The Koenigsegg One:1 and the Regera are truly astonishing cars, bearing innovative technology, performance figures and build quality. But their idea and concept must’ve come from somewhere…

And here it is; this coffee brown, clumsy-looking automobile isn’t a Koenigsegg replica or a copy, but the first car born out of Christian’s von Koenigsegg passion for motoring culture and engineering. It’s the foundation that laid the path ahead for the titanic, monstrous modern ‘Seggs to become poster cars.

This interesting prototype recently visited the Swedish car maker’s factory for a historic photoshoot with its successors, including a CC8S, CCR, CCXR, CCXR Edition, Agera R and the one and only One:1.

According to Koenigsegg’s own blog, most of these models come at the factory from time to time, usually as part of their maintenance program; but the arrival of the prototype was something special, as the car spends most of its time at the Motala Motormuseum – located about 200 km south-west of Stockholm (in case you’re in Sweden and want to visit).

The car took two years to build, falling behind schedule, but was eventually presented at a track meeting in 1996 – yes, that means the firm was founded in 1994.

So, what monstrous beast lies within the bowels of the first Koenigsegg ever made? Is it an exotic, horsepower-hungry animal? Well, not exactly. Before making its own Ford-derived V8 engine, Koenigsegg wanted to make Audi even more famous and use the German car maker’s powerplants. That’s why the prototype uses a 4.2-litre V8 Audi from the era, which boasts approximately 300 horses thanks to a modified intake and exhaust system. Of course, the deal with Audi never happened, so Koenigsegg chose a different approach for his cars.

What’s up with the brown color, you ask? Well, the car was initially painted in silver and had normal, plain, ordinary, boring hinged doors, but after Koenigsegg came up with its unique dihedral synchro-helix door mechanism, the car manufacturer had to modify the body panels and ruin the paint in order to fit the contraption. To make a long story short, Koenigsegg commissioned over the phone what color should be used to paint the car, and the local painter applied a completely different one.

Still, it looks cooler than ice, and the one-of-a-kind Koenigsegg DNA can be spotted from a mile away. Moreover, the cars built by the prestigious car maker took only 19 years to evolve from this into the pristine, perfect examples of automotive refinement we see today in Koenigsegg’s line-up.

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