HOW BIG IS KOENIGSEGG

In my early 20s, I was struggling with a lot of things. Heck, I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with my life. Somehow I carried on but later I did get my act together and decided what I wanted to do with my life. Now when I started to research the internet for this story, I came across one man who made sure that one day he will work towards his passion and he finally did make his dream come true at a very young age (more on it later). Sure, it isn’t the usual rags to riches story. But a story that has overcome setbacks and still managed to come out on top of all its competitors. It isn’t nearly as big as its other competitors in size, magnitude, popularity, but sooner or later it would give them a run for their money. Apart from its rare recognition there is one thing that most of us would agree with, that is its spelling and the way it is pronounced. Who cares? As long as they are true to their craft. It is the mighty hypercar company based out of Ängelholm in Sweden — Koenigsegg. Also, it’s even got the tag of supercar killer. Spare the trouble, the rest of its story isn’t as complicated as its name.

- Saurabh Gamare

THE MAN

At an age where you could barely complete a sentence, Christian von Koenigsegg had made up his mind to build the world’s fastest car. This thought came to young Christian’s mind after watching a stop-motion film from Norway about a bicycle repairman who builds his own racing car. That movie fascinated him so much that by the time he turned 22, he had set up a company that would go on to build cars which in today’s times is a testament to speed. Very few individuals stick to their childhood promise and even fewer achieve it. Well, he hailed from a business family, but Christian von Koenigsegg had to build it up from scratch by doing odd businesses to eventually earn the capital that he needed. Now, the company had to bring about a challenge to unsettle the exotic supercar manufacturers.

THE HANGAR

Koenigsegg’s first facility unfortunately went up in flames. This was a major setback that hit them when they were working on their early prototypes. Luckily, the employees managed to save the prototype but were, technically, homeless. Until they decided to make an aircraft hangar as their facility. But the hangar and their story has a connection. The story of the hangar goes back to 1930, when the Swedish