Like many young men, Christian von Koenigsegg was fascinated by machinery as a boy. He even went so far as to dream about creating his perfect sports car. In stark contrast to the rest of us, however, Christian actually went ahead and turned that dream into reality – at just 22 years of age.
With extraordinary determination and vision, Christian explored the limits of both technology and innovation to create the Supercar of his dreams – the Koenigsegg CC. The Koenigsegg CC was the manifestation of a dream and its successful completion gave Christian the courage to continue, and to share his quest for perfection with others. Thus, the car company that bears his name was born.
The story of Koenigsegg is as fascinating and unique as the cars themselves. Christian was only 5 years old when he first saw a stop-motion film from Norway about a bicycle repairman who builds his own racing car. The film must have made an impression, as a young Christian grew up dreaming of creating the perfect sports car. Some 17 years later, and against all odds, he did just that.
Christian showed an early interest in design and enjoyed the challenges posed by discovering new technical solutions. As a young boy, he dismantled video recorders and toasters, just to see how they worked and whether they could be improved.
As a teenager, he was known as the best moped tuner in town and in the early 1990’s, around his 18th birthday, Christian began to work more seriously with technical innovation and came up with some interesting ideas.
One of the innovations was called the Chip Player. He believed that one day, computer memory chips would be able to store an entire CD’s worth of data and that it would probably be a cheaper way to buy and store music. He conducted some patent searches for a musical device that would play chips instead of discs. In the end, however, no one seemed interested in the idea, so Christian moved on, not realizing that a few years later his idea would become the norm.
In 1991, he invented a new solution for joining floor planks together without adhesive or nails. He called it Click, as the profile enabled the planks to simply click together. Christian presented this technology to his father-in-law in Belgium, who ran a flooring factory. He rejected the idea, saying that if it was viable, someone would have come up with it a long time ago. Christian then showed the concept to a few other floor manufacturers who also dismissed it. In 1995, a Belgian and a Swedish company patented the exact same solution as Christian’s Click floor – they even called it Click! This innovation has now turned into a multi-billion dollar industry…
CHRISTIAN VON KOENIGSEGG
A man and his dream
The man behind the name
The Koenigsegg Jesko, the all-new megacar shown at the 2019 Geneva Motor Show, is named in honour of a special person in the history of Koenigsegg Automotive.
Jesko von Koenigsegg’s contribution to Koenigsegg Automotive pre-dates the existence of the company. It was Jesko who took a young Christian von Koenigsegg to see Pinchcliffe Grand Prix, the Norwegian animated film that inspired the dream that would eventually become Koenigsegg Automotive.
It was Jesko and his wife, Brita, who nurtured that dream. They encouraged their son’s interest in practical engineering; rebuilding monkey bikes and mopeds, and tuning boat engines.
Together, they showed him what business acumen looked like – Jesko as a successful serial entrepreneur and Brita with her renowned millinery business in Stockholm.
In 1995, having recently sold his business, Jesko joined Christian in Olofstrom during the earliest days of the company for what was supposed to be a six-week stint of assistance.
Those six weeks turned into 5 years…
Jesko became the first Chairman of the Koenigsegg board while he poured his life – and much of his life savings – into the future of the Koenigsegg company. His business experience proved invaluable as he built an experienced board that would put structures and practices in place to carry the company into the future.
“The board understood that the vision for this car was not just a young man’s dream. It was driven by a fierce passion that would accept nothing but the best” he said.
Jesko attended one of Koenigsegg’s first ever vehicle displays at the Cannes Film Festival in 1997. His interest in the company and his enjoyment of promoting it have never faded.
Today, more than a decade since ending his day-to-day involvement with the company, Jesko still dons his suit and tie to attend the Koenigsegg stand at the Geneva Motor Show every year.
A life lived to the full
Jesko’s life has revolved around his three greatest passions – his family, his work, and his love of horses.
Jesko’s love of horses and horse racing has been a lifelong affair, stemming from his father, Harald, who bred and raced horses as a gentleman jockey. The Koenigsegg Jesko on display at Geneva is finished in white with green accents – the same colours worn by riders from the Koenigsegg stables. The love of horses is a passion that he later shared with his two daughters, though not with his son, Christian, who showed more interest in horsepower of a different kind.
Jesko spent 20 years as a successful amateur jockey and gave more than 40 years in voluntary service to the sport as an administrator and board member.
Jesko’s first love, of course, is his family.
He married Brita in 1968. They have three children and seven grandchildren. Now enjoying their retirement, Jesko and Brita continue to live a life of adventure that has seen them tour all four corners of the globe.
Koenigsegg Automotive would not be the company it is today were it not for the years of experience, support, hard work and investment from Jesko von Koenigsegg.
His entrepreneurial and adventurous spirit lives in his son, Christian, and continues to drive the company that bears their family name.
As Jesko turned 80 in November 2018, Christian could think of no more suitable way of honoring his father than by naming his next creation after him.
The timing also coincides with the 25th anniversary of Koenigsegg Automotive – the perfect backdrop to celebrate both man and machine.
It is with great pride that Koenigsegg Automotive honours the life of Jesko von Koenigsegg, and his contribution to our company, by naming its new megacar the Koenigsegg Jesko.
Christen von Koenigsegg stating; “We believe that one day in the very near future, the arrival of FreeValve PHEA technology will represent as big a transition, or bigger, than the move from carburetors to direct injection.”
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Koenigsegg’s Cam-less engine in a Qoros 3 hatchback
FreeValve AB, a sister corporation of Koenigsegg, have shown at the Guangzhou Motor Show a cam-less internal combustion engine by removing crucial parts, claiming fuel savings of near 20%. The engine installed in a Chinese made vehicle, Qoros 3 hatchback has 47% more power and 45% more torque over a similar capacity traditional engine.
The FreeValve concept, also known as fully variable valve actuation, offers independent control of the intake and exhaust valves, doing away completely with the camshaft, hence the term ‘cam-less’.
The company’s innovative design, placing electronic connectors between the rails and actuators, mean the system is able to ‘decide’ what air/fuel mixture is needed in response to driving conditions.
Valves are opened by hydraulic-pneumatic actuators and closed by spring or compressed air. This system is monitored with advanced sensors, controlling timing and lift – allowing the electronics to know the position of valves to within 1/10 of a millimeter in real time.
FreeValve have already tested this technology on the road with results showing a verified fuel consumption reduction of 12 – 17% compared with traditional direct injection and variable cams – significant performance improvements have also been achieved.
Although you may not have heard the name FreeValve before, you could be more familiar with their Chief Executive Officer, Christian von Koenigsegg – founder of the Swedish supercar maker Koenigsegg. FreeValve are a subsidiary to the exotic car maker and the success of their development program could see the technology make its way into the supercar market.
In April this year, FreeValve AB also announced a partnership with Qoros Autos, a Chinese car maker. The partnership opens another avenue for the company to take their working concept and transfer technology to a production application for passenger vehicles.
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