The Koenigsegg CC850 arrives to celebrate 20 years since Koenigsegg’s first car, the CC8S, with 50 being built to mark Christian von Koenigsegg’s 50th birthday.
It’s getting on for 30 years since Christian von Koenigsegg assembled a handful of men in a shed to build a ‘Megacar’ like no other, with the Koenigsegg CC8S the first fruit of their labours to go on to production in 2002.
To celebrate the arrival of that first Koenigsegg, Koenigsegg is to build 50 examples of this, the new Koenigsegg CC850 as a homage to the original, with the build run celebrating founder Christian vo Koneigsegg’s 50th birthday this year.
On the surface, the CC850 echoes the original CC8S – and still looks properly fresh – but under the clothing much has changed 20 years on.
The clothes of the CXC850 sit on a Jesko carbon fibre monocoque, with double wishbones, adjustable dampers and Koenigsegg’s Triplex rear damper, with power coming from the Jesko’s twin-turbo 5.0-litre V8 delivering up to 1,365bhp (with E85). So it’s not going to be a slouch.
The biggest surprise is that the CC850 comes with a manual gearbox, but no ordinary manual gearbox.
Koenigsegg is calling it the ‘Engage Shift System’ and is based on their ‘Light Speed’ ‘box which allows for different ratios depending on how you want the car to perform. It delivers proper manual changes with a gated shifter but, with a shift of the lever, turns into a nine-speed auto for when you don’t want to play. Properly clever.
Christian von Koenigsegg said:
The CC850 is an homage to the single most meaningful car in Koenigsegg history. The CC8S put us on the map and made us successful – and celebrating 20 years of production, alongside my 50th birthday, felt like the right time to reveal the CC850 to appreciate our roots.
It seems all 50 cars are already sold and, appropriately, the first of the run is going to Christian.
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