. Add to that the cost of developing and applying a paint containing actual moon rock, and we're probably looking at a car that costs well north of $3 million. Possibly much more, depending on what other bespoke features Singh has specified. It's the kind of money that would buy you a very nice house in most parts of the world. Or, if you're feeling particularly philanthropic, fund a small space program of your own. But that's not the point of cars like this. They're not about rational value propositions or sensible financial decisions. They're expressions of art, engineering excellence, and in this case, astronomical extravagance. They're purchases that say, "I have so much money that I can literally put the moon on my car, and I'm absolutely going to do that." Delivery to Earth: the Utopia's journey to Miami According to reports, this lunar-infused Pagani will soon be making its way to Miami, where it will join Singh's already stellar collection. One can only imagine the logistics involved in shipping a car containing actual moon dust across the Atlantic. Does it require special customs declarations? Are there import duties on extraterrestrial materials? Does NASA get a say in the matter? These are questions I never thought I'd have to consider when writing about a car. What we do know is that when it arrives, it will likely become one of the most photographed cars in an already photo-worthy collection. I just hope Singh has a good car cover to protect it from the Florida elements. It would be a particular shame if the first rain shower left lunar craters in the paintwork. In all seriousness, though, this is exactly the kind of wildly excessive, utterly unnecessary, but completely fascinating project that makes the world of hypercars so captivating. In an age when mass-market cars are becoming increasingly homogenized, it's refreshing to see the high end of the market embracing the kind of madcap personalization that makes each car truly unique. Is a paint job containing moon dust completely ridiculous? Absolutely. Is it the kind of thing that most of us would ever consider, even if we had the means? Probably not. But does it make for a fascinating story and a truly one-of-a-kind automobile? Without a doubt. And when you're spending millions on a car that only a handful of people in the world will ever own, that uniqueness is precisely the point. It's not enough to have a Pagani Utopia – you need to have THE Pagani Utopia. The one that people will remember. The one that stands out even among the rarified company of other Utopias. And I think it's safe to say that Kris Singh has achieved exactly that. Because while there will be 99 Pagani Utopias in the world, there will only be one with the dust of our nearest celestial neighbor embedded in its paintwork. And on that cosmic bombshell, it's time to end. The Pagani Utopia with Moondust paint – it's not just a car, it's a lunar expedition you can park in your garage.
