For a relatively young builder like Koenigsegg — it's almost 25 years old — its impact has been far greater than its small size would suggest.
2017 was a particularly memorable year: the Swedish brand set a series of world records with the Agera RS, including the record for the fastest speed achieved on a public road, which had remained untouched for nearly…80 years.
In addition, Christian von Koenigsegg, founder and CEO of the brand, has expanded his interests and is also betting on the evolution of the combustion engine, currently developing an engine without a camshaft, and even creating a new company, Freevalve, in the process .
Despite being small, the builder continues to grow: the number of employees rises to 165, and it is about to hire another 60 that will be progressively added to the company. All to guarantee the rhythm of a car produced per week, which is still ambitious. He planned to produce 38 cars in 2018, but Christian said, in statements to Road and Track at the Geneva Motor Show, that he would be happy to finish the year with 28.
A future with… monsters
Christian von Koenigsegg, still speaking to the American publication, spoke about what is to come. And apparently the future will be filled with monsters, given how you defined your two current models:
(The Regera) is very fierce anyway, but it's like a gentle monster. While the Agera RS is not such a smooth monster. It's more like a classic monster.
And the first monster to be born will be, precisely, the successor to Agera RS , the car that in 2017 became the holder of five world speed records. It is currently the fastest official car on the planet, so what comes next will always have a lot to prove.
The last unit of the Agera RS was produced during this month of March. Christian mentioned that his successor is already in development — the project started 18 months ago. He didn't come up with specs of any kind, but promised that at the next Geneva Motor Show in 2019 we'll see the new model for the first time, with the production version coming out a year later in 2020.
When the new model appears, and if mr. Koenigsegg are right, the Regera will still have 20 units to produce, so the commitment to always have two models in the portfolio — a commitment assumed after the presentation of the Regera — is fulfilled.
Regera, the next “record-breaker”?
Unlike the Agera, we can classify the Regera as the small manufacturer's GT — more luxury-oriented, more equipped and even “politically correct”. It's a hybrid hypercar, but no less ferocious than the Swedish brand has accustomed us to: it's 1500 hp underfoot, courtesy of a twin turbo V8 and three electric motors, so performances are devastating.
The “soft monster” — so dubbed because it has only one relationship like the pure electric ones, ensuring an uninterrupted flow of power —, despite a successor still far away, is preparing to be one of the protagonists of 2018. Also the Regera will be placed to the test and will demonstrate all its power by carrying out the type of tests we have seen in the Agera RS, such as the 0-400 km/h-0, a record masterfully removed from the Bugatti Chiron.
It will be this summer that we will see what it is worth. According to Christian, some tests have already been carried out, which implied some new adjustments, more appropriate for circuits:
(…) the results are honestly shocking.
The first tests revealed that the Regera can match the One:1 (1360 hp for 1360 kg) in the local circuit of the brand. Amazing considering that the Regera is around 200 kg heavier and has much less downforce. But due to its particular powertrain “it's always in the right ratio”, that is, all that power (1500 hp) is always available, practically instantaneously, it ends up compensating for the extra ballast and less aerodynamic load.
Will it be fast enough to replace the Agera RS as the fastest car on the planet? Don't miss the next episodes…