Christian von Koenigsegg: “Inspiration comes from the MX5”
In an interview with CarBuzz, Christian von Koenigsegg explains how there’s a bit of MX5 in each of his hypercars.
The Koenigsegg Gemera is described as the world’s first mega-GT. With four seats, a 1,700hp drivetrain and a top speed in excess of 250mph, it’s a far cry from the Mazda MX5s most of us pootle around in. Or is it? The company’s CEO is adamant that each Koenigsegg car is designed with the little Japanese sportscar in mind.
When CarBuzz asked Christian von Koenigsegg about the MX5 he said, “There's a purity to the MX-5, especially the early versions. That is hard to find." He added, "it's easy to misunderstand Koenigsegg with all our power numbers and top speed, that that's our main focus.”
In fact, every year, the Swedish manufacturer seems to come out with a higher power figure and a new way of reaching it. The Gemera is the perfect example of this as its 1,700hp comes from a 2.0-litre three-cylinder engine boosted by three electric motors on the crankshaft and rear axle.
Christian continued to explain, “we focus much more on driving experience, and handling, and feedback, and the way it feels than how fast it is. So for sure, inspiration comes from the MX-5."
His infatuation for the MX5 comes from a well-documented ownership experience that sounds more like a love story. He sold his personal NA MX5 before entering the hypercar manufacturing world. Having become an international success thanks to ingenious engineering solutions, the multi-millionaire has now bought the exact car that he fell in love with so many years ago.
“It's in pretty good condition," he says. "I still drive it and I still love it. And you can have so much fun with almost no power at all, as is proven with the MX-5."
It’s great to here about a man’s passion and love for a car. However, his company doesn’t seem to be living by the quote, “you can have so much fun with almost no power at all.”
Having branched out into the four-seater market, perhaps Christian von Koenigsegg will one day make his way into the lightweight, low power market.
Join In
Comments (8)
I love my MX5, but if he's interested in a small, low powered sports car then I'd be very interested!
of course he could make something like that. Just not sure if it's weird or not..
Never owned a mk1 MX5 but the mk2 1800 was better than the 2 litre mk3 as it revel better nicer gearbox and drifted better with less instant twitch when you over cooked it in a corner. I love the mk4 but can’t buy one due to the god awful iPad stuck in...
Read moreBuy a sport model, you get all the greatness of the ND without the ipad. Plus you save weight and money. Win win win.
There is no doubt that he could design and build one if he wanted to. The big question would be at what price, given his production capacity. Unless, of course, he scales that up, which would be a huge long-term commitment to mass production.
All electric full carbon version of an ariel atom would be awesome. 800kg 400hp awd. Get it to market an an mx5 price. Who needs a 400k supercar doing 300kmh. Under 3 spec 0-100 and massive corner exit acceleration at road speeds is all you need
Mazda is very underrated compare to Toyota & Honda & even Nissan.