The new Koenigsegg Jesko is presented during the press day at the 89th Geneva International Motor Show Credit: Martial Trezzini/Keystone
The dying years of the internal combustion age will be remembered as a power and speed-crazed celebration of excess, with car makers competing to build the fastest and most powerful cars: the quickest around the Nurburgring test track in Germany; the first to lap Silverstone as fast as an F1 car; and, in Christian von Koenigsegg’s case, the first to pass the 300mph mark.

Born in Stockholm in 1972, von Koenigsegg succeeded where many have failed: he built his own supercar company to rival the big players. Founded in 1994, the first Koenigsegg was delivered in 2002 and the company has continued to independently develop clever and beautifully made cars ever since. Clever and beautifully made and very fast.

There will be 125 of the new Jesko made (price tag, a cool $3m), 85 of which have already been sold, according to the company. The car is reportedly capable of reaching 300mph - unimaginably fast when you consider F1 cars reach around 210mph and Le Mans sports cars around 240mph.


The new super car is the first to lap Silverstone as fast as an F1 car and the first to pass the 300mph mark Credit: Stefan Wermuth/ Bloomberg
Then again, they are set up to go fast all the way around a track, the corners included, hence all the upside-down aeroplane wings that push them on the track, but generate enormous ‘drag’ also, which holds them back on the straights.

What you need are wings that pop themselves out of the way when you no longer need them, but ‘moveable aerodynamic aids’ are banned in racing. Not on road cars like the Jesko, however.

Since the 1980s, the speed record for a production car has crept up over 200mph. Christian von Koenigsegg’s cars have held the record twice; in 2004 with the CCR model at 241mph and since 2017 with the Agera RS at 277mph.

Nobody seems especially keen to beat that mark, but that’s not stopping von Koenigsegg wanting to put it beyond anyone with the Jesko.


There will be 125 of the new Jesko made (price tag, a cool $3m), 85 of which have already been sold, according to the company Credit: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg
Like any Koenigsegg, the Jesko is impressive, given the comparative scale of the company — especially if that comparison is with top-speed rival Bugatti which is a division of Volkswagen and was allowed to run at a staggering loss in its early days, just so long as VW had bragging rights.

Not that Bugatti/VW have had them in a while; they appear to be happy to let Koenigsegg fight it out with other independents for the title of world’s fastest car. The latest Bugatti is actually slower than some versions of its predecessor.

So what does the Jesko have that will allow it to keep accelerating where the Agera ran out? Two things; less drag and more power. The energy required to overcome drag increases to the power of three, the faster a car goes.

There are then two Jeskos; one that’s biased towards track use with more down force (and so more drag) and one that’s aimed at 300mph with less down force and less drag. And lots and lots of power.


Born in Stockholm in 1972, von Koenigsegg succeeded where many have failed: he built his own supercar company to rival the big players Credit: Stefan Wermuth/Bloomberg
In a world of expensive and complex hybrid engines — like in the McLaren P1 and LaFerrari, Porsche 918 and the recently announced Aston Martin Valkyrie — where an internal combustion engine is assisted by an electric motor, the engine in the Jesko is superficially old-school.

The engine block is from a Ford, but has been developed beyond recognition by von Koenigsegg and his engineers. Twin-turbocharged, it produces 1262bhp on standard super-unleaded.

That’s probably not enough for 300mph, but flush that out and refill with petrol/ethanol blend E85 and the Jesko’s output increases to 1578bhp and that might be. But take note, that’s more than two and a half times the output of the famous McLaren F1 which reached 221bhp in 1993.

Will the Jesko do it? Well if there’s one trait that has differentiated Koenigsegg from other supercar building wannabes is that when its 46-year-old founder says he’s going to do something, he usually does it.

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