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<Why Koenigsegg Never Went Racing, And Why It Doesn't Plan to Start Christian von Koenigsegg explains why his cars have never competed at Le Mans, and why he doesn't intend to participate in the new Hypercar class. KOENIGSEGG Despite building some of the most innovative supercars on earth, Koenigsegg does not currently have a racing team. That's not for lack of trying: Founder Christian von Koenigsegg actually built a viable race car with intent to compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans when his company was in its infancy. But it never happened, and during a lengthy conversation with the man behind the Swedish performance car company, we learned more about why his Le Mans ambitions fell apart—and whether he hopes to try again. In 2007, Koenigsegg built a fully-functional race car that exactly followed the FIA's Group GT1 rules. The race car, called CCGT, bore a strong resemblance to Koenigsegg's second production model, the CCR. But its roots went back even further, to the very first prototype Koenigsegg built, called CC. As explained on a Koenigsegg company blog post, the original CC, and the race car it spawned, was designed to fit exactly into GT1's dimension requirements: The car could be two meters wide at the maximum, and the cockpit had to span 70 percent of the vehicle's overall width. It had a dry weight of 2200 pounds (significantly below the minimum weight for GT1, which would mean adding ballast to reach the required weight) and was powered by a naturally aspirated V-8 making well over 600 horsepower. But two months after the CCGT's first shakedown runs, the ACO and FIA had a change of heart. The governing bodies banned carbon-fiber monocoque construction, which was used in every Koenigsegg road car and thus formed the basis of the CCGT. The regulators also raised the minimum production requirement dramatically. Previously, an automaker was required to construct 20 street-legal examples of a model, in total, to be eligible to race. After the 2007 change, that number rose to 350 cars per year, impossible for a tiny automaker like Koenigsegg to achieve. The CCGT was ruled out of the class before it ever competed in a single race. The only Koenigsegg CCGT ever built. | KOENIGSEGG "We were aiming to go racing in the GT1 series, which was perfect for our type of cars—road-going hypercars turned race cars" von Koenigsegg told Road & Track during a recent, lengthy conversation. "Then they shut it down right when we were about to go racing, which was very annoying. Since then, there hasn't been any series for these types of cars." The rule change left von Koenigsegg without a place to take his supercars racing. "Even if we would be allowed to go to the highest level of GT racing, we would be competing against Porsche 911s and Ferrari 488s"—sports cars built to vastly different performance goals than Koenigsegg's cars, which commanded well over half a million dollars each. Even if von Koenigsegg had wanted to compete in such a class, he worried that his cars would be "completely downgraded through Balance of Performance via restrictors, because we are not supposed to be any faster. And then it would be just a super-expensive racing car, which would cost more to repair than a 911, and we might even get beaten by a 911 because of BoP, while in reality, they are completely different vehicles. That doesn't make any sense." So Koenigsegg's racing dreams died in 2007, before they could ever become real. But what about today? The WEC's new Hypercar class debuted this year, and it was seemingly built for exactly the kind of extreme vehicles that Koenigsegg builds. But the man behind the Swedish supercar company is unconvinced. "Of course, they started this Hypercar series at Le Mans, but in the end it turned out to be some kind of LMP car again, so it's just a new name for the same kind of thing, more or less." Does von Koenigsegg see a racing future for his cars? Not under the current rules. "The alternative, I guess, is to build some kind of a Le Mans Prototype, which has no relation to our road cars, which I don't find too appealing. I would like to go back to the GT1 type of class, where we [could] see Bugattis, Paganis, Koenigseggs—modified road cars featuring completely different technologies. Not this silhouette racing where you have the same chassis under different bodies. Granted, it would be a very expensive series, given the price of these cars, but then we could build up on what we have. Everyone could showcase something you could actually buy, if you're extremely wealthy. That's what we would like, but I'm not sure if it could ever happen.">

Using the Tesla Model S P85 as his daily drive, Christian von Koenigsegg surprisingly does not own any Koenigsegg despite being the boss of the company. In an interview with Road and Track, von Koenigsegg revealed that he also has a Model 3 on the way while his wife gets around in a Volvo XC90 and a Porsche 911 Targa. And eight months ago, they managed to add another car to their collection, a 1992 NA Mazda MX-5. This is no ordinary car as it was the exact same car von Koenigsegg owned around the time his company was founded a quarter of a century ago. “My first MX-5 has been back in my hands for about eight months,” he told the publication. “Our transport manager went to a car show on a Swedish island called Öland, and there was this black Mazda MX-5 that said it ‘used to be Christian von Koenigsegg’s car.’ So, he called me up and I spoke to the owner. “I overpaid a little bit to get it back, but now I can enjoy it on warm summer days! It’s in great condition, and it’s actually as enjoyable as I remembered to drive!” von Koenigsegg said. While the MX-5 might pale in comparison in terms of power with all the hypercars that he builds, von Koenigsegg loves it and says the car is a “good example on how you can have fun with a car with almost no power.”

There's no doubt that Swedish automaker Koenigsegg knows how to make some of the world's fastest production cars that ever exists. The company even makes sure that the twin-turbo 5.0-litre V8 engine of its production cars will run on E85 fuel. However, unfortunately, some places in this world just aren't quite ready for such fuel yet, just like in Singapore. So, keeping that in mind, it seems that despite the total power output of 927bhp offered by the Agera or 1,124bhp offered by the Agera R, neither of the models is really quite of our interest here in Singapore. That's not to mention the highly demanding price tag of the super car. However, realising that, Koenigsegg has finally produced the Agera S. Unlike its elder brothers, the Koenigsegg Agera S doesn't need ethanol to be mixed into its fuel. It'll run just fine with the fuel we already have here. In addition to that, this fine super car is quite powerful as well, offering the power of up to 1,040 horses. With all the advantages that it has, the Koenigsegg Agera S comes with a demanding price tag of around USD$4.2 million (approximately S$5.3 million). Yet, despite the price tag, the fourth example in the world has already met its new owner, who is a Singaporean. Yes, Koenigsegg recently introduced the Agera S here, at a special reception which was attended even by the founder of Koenigsegg Automotive AB himself, Mr. Christian von Koenigsegg. The reception took place at the Hotel Ritz Carlton Millenia on 14th June 2013. As it was private, the reception was only open to 200 VIPs and guests. The lucky person to have the fastest production car on our shores happened to be Ms. Angela Tan, wife of Mr. Denis Chua, an investor. According to Mr. Chua, he and his wife bought the car after having test-driven it personally in Sweden. Hand-crafted by Swedish skilled artisans with enhanced aerodynamics in mind, the Swedish luxury super car can go from 0-100km/h within a mere 2.9 seconds. In addition to that, the car will stop climbing speed only after it has reached a speed of at least 400km/h. How does that sound? The Koenigsegg Agera S super car was introduced to us here by the Motorway Group of Companies. This is a rental car company that also serves as a pre-owned luxury car specialist. If you are wondering, the car is available in both right and left-hand drive. Photo credits: Nicholas TJR