There are carmakers, and then there is Koenigsegg. Perhaps
only Pagani comes close to matching the Swedish company’s delivery of
other-worldly performance, almost impossible exclusivity, and sky-high prices.
Building supercars doesn’t always work as a business model, but Koenigsegg is
still going strong almost twenty years after founder Christian von Koenigsegg
decided to make a hyper-engineered, world class performance machine. They have
now made one hundred automobiles over the last ten years, every one of them a
masterpiece. For niche company like Koenigsegg that has a staff of only fifty
people, this is a serious milestone, so at the 2013 Geneva Motor Show,
Koenigsegg justifiably decided to pat themselves on the back with the unveiling
of the Agera S Hundra (Swedish for hundred).
Built for a very wealthy and surely very excited collector,
the Agera S Hundra has the 1,040 horsepower 5.0 liter, twin-turbo V-8, 7-speed
dual clutch gearbox, and full carbon fiber body and wheels of the standard
Agera S, but has a few clearly visible additions to make it their most unique
automobile to date. Hand laid 24-carat gold is used throughout the interior and
exterior, as well as the exhaust and the coil springs. Since the Hundra
treatment is primarily a cosmetic one, performance should be around the same as
the regular car. In other words, it will be unbelievable. Over 1,000 horsepower
in a car that weighs just a bit over 3,000 pounds is going to go like a rocket
no matter what, but Koenigsegg’s undeniably talented designers and their mental
attention to detail means that the car will give an all-around driving
experience that precious few cars can come close to.
Some artists work in oil,
some work in clay, but the people at Koenigsegg have chosen carbon fiber as
their medium. Their automobiles make use of the lightweight material everywhere
in the car, and while it comes off as a bit brash in certain areas like the
wheels and the interior, for instance, it is still very impressive what they
have been able to do with this still rather exotic and difficult to work with
material. Predictably, it does at all come at a price. Koenigsegg has to make
money somehow, and the Hundra project is said to cost around $1.6 million. It’s
not a small price by any stretch of the imagination, but the finished product
is practically automotive perfection, not to mention an important moment in
Koenigsegg's history.
Frankly, black and gold hasn’t looked this good since the
John Player Special-liveried Lotus Grand Prix cars disappeared in the
mid-1980s. And given the Hundra’s performance figures, it might even be able to
give a few of those old F1 cars a run for their money, as well. All Koenigseggs
are somewhat unique since they are built to order, but this is surely the
company's biggest standout so far and one of the highlights of a very
competitive Geneva show. The new owner will be a very happy man.
