One-off Koenigsegg CCGT up for grabs at the 2023 Festival of Speed | GRR
There was a time in the mid-2000s, when everyone fancied a go at the top GT1 sportscar class. All the fun that the likes of the Viper, Corvette and Ferrari 550 GTS were having tempted the likes of Aston Martin, Maserati and even Lamborghini to the table.
We were close, however, to having even more rarified, boutique marques than that on the grid, in the form of Pagani and Koenigsegg. Neither the Zonda GR nor the Koenigsegg CCGT ever made it to completion or saw the action that was originally intended for them but they do exist and the one and only example of the latter could be yours.
Yes, the only Koenigsegg CCGT ever built will be in the Bonhams sale at the 2023 Goodwood Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard.
The CCGT – we say again, it’s a one-off – was intended to be the realisation of a dream for Christian von Koenigsegg. That dream was to compete and potentially win in the GT1 class and at Le Mans, one that McLaren proved was possible in 1995 with the F1 GTR.
Designed with ACO regulations in mind, the CCGT featured a 5.0-litre naturally-aspirated version of the V8 used in the road-going Koenigsegg supercars. Capacity was increased from the 4.7-litre lump to compensate for the removal of the superchargers. Very little of the CC road car’s bodywork remains on the CCGT, save for perhaps the roof, with the would-be racer getting bespoke downforce-generating clothing.
The figures were impressive, with the CCGT good for 600kg of downforce at race pace. It was also very light, an inherent benefit of the carbon chassis and construction of the road cars, meaning minimum weight was easily achieved, allowing the tactical placement of ballast to tailor the car’s dynamics.
But it wasn’t to be. The CCGT was only in its infancy but well on the way when the rules around GT1 started to change in a highly prohibitive way. Just months after Koenigsegg completed its first shakedown runs of the CCGT, the ACO brought in two new rules that stopped the CCGT programme dead and arguably, put the fork in the road for hypercars and motorsport: a minimum production run of 350 road cars per year, up from 20 examples over a number of years, and the banning of carbon chassis. For reference, to date, or 17 years on from the CCGT programme, Koenigsegg is yet to build its 350th car, while none have and none are projected to use anything other than a carbon chassis.
As above however, the prototype got to the shakedown stage. It was running and ready to prove its performance. That performance is now within reach of whoever fancies raising their hand during the Bonhams Festival of Speed sale. The price? This one-off piece of hypercar and GT racing history is expected to sell for between £3million and £4million. Still want that Jesko?