The BMW Group Classic’s podcast is back with episode 75 and a special guest. For the latest installment of the “Classic Heart” series, hosted by JP Rathgen, none other than Christian von Koenigsegg was invited. The interview was recorded in late June at the Aurora Scandinavian Concours in southern Sweden. The full episode is attached below, but one part in particular caught our attention.
Mr. Koenigsegg praised BMW’s one and only supercar, referring to the iconic M1 as “one of my absolute favorite cars.” In fact, the Swedish automotive engineer and entrepreneur recalls receiving a brochure of the E26 from a Koenigsegg test driver who had been part of the team responsible for testing the road-going version of the BMW M1:
“I got a brochure of the M1 and I remember seeing this car as a kid and I cherished that brochure. I actually ended up giving it back to our test driver because he was an M1 fan. It’s one of my favorite cars. The sculpture, the proportions, the shape of it is just timeless and classic. It’s still kind of modern-looking in many ways I would say. It’s a very contemporary-looking car even though it’s from the 1970s.”
The interview doesn’t focus solely on the M1. The mastermind behind hypercars like the CCX, Agera, Jesko, and the four-seat Gemera also complimented BMW for pioneering art cars. He’s a big fan of Andy Warhol’s colorful M1 Procar, which earned a respectable sixth place overall at the 1979 Le Mans:
“It’s incredible. It looks extremely cool. It looks extremely rough in execution. The combination is a huge clash of emotions but the end result is something extremely unique that can never be repeated.”
To some degree, Koenigsegg’s journey toward becoming a major player in the hypercar scene is tied to BMW. The 53-year-old businessman fondly recalls visiting a newsstand in 1994 and purchasing a magazine that featured the BMW V12-powered McLaren F1 on its cover. That moment sparked the idea of starting his own supercar company:
“Ah, that’s the sort of close to my vision, and thinking, and dreams, and now someone else has gone out and change the mold a bit. If I don’t do it now, I will never do it.”
Fast-forward to 2025, Christian von Koenigsegg doesn’t personally own a BMW. However, his wife and two sons drive cars bearing the famous roundel:
“It’s definitely a big brand in the family. The biggest percentage of cars we have is BMW.”
Video: BMW Group Classic