Ten years ago, Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg set out to create vehicles that would soon be breaking records left and right. It all started with the CC8S which was first created in 2002. Only four more examples of the CC8S were built that year, with 6 being built in total. When it was first introduced, it claimed the Guinness World Record for having the Most Powerful Production Engine. Needless to say that Koenigsegg looked promising.
After the CC8S came the CCR. It held the world speed record for a production car and is still the fourth fastest production car in the world with a top speed of over 245mph.
With Koenigsegg having such great success with their two previous supercars for sale, they decided to expand their market, creating a car that could meet global safety and environmental regulations. Koenigsegg wanted to primarily enter the United States car market, and in order to do so they created the CCX. Powering the CCX is a twin superchaged 4.7-liter V8 that is emissions friendly and good for 795hp.
While the “environmentally friendly” capabilities of the CCX were enough to get Koenigsegg into the US market, the Swedish automaker decided to make their supercar more “green” with the new CCXR. The CCXR uses the same engine as the CCX, but it instead converted to use E85 and E100 ethanol fuels which are becoming more and more common today. With this conversion and many other modifications, the CCXR is able to produce an astounding 1,004hp. At the 2008 Geneva Motor Show Koenigsegg unveiled special editions models of the CCX and CCXR, the CCXR Edition and CCX Edition. Both received boosts to their power output and tweaks that allowed them to perform to their full potential on the track.
As if the cars the Koenigsegg were already making weren’t exclusive enough, they decided to create the CCXR Trevita, the world’s most expensive streetlegal supercar. At $4,850,000 the Trevita features Koenigsegg’s Proprietary Diamond Weave, a new method to create carbon fiber that allows them to coat the fibers with a diamond finish. Only three Trevitas were said to have been made.
The latest and greatest from Koenigsegg is the Agera, one of the finest hypercars ever created. There are three variants of the Agera; the base Agera, the Agera R, and the Agera S. Each of these models are powered by a twin-turbocharged 5.0-liter V8, but they all have their own unique properties which separate them from each other. The Agera is the standard model, but still an incredible car. In fact, the Agera was named Top Gear Magazine‘s Hypercar of the Year.
The Agera R made its debut in 2011 as a hypercar that runs on biofuel instead of gasoline. Most Americans may scoff at the idea of a hypercar being powered by biofuel, but Koenigsegg knew exactly what they were doing. This earth-friendly hypercar was able to break six world land speed records for a production car, including the 0-186.4mph record set by the Bugatti Veyron.
Koenigsegg’s newest Agera model is the Agera S, which was presented just earlier this year. Koenigsegg plans to replace the regular Agera with this model, and is tuned to run on low octane gas instead of biofuel like the Agera R. Surprisingly, the Agera R running on biofuel is still more powerful than the Agera S which “only” produces 960hp compared to the Agera R’s 1140hp.
In this video Christian von Koenigsegg, founder of Koenigsegg Automotive, discusses the last 10 years of his company that manufactures, arguably, one of the finest hypercars today.
Koenigsegg – 0 to 100 in 10 years from Koenigsegg Automotive on Vimeo.
