Most people who are even remotely interested in cars should be familiar with the Swedish hyper sports car brand Koenigsegg. Their history as a car manufacturer actually turns thirty this year. 2024 is a special year when it comes to famous car models, in addition, a very special car brand always turns thirty. As you have read here on carscollection.com before, the car models Volkswagen Golf and Lamborghini Countach 50 year this year. And it's also the birthday of the classic Ferrari models Testarossa 40 years. But then again, the Swedish car brand Koenigsegg also turns 30 this year!

The Koenigsegg story that began when, on 12 August 1994, a 22-year-old Christian von Koenigsegg started Koenigsegg Automotive. To write about everything Koenigsegg has been through would mean a very long article. I will of course include the most important events but this article, which will also be long, will in addition to Koenigsegg's history also be about my relationship and history with Koenigsegg. A relationship and history that goes way back, twenty years this year in fact. So with this article, I too celebrate this year. I have had the honour of both experiencing and doing a lot for Koenigsegg, based in Ängelholm in southern Sweden.

All photos in this article were taken by me except the two below and the photos at the end of the article at Gripen Atelier.

photo Koenigsegg

The story for me with Koenigsegg began in 2004. So, as mentioned above, twenty years ago this year. The brand was only ten years old then. In those ten years, a lot had already happened. Just two years after Christian started Koenigsegg, he presented the first prototype. The prototype was named CC and was test driven by Rickard Rydell, Picko Troberg and Calle Rosenblad. All the test drivers thought the concept worked well. The CC prototype was later shown at the Cannes Film Festival in France, where it received a lot of attention. The success in Cannes made it possible to move from the original workshop in Olofström to a new one in Margretetorp. This was done in 1998. At the Paris Motor Show in 2000, the first production prototype was shown under the name CC8S. In 2002, the CC8S was finalised and shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 2003.

photo Koenigsegg

The CC8S had a 655-horsepower engine and clearly showed where Christian was aiming. In addition to being awarded the Guinness World Record for the world's most powerful production engine, Koenigsegg also received the Red Dot Design Award in 2002. The CC8S, along with the Agera One:1, is among the rarest Koenigsegg models, as only a total of 6 examples of each model were built. Amazingly, the staff managed to save both cars and tools from burning up. In 2004, the CCR was presented, a further development of the CC8S. This is also where my story with Koenigsegg began.

In 2004 I was working for Slitz magazine. Martin Westerstrand, who was their motor editor at the time, and I travelled down to the new factory in Ängelholm. At that time Koenigsegg had moved into the defence forces' old air wing F 10, which is now called Valhall Park. F10 was best known as the home of Saab's twin-engined J35 aircraft, the Draken! The ghost that adorned many of the Draken planes still lives on today for Koenigsegg and adorns their cars. Originally, the ghost was a symbol of a squadron that protected Swedish fighter planes during World War II.

As mentioned, Martin Westerstrand and I went down to the factory in 2004. There we met Christian for the first time. Christian was incredibly talkative and told us with great empathy about what he had created. We then got to see and test drive the brand new Koenigsegg CCR. The CCR later set a new speed record on the Nardo track with 387.86 kilometres per hour. That was done in 2005. Martin's and my experience with Christian and the CCR, in addition to an article in Slitz magazine, was also the beginning of a very important story in my life, which you are now reading about.

In 2005 I lived in Gothenburg where I had a photo studio in the old media-dense area Gamlestadsfabrikerna. The professional photo shop YFO was also located there. In addition to their large store, YFO also had a number of photo studios you could rent. Among the studios they had was a large "half-wall" shaped studio. I got to do the last photo shoot in that studio before it was demolished. A photo shoot with skateboarders and BMX bikers who got to ride on the curved walls. On the walls, the artist Gorm Boberg had made paintings on which the skateboarders and BMX bikers rode. But I also did a photo shoot with the yellow Koenigsegg CCR that Martin and I previously test drove and did an article about. Some of the pictures I took of the CCR in the photo studio were later bought by Koenigsegg and are now in their archives. It was during this shoot that I got to know Koenigsegg's very nice car transport driver Christer Hultgren.

In 2006, it was time again. By then, Koenigsegg had unveiled the new CCX model. Thanks to the fact that the CCX was globally homologated, the company was able to sell its cars in the USA and the rest of the world. The CCX broke the record on the TV programme Top Gear's test track with the "famous" but officially unknown driver "the Stig" behind the wheel. Martin Westerstrand and I were once again down at Valhall Park at Koenigsegg and got to test drive the CCX and do an article for Slitz magazine.

Introduced in 2007, the CCXR model, which could run on both petrol and E85 (ethanol), was the world's first 'green' super sports car. In addition, and thanks to the higher octane content of E85, the power output of the CCXR increased to a staggering 1 018 horsepower. The Agera model was unveiled in 2010. During the STCC racing competition, which was then held on the city racing track at Bananpiren in Gothenburg, Koenigsegg chose to fly in an Agera with a helicopter and put the car down in the middle of the racing track where Christian presented it. A success of course!

In 2011 I started working with Gran Turismo Events as their photographer. In 2011 Gran Turismo Events organised an event on Gotland and GotlandRing. That year, the Norwegian Bård Eker who runs the boat company Hydrolift. Bård brought two Koenigsegg cars to the event, a Koenigsegg CCX but also the very extreme Koenigsegg models CCGT. A one-off model built to compete in the classic Le Mans race. The car was to compete in the GT1 class, but just two months after the car was completed, the International Motor Sport Federation changed the regulations for GT1 cars. In addition to banning carbon fibre bodies, the requirement for the number of series-produced cars per year was also changed. To get the model approved for racing, it went from 20 produced per year to 350 pieces, which led to the project being cancelled. In 2023, Koenigsegg CCGT was sold at Bonhams car auctions in England for a juicy £3.3 million.

At that time Jens Svedrup was also working with Gran Turismo Events. Nowadays Jens Svedrup is Chairman of the Board & CCO of the Danish super sports car brand Zenvo. Jens had already established a good working relationship with Koenigsegg at that time. At Gran Turismo's historic Nürburgring event 2012 Jens had arranged for a Koenigsegg CCXR and an Agera R to be present during the event. Koenigsegg themselves also showed up with an Agera one:1 that they test drove on the North Loop. More on the Agera One:1 model later in this article. After his time with Gran Turismo Events, Jens became head of communications at Koenigsegg and we had a lot of contact which we still have. So next year you can look forward to articles about Zenvo here on carscollection.com.

The Agera R model, launched in 2011, I got to experience and test drive myself on a visit to the factory in 2013. You can read the article here. Jens, who was working for Koenigsegg at the time, let me do a test drive with an Agera R to the coastal town of Torekov in Båstad municipality in Skåne and then to the historic test track, which is a runway adjacent to the factory. On the Koenigsegg Agera R I got to test drive, I also took a so-called "rigging picture". Rigging pictures can you who have followed carscollection.com have seen in many articles I have done before. To take such a picture, I mount a tripod on the car which you then edit away. I then drive just a few metres forward with the car and the camera set to a slow shutter speed, which makes it look like the camera is hovering in front of the car driving at high speed when I myself am behind the wheel.

In addition to test driving and photographing the Koenigsegg Agera R, I also took portraits of Christian with the Agera R. The pictures were to be used for an interview in the American GQ Magazine if I remember correctly. I have taken portraits of Christian almost every time I have visited the factory.

In 2016 I took pictures of Koenigsegg Agera One of 1 for Koenigsegg. One of 1 should not be confused with One:1, which arrived in 2014. The One:1 was the world's first 1:1 supercar, meaning 1 horsepower per kilo. The One:1 set records at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium and Suzuka International Racing Course in Japan. Like the CC8S, only six were produced. The Koenigsegg One of 1 was one of three final versions of the Agera model before the new Regera was introduced in 2015. I photographed the One of 1 in a hangar next to the factory and it was used by Koenigsegg as press photos. Like here in an article about Agera One of 1 in Teknikens Värld.

After Agera, it was time for Regera. Thanks to its hybrid system, it has over 1,500 horsepower. And equipped with a revolutionary Direct Drive system, without a traditional gearbox. In 2015, Joakim Dyredand and I were down there doing a big story for the magazine Auto Motor & Sports about the Koenigsegg Regera. When we were down there in 2015, we only took static pictures of the car as it wasn't quite ready. We also did an interview with Christian at the factory where he went through the technology in the Regera. Then we were down again in the spring of 2016 and then Joakim got to drive the Koenigsegg Regera, which also became an article in Auto Motor & Sport. Regera is the car model that set the world record for both 0-400-0 km/h and 0-250-0 mph, with a breathtaking time of 28.81 seconds for km/h and 29.60 seconds for mph.

The car event GumBall 3000 had a chance to visit Koenigsegg in Ängelholm in 2015. In addition to a factory visit and meeting Christian, the participants also got to challenge a CCXR on Koenigsegg's test track. Among the participants that year we could see Jon Olsson and his then-girlfriend Janni Delér, Timothy John Burton aka Shmee150 and actor Dolph Lundgren, to name a few.

2018 was the year I made my first visit to the British and well-known car festival Goodwood Festival of Speed. For FOS Goodwood, Koenigsegg had a number of models. Among other things, the final model of Agera was named "Thor". They also had test driver Niklas Lilja with them. In 2017, Niklas Lilja had broken a new world record for a series-produced passenger car in a Koenigsegg. On a closed stretch of road in the Nevada desert, Niklas had reached 447.19 kilometres per hour with a Koenigsegg Agera RS. Niklas was travelling at 457.94 km/h in a north-westerly direction. He then travelled in a south-easterly direction at 436.44 km/h. The average speed was 447.19 km/h. The previous record was set by Bugatti with its Veyron Super Sport model at 431.07 kilometres per hour.

At the 2017 Geneva Motor Show, Koenigsegg presented an Agera RS nicknamed Gryphon. Gryphon is the English name for the mythical "Gripen" character with a lion's body and eagle's head. The first version of the Regera was also on display, which was a customer car. A Regera in green clear-coated carbon fibre. In addition, eight Koenigsegg owners had chosen to meet up in Geneva. I was there to immortalise it. Some pictures ended up on Top Gear magazine website.

In 2019, Koenigsegg unveiled a model named after Christian's father, Jesko. Jesko von Koenigsegg is, of course, a person who has had a great impact on the company since its inception. Before the presentation of the Koenigsegg Jesko, I was invited to the factory to do a own reportage but also taking pictures for Auto Motor & Sport magazine. As the car had not yet been unveiled, there was a lot of secrecy, of course. At the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, the covers were pulled off. Christian's father Jesko was there, of course, and this is where our friendship began. Koenigsegg Jesko was of course a success at the motor show. Behind the design of Koenigsegg Jesko we find Industrial designer Joachim Nordwall  who has been deeply involved in the development of the design of Koenigsegg's cars. Koenigsegg Jesko is available in two versions. Jesko Attack and Jesko Absolut. With a Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut, they managed to beat the 0-400-0 record with a time of 27.83 seconds. But as if that wasn't enough, they went on to break three more records. 0-400 km/h - 18.82 seconds, 0-250-0 mph - 28.27 seconds and 0-250 mph - 19.20 seconds. It was all done in early summer 2024 and behind the wheel was test driver Markus Lundh. Koenigsegg Jesko Attack has just at the time of writing broken the record on the Top Gears track. The previous track record of 1 minute 11.3 seconds set by a Ferrari SF90. When the Koenigsegg Jesko Attack crossed the finish line in 1 minute and 10.9 seconds, Jack Rix noted that the old time had been beaten and there was a new leader.

In 2020, it was time for Koenigsegg to present the world's first "mega-GT", the Gemera! A four-seater hyper sports car. The Gemera features revolutionary hybrid technology. I helped Koenigsegg with the press photos of the Gemera and also did a interview with Christian that you can read here. There is room for four people in the Gemera but only two doors. But in order for the rear passengers to be able to enter the car, you do not need to fold the front stools. Instead, this has been solved by having extra long so-called scissor doors. They open first outwards and then like scissors upwards. Not to be confused with so-called gull-wing doors. With scissor doors, minimal space is needed for the car next to you to open the doors. It's a technique Koenigsegg has used on all its models. But because the doors are so long on the Gemera, you need to keep an eye on the headroom where the doors open. The Gemera features a lot of innovative technology, such as the new Dark Matter electric motor, which replaced three smaller electric motors. It also has a Light Speed Tourbillon Transmission, which enables both a new driveline configuration and four-wheel drive with four-wheel torque control. This is the first time such technology has been found in a Koenigsegg. Thanks to the Hot-Vee V8 engine fitted to the Gemera, it became the most powerful fully homologated car in the world, producing 2,300 horses. Only 300 Gemera models will be built.

At the 2020 photo shoot when I was down at the factory taking pictures for Koenigsegg at Gemeran, they also brought two Koenigsegg Jeskos and a Regera to the test track which I also took pictures of for Koenigsegg.

In 2022, my then-girlfriend Sara Frost and I were at the Essen Motor Show in Germany. You can read Sara's article from the fair here on carscollection.com. Then Koenigsegg showed co-operation with Esser Automotive Gemera but also the new CC850 model. The CC850 is a tribute to Koenigsegg's first model CC8S. In addition, Christian turned 50 in 2022, so the CC850 is a double tribute, so to speak.

At the Aurora car show outside Båstad which premiered in July 2024, Koenigsegg brought a number of cars, including the Koenigsegg Jesko with which they had just set the new world records. The von Koenigsegg couple made their entrance in a CC850. In the picture below with the von Koenigsegg couple in a CC850, Christian's parents can also be seen on the left next to the car. Dad Jesko in a red jacket and mum Brita in a white cap.

In addition, Ronnie Gustavsson was there with his Koenigsegg CCXR which is in clear coated carbon fibre. I first saw that car at Cars And Coffee in Stockholm at Gärdet in Stockholm. It was early summer 2024 when Ronnie was there with it.

Since Koenigsegg's first workshop in Olofström, a lot has happened. Despite a large loss in 2022, the company has been able and chosen to invest heavily and expand even more. They did this by moving into completely new premises and a factory in 2023. The factory has been named Gripen Atelier. We are talking about 11,000 square metres for the factory and showroom. The inauguration took place over two days, first for customers and other guests and then for the approximately 625 employees and their families. Unfortunately, I was not there at the time because of a motorbike accident that occurred in 2022. However, I hope to visit the new factory in the next year. The photos published below on Gripen Atelier were taken by Steven Wade, who worked as PR/Communications Manager at Koenigsegg from 2015 to 2019, returning temporarily as PR/Communications Specialist in 2023-24.

photo Steven Wade

In Sweden we have four car companies, Volvo, Polestar, Koenigsegg but also HMC, Handmadecars. There is no doubt that Volvo, Polestar and Koenigsegg have succeeded. But the commitment and passion behind HMC and Thomas Kümmerling who runs it is very similar to that of Koenigsegg. What Christian has achieved despite the many setbacks he has faced is truly incredible! It's a clear sign that if you have a good and unique idea, you should not give up. I certainly won't compare myself to Christian but his willpower and energy gives me the will and motivation to get carscollection.com to stand on its own feet. In addition to my story and what I have done for Koenigsegg, which I could tell you about in this article, I am very proud of what my father Bengt Ason Holm and the legacy he left behind, which I have now revitalised.

/James Holm