10 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About The Koenigsegg One:1 (2024)

Ever since it came to be, Swedish automaker, Koenigsegg set out to break records and push the envelope of high performance, aiming to achieve even higher standards than contemporary supercars. Its goal has been ultimate, uncompromising performance. The company, which carries the surname of its founder, began back in August 1994, a young 22-year-old Christian von Koenigsegg, with little knowledge about car manufacturing, little funding, and a lot of passion, set out with the ambitious dream to build the world's greatest sports car.

As the years went on, Koenigsegg started accumulating records. In 2004 the Koenigsegg CCR entered the Guinness World Records as the world's most powerful production car. In 2005, the CCR broke the legendary McLaren F1's top speed record and became the world's fastest car with a top speed of 387.86 km/h (241.1 MPH). A year later, in 2006, the CCX was featured on the popular BBC auto show, Top Gear. It set the lap record at Top Gear's test track and remained unbeaten by any global series production car for seven years. At the time, the CCX also set the Top Gear top speed record, reaching 196 MPH.

Koenigsegg went on with its record-breaking streak over the following years, including with a very special model that clocked an amazing time of 17.95 seconds on Koenigsegg's test of accelerating from zero to 300 km/h (186.4 MPH), and then back to dead stop. The year was 2015 and the car in question was the One:1.

10 What The One:1 Name Stands For

For a while, many motorcycle manufacturers have reached a power-to-weight ratio for their production of superbikes of one kilogram per horsepower. So for example, if a superbike weighted 180 kg (about 397 pounds), its engine made 180 horsepower, thus the 1:1 power-to-weight ratio. When it came to production cars, achieving this same feat of performance from superbikes seemed like a distant dream. But as it turns out, impossible challenges and ambitious dreams seem to be the fuel coursing through Christian von Koenigsegg's veins, and the Koenigsegg One:1 achieved the once thought to be impossible in a road legal production car 1:1 power-to-weight ratio.

9 First hom*ologated Production Car In The World With One Megawatt Of Power

No other name could be more fitting. The One:1 tipped the scales at 1,360 kg wet (2,998.3 pounds), and it made a staggering 1 Megawatt of power, the equivalent of 1,341.02 horsepower, although the actual horsepower is exactly its curb weight in kilograms, 1,360 horsepower. Another record was broken by Koenigsegg. The One:1 was made in only seven examples, built between 2014 and 2015. No other production car in the world had come out of the factory with this much power, a truly groundbreaking achievement by Koenigsegg that shook the supercar world and uplifted it to higher standards, effectively creating the hypercar segment.

8 Performance Oriented, While Never Straying From Everyday Usability And Beautiful Looks

The One:1 was built to shatter records and preconceptions about what the standards for sports cars could be. Nevertheless, it was also built with everyday use in mind. The car is so well composed and behaved, that in the video of its 0-300-0 test on a long runway, the driver barely touched the steering wheel. The main reason for the test pilot not touching the steering wheel was so that his inputs would not make the car waste forward momentum, slightly compromising the overall time. So he only ever touched it slightly when he felt the car could use a little bit of a course correction to stay in a straight line. But to see it is to believe it, so, here's the video:

Watching the driver almost cross his arms as the car blasts past 186 MPH in mere seconds is truly amazing, and a testament to Koenigsegg's expert engineering prowess. The One:1 truly was a spectacular creation.

7 It Can Run With E85 Biofuel, Race Fuel Or Normal Gasoline

To reach its maximum power output, the One:1 had to be fueled with E85, a fuel containing 85 percent ethanol. With it, the car could unleash its full potential. However, should the E85 not be available, high-octane race fuel would have it close to its maximum horsepower potential, and still, the One:1 could also be fueled with regular gasoline, however, that would shave off a couple of hundred ponies or more, depending on the octane rating of the gas used. Not that the car would become slow by any stretch of the imagination, but still slower than if it were fueled with an E85.

6 Track-Optimized Aerodynamic Kit

The Koenigsegg One:1 was not all about going fast in a straight line. One of its features is an aerodynamic kit optimized to lap a circuit as fast as possible. The kit features aero winglets, air intake, and exhaust tunnels, as well as side splitters and a Le-Mans-inspired active rear wing. Purposely built to produce downforce, improving grip and cornering speeds, this kit generates 1,345 pounds of downforce at 160 MPH. At its 273 MPH top speed, the downforce reaches 1,830 pounds, keeping the One:1 glued to the ground.

The aerodynamic components are, of course, crafted from lightweight, high-quality materials like carbon fiber, with weight being a major factor in the One:1's performance. The sum of all these parts working in tandem results in state-of-the-art aerodynamics, making a track monster out of the One:1.

5 Active Shock Absorbers

Part of the superlative track dynamics boasted by the Koenigsegg One:1 comes due to its active suspension system. The rear Triplex suspension features carbon bevel springs active shock absorbers and ride height. The car is lowered when riding around a track or at higher speeds for improved aerodynamics, and performance. This meticulously engineered suspension enhances stability and is in great part responsible for the straight-as-an-arrow runway behavior shown in the 0-300-0 video above.

More impressively, this adaptive suspension uses a GPS so that it can adjust damping for each corner of a selected number of tracks. This clever solution attests to Koenisegg's uncompromising pursuit of ultimate speed and performance. It also shows how brilliant Christian and his engineers are when it comes to finding innovative ways to further enhance the performance of its hypercars.

4 The One:1's Base MSRP When Launched Was $2,850,000

Of course, being of an ultra-limited production run of only seven units, and being the absolute fastest, most powerful, production car on the planet at the time, the One:1 cost more than a pretty penny. And also considering its significance to the automotive industry and how special it was, its price has only risen since then, like a masterful work of art. This is the sort of car that is made with potential buyers lined up with their wallets open and a blank check already signed and handed over to its maker since these wealthy and fortunate automotive connoisseurs know they're making an investment that's bound to pay great dividends should they ever decided to sell their car.

3 It Made Its Peers Look Slow When Unveiled At The 2014 Geneva Motor Show

The 2014 Geneva Motor Show had quite a roster of special guests. The likes of:

• The Lamborghini Huracán, with a powerful V-10, which came to replace the Gallardo.
• The McLaren 650S combined elements of both the McLaren 12C and the P1.
• Ferrari California T is a significant update to the California model.
• The Pagani Huayra with a powerful AMG V-12, possibly the only car with a performance that resembled the One:1.
• Porsche 911 RSR carrying Porsche's racing performance flag.

To put this gently, the Koenigsegg One:1 blew them all away by miles. It was the embodiment of a high achiever in a Harvard thermodynamics engineering class. Everyone was brilliant, but there was that 'One' fellow who just was leagues above everyone else. And that was the general feeling at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.

2 The One:1 Is Based On The Koenigsegg Agera

The Agera platform was the basis on which the One:1 came to be. Such a special vehicle like the One:1, a most exclusive hypercar, doesn't come to be realized overnight. It took Koenigsegg years of developing supercars and learning the ropes. The Agera platform was so advanced and well-engineered that a couple of years later, in 2017, it was the Agera RS that set a new speed world record, reaching a staggering 277.87 MPH. It was also at about this time that Koenigsegg updated its 0-300-0 km/h (186.4 MPH) test to 0-400-0 km/h (248.5 MPH).

1 One Of The Most Powerful And Lightweight V-8 Engines Ever Devised

The incredibly powerful V-8 was also incredibly light, weighing in at 197 kg (434 lbs.) thanks to a carbon fiber intake manifold and aluminum construction, as well as a tig-welded ceramic coated exhaust system manifold. A brilliant masterpiece, not many supercar companies could pull off.

Koenigsegg One:1 Engine Specifications

The V-8 had four valves per cylinder and a compression ratio of 9.0:1, which is impressive for a turbocharged engine, as it sits on the edge of knocking unless it is very fine-tuned. The twin turbochargers had variable geometry and the available torque is always above 737.5 pound-feet anywhere between 3,000 and 8,000 rpm. The red line came at 8,250 rpm, almost as fast as the beating of its driver's heart.