When Koenigsegg presented the Jesko twins to customers, the Swedish hypercar maker raised the exclusivity stakes by forcing buyers to choose between the Attack and the Absolut. You couldn’t have both in your garage. So when Christian von Koenigsegg decided to send off the Jesko with the Sadair’s Spear, a final celebration of the model, it came as no surprise that all 30 units were gone before the public even knew they existed. According to Christian himself, speaking with Top Gear, everything wearing a Koenigsegg badge is now spoken for.
“All our models are presently sold out, we have nothing to sell, which is kind of good, but also annoying because it’s fun to interact and supply enthusiasts with their dreams come true.” So what’s the next step?
“We would love to have more, but we will introduce something new in one, one and a half years, then we’ll open up the order books again,” he explained. “The something new we are working on – and we have several projects – are very limited runs, which means they all need to be different, and they all need to have meaning.” It’s a philosophy that aligns perfectly with Koenigsegg’s approach of low volumes and constant technological advancement, even if it doesn’t always go as planned.
The Gemera, announced in 2020 just as the world shut down, was initially meant to showcase a hybrid setup pairing a 2.0-litre three-cylinder engine using camless Freevalve technology, two turbos, a dry sump, and three electric motors, all because a V8 wouldn’t fit. By 2023, Koenigsegg figured out how to fit a V8 engine in the Gemera anyway, and by 2024, the three-cylinder option was dropped due to low demand. In November last year, it was reported that the Gemera had officially sold out. This progression suggests that even a highly innovative small hybrid from Koenigsegg struggled to find enough buyers, proving the Gemera needed that big V8.
Christian von Koenigsegg has often said that the “appetite” for hyper EVs isn’t as strong as some think. This leaves the door open for Koenigsegg to use its Dark Matter e-motor in a future Jesko successor to add power and traction while still relying on combustion, but full electric propulsion isn’t in the cards. Even Bugatti-Rimac CEO Mate Rimac hinted that the successor to the Nevera, one of the world’s most impressive EVs, may not be fully electric.
“After a while, you want to feel something, you want to talk to the beast, you want to have a dialog,” von Koenigsegg told Top Gear. “You want the throbbing, the pumping, the heat, the sounds, the shifts, all of these aspects that just make a car come alive.”
The CC850 has proven that a hypercar can be both calming and thrilling when it comes to the transmission, while the Sadair’s Spear has shown once again that tyre technology is one of the biggest limitations holding hypercar makers back. Trying to predict what Koenigsegg will do next is nearly impossible, but if history is anything to go by, it will be something remarkable.