Hypercars, bespoke and low volume by their nature, are tricky to do well. Especially when you're attempting one from a standing start. Most novice firms tend to fall by the wayside, but the nineties produced two standout specialists: one founded by Horacio Pagani in Italy and the other by Christian von Koenigsegg in Sweden. There are notable differences in approach between the pair - yet the result is roughly similar in ethos. They are about power, beauty, exclusivity and speed. The kind of cars that most of us will only ever see on posters.
The CCXR Edition, the manufacturer's ninth offering, is certainly no different - being limited as it is to only four examples worldwide, with just one available in right-hand drive. This one in fact. Intriguingly, and long before electric motors started gumming up the works, it was claimed as the world's first 'green' hypercar because its in-house 4.8-litre twin-supercharged V8 is capable of running on E85 and E100 bio-ethanol as well as petrol - an alternative which has the added benefit of increasing power output from 806hp to 1018hp and peak torque from 679lb ft to 797lb ft. Which, let's face it, is eco-friendliness done right.
As you might have guessed from the name, the car is also intended to be more track-focused than the standard iterations of the CCX, which sees it fitted with stiffer springs and anti-roll bars, new dampers, larger splitters front and rear, a large double rear wing creating 350kg of downforce at 155mph, 11-spoke wheels and that wonderful exposed carbon bodywork. Naturally this was all about blowing past the competition on road or track or even in the pit lane when stationary, given that it held the record for the highest power to weight ratio until its replacement - in One:1 format - finally took the crown.
Despite the alterations to the engine and chassis, a number of features remain constant: the wraparound windscreen, the removable targa-style roof and the ghost emblem - a nod to the Swedish Air Force wing which used to inhabit the base where Koenigsegg now has its factory. The mile-long runway is still live (handy if you've got private jets to accommodate and 200+mph cars to test) as is the long departed squadron's motto: "the show must go on" - a useful maxim when your original factory burned down.
Of course, when you think about it, Koenigsegg's entire existence is slightly against the odds - as is its ability to design and build its own engines, not to mention all the other components it doesn't rely on suppliers for. It even offers a five-year warranty. And takes obvious joy in breaking production speed records. Not too bad for a company that only started trading in 1994 and a testament to the vision of its founder, who always intended on making a car that could evolve over time as the Porsche 911 has.
Certainly the firm isn't standing still - its latest model, the Regera, is a plug-in hybrid and uses a hydraulic coupling to mate its 5.0-litre turbocharged V8 with a single-speed fixed ratio transmission. The internet says Koenigsegg found buyers for the entire 80-car production run at about $1.9m a pop; which is essentially the same sum you'll need to find in sterling to buy our showpiece of the week. Did we mention it's got a manual gearbox? Well, it has - plus red leather seats that have only been sat on for 1000 miles or so. It's marvellous, unique and yours for £1.3m.
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