In 1994, a 22-year-old Swede named Christian von Koenigsegg fired up his IBM 486 and opened Microsoft Paint. He designed a yellow mid-engine supercar with two seats, a wraparound windshield, and a removable roof. This year, the company he founded celebrates its 30th anniversary. The cars still look very similar to the first sketch, and they have succeeded in putting the country of Sweden on the radar of supercar fans around the world.
If you’re a fan of expensive exotics, you’ve probably heard of Koenigsegg. If you’re more interested in how cars work than what rich people drive, stick around. Koenigsegg has quite a technological track record: Its first car featured a heavily modified Audi V-8, which was the most powerful production engine in the world in 2002. (Today, Koenigsegg uses Ford V-8s.) The company developed an electric motor that weighs 86 pounds and makes 800 horsepower, hollow carbon fiber wheels, a 2.0-liter three-cylinder engine with 600 horsepower without a camshaft, and a wild transmission that can be a six-speed manual or an automatic:
Koenigsegg currently produces four cars: two mid-engined, two-seat versions of the Jesko, one optimized for straight-line driving and the other for road courses; a retro model called the CC850, limited to 70 units, and a mid-engined, two-door, four-seat model called the Gemera, of which 300 units will be produced.
(Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000, or Japanese science fiction, perhaps reminiscent of a flying, fire-breathing turtle named Gamera; this is not it.)
Among the company’s most important predecessor models is the Agera, produced in various configurations between 2010 and 2018. In 2017, an Agera RS became the fastest production car in the world, with an average speed of 278 mph. In 2005, the CCR broke the top speed record set by the McLaren F1 – a car from which Christian drew much inspiration – on the Nardó circuit in 1998. In 2006, the CCX appeared on Top equipment in 2006 and set a record on its test track that stood for seven years.
Koenigsegg’s first production model was the CC8S. The alphanumeric number stood for Competition Coupe V8 Supercharged and the model was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in 2003. The prototype, the CC, had been introduced in production form in Paris the year before. It was the sacrificial lamb, so to speak, that was subjected to the crash tests that allowed Koenigsegg to approve the car for sale on world markets.
All cars go back to the dream that was awakened in young Christian when he and his father made a stop motion film called Pinchcliffe Grand Prix. Check out the first part below – it’s in English, the production quality is great and it’s really fun:
A whole bevy of Koenigseggs are heading to the west coast of the U.S. for Monterey Car Week. They’ll be on display at The Quail, A Motorsport Gathering on Friday, August 16. But marching bands and free champagne might not be on your Car Week agenda. In that case, keep an eye out for our coverage of The Quail and if you’re in the area, head to Exotics at Broadway at Seaside to see them for free on Saturday, August 17, from 1-6 p.m.
