Car UK May 2019

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and it’s this rather than the V8 – pushed far up to the bulkhead – that first
draws your attention with the clamshell open, like a jewelled staff in a
display case.
The Triplex damper helps resist squat under acceleration and aero
loads, but this time it also incorporates a helper spring. It can be locked
out to lower the Jesko in Track mode and triples spring rates. It’s similar
in concept to the Ford GT’s set-up, if quite different in execution, and can
drop the ride height from 1100mm to 700mm. For the first time, there’s
also a second Triplex damper up front, helping balance aero loads. There
is, after all, plenty of downforce as speed builds and the active front splitter
and rear wing get working: 800kg of the stuff at 156mph, 1000kg at 172mph,
a peak of 1400kg, 40 per cent over the Agera RS.
Rear-wheel steering is also a first for Koenigsegg, turning the rear
wheels in the opposite direction to the fronts at low speed, the same way
for higher-speed stability. Carbon-ceramic discs gripped by Koenigsegg’s
own design of caliper take care of stopping, with Michelin tyres. Cups are
standard, while the optional Cup 2 Rs offer a 10 per cent greater contact
patch in the same footprint owing to larger tread blocks, and an estimated
10-30 per cent performance gain.
Either way, the tyres will be wrapped round a choice of standard alloys,
or hollow-spoke Aircore carbonfibre wheels, reinvented by Koenigsegg.
We watch an employee wearing green gloves carefully but – with the speed
gifted by repetition – quickly wrapping pre-preg carbonfibre around plastic
spokes that are somehow removed during production, the as-yet-un-
wrapped ends exploded discordantly. Another employee strolls past with
a finished wheel casually tucked beneath his arm. The PR man has told us
the 20-inch front wheels weigh just 6.7kg, the 21-inch rears 8.4kg. Now the
wheels are being weighed again. ‘Guess how much?’ beams Christian. ‘It’s
5.9kg front, 7.4kg rear!’
Eight days later, crowds gather at the Koenigsegg stand, a low-slung
projectile draped with grey silk its alluring centrepiece. Christian’s wife
Halldora takes the floor. ‘It’s a very emotional day for us,’ she says, ‘because
we also have someone here who has been so important for the Koenigsegg
company, and that is Christian’s father, Jesko.’
Halldora beckons a surprised-looking Jesko and Christian’s mother
Brita forwards. There’s lots of cuddles... and definitely something in my
eye. Halldora composes herself and continues: ‘It is my great honour to tell
you something, Jesko ... today we are unveiling this beautiful mega car, and
we have decided to name it after you, as a tribute to your life, your legacy
and everything you have done for Koenigsegg.’
Jesko scrunches up his face in a doomed attempt to contain the over-
whelming emotion of the occasion, then clasps his hands, raising them like
his horse just passed the post. Christian takes over to give us the spec, but
barely manages to say that his father ‘is for sure the best supporter I ever
had’ before choking up. This must be the most touching car unveiling ever.
The wraps come off and the crudely part-assembled Jesko we saw just
eight days ago is now literally a show-stopper, perhaps too derivative of
other Koenigseggs to really bring home the changes wrought, but there’s
no doubt it’s captivating. Part powerboat, part fighter jet, it’s dominated by
its aero and cooling from a distance, and holds your attention close-up with
lush quality and detail.
AutoSkin – Koenigsegg’s robotised hydraulic system – opens the front
and rear clamshells and both doors. The interior, so recently an empty shell,
now looks lavish, from glossy exposed carbonfibre and metallic finishes to
the rich alcantara and leather. There’s a five-inch SmartCluster that swivels
with the steering wheel but keeps the revs, speed and gear info level as it
turns, a bit like the centre cap of a Rolls-Royce wheel. An analogue g-meter
sits up on the dashtop to confirm how violently you’re driving.

Christian announces they have down payments on around 90 of 125 cars

already, after showing the Jesko on virtual-reality goggles previously. That

quickly rises to around 100. Before customer cars become actual reality,

though, much work remains. As yet, no prototypes are running, and

probably seven will be built, plus two monocoques for crash testing. The

programme will start this summer. The first Jesko will be produced away

from the assembly line as workers adapt, and once they do, it’ll move to the

eight-step line, with giant grey letters from A to H hanging overhead.

Like the Regeras part-built today, Jeskos will be generic to step C of the

assembly process, and from step D they’ll get a chassis number, along with

all the customer spec differentiation that entails. Right now, Regeras are

jumping production stations every other week, and by April that should be

each week; Christian hopes to make 30-40 cars a year, up from low double

figures last year. The first Jeskos will be with their owners by late 2020.

There are big plans for the future, too. NEVS – National Electric Vehicle

Sweden – owns 20 per cent of Koenigsegg, and the next hypercar will be

a joint venture with production in the hundreds. Christian confirms the

V8 will continue, this time with Koenigsegg’s Freevalve technology that

eliminates camshafts, and mated to a hybrid system less complex than the

Regera’s. We learn it will be all-wheel drive, adopt electric power steering,

that... then the PR man shuts his boss down.

The name of that hybrid hypercar? It’s clear Christian owes a huge debt

to his mother Brita, also an entrepreneur. But it’s his wife Halldora who’s

more active at Koenigsegg, and like Jesko has more business nous than car

passion. Perhaps her name sounds more like Sarah or something to Swedes,

but to an English-speaker it’s a great name for a hypercar. I wouldn’t give

great odds on keeping that hushed up until next year’s Geneva show,

though, Christian.

Inside Koenigsegg

The wraps come off and the

crudely part-assembled Jesko

we saw just eight days ago is

now literally a show-stopper

Jesko von

Koenigsegg

with Halldora,

Christian and

Brita as the

car is unveiled