If you’re not a fan of Christian Von Koenigsegg’s work then you need your head read. A Koenigsegg might not be your favourite super/hyper/uber car, but anyone with a love of things with four wheels ought to be able to appreciate the cars they build at Angelholm.
This video is an interview with Christian Von Koenigsegg produced by EVO Magazine, talking about the new Koenigsegg One:1 “Megacar”. They call it that because it’s got 1 megawatt of power. That’s 1,360hp to you.
In this video, Christian talks about all the fine detail work that went into transforming an ‘ordinary’ Agera (actually, there’s no such thing as an ordinary Agera, but anyway….) into the One:1. But first, a word or two…..
I had to pause for a moment as I watched this.
I’ve been fortunate enough to visit the Koenigsegg facility twice. On my first visit, in 2010, I got to see Christian’s work first hand with a ride/drive in a Koenigsegg CCX. That car was absolutely, mind-bogglingly amazing – video below – as was the whole factory.
Now, you have to bear in mind that the Koenigsegg CCX that I drove that day had 806hp. It also had all the mod cons you could ask for and was amazingly easy to drive (which, by the way, is Koenigsegg’s neatest trick: making a mind-blowing hypercar that’s as easy to drive as a Ford Fiesta). But the CCX I drove that day – jaw-dropping as it was – is some 554hp short of the output produced by the One:1.
554hp.
That means the One:1 is more powerful than the CCX I drove AND a third generation Dodge Viper SRT-10 combined.
The video goes for 15 minutes and as he talks, I hope you get a good insight into the level of top-shelf detail that Christian Von Koenigsegg dedicates himself to every day of his professional life. He is the man I admire most in the automotive world because he’s 1) brilliant, and 2) totally down to earth.
Enjoy.
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And for reference, here’s the video I shot with Christian back in 2010. This is the long version – around 8 minutes – which includes our chat as we drove to the test track a few kilometres from the factory.
And did you know that the Lancia Fulvia was the last car to win what would be the predecessor to the modern World Rally Championship? Lancia went on to win ten WRC trophies after that, too, with the Stratos, the 037 and the Delta!
A new electric concept car named after the modern founder of the company, or
The landlord, who’s just taken the company to court over rent arrears?
Sadly, it’s #2.
Spyker has been ordered out of its premises within the next week after a Dutch court supported the landlord seeking rent owed to him by the company. Victor didn’t sound too worried in an email response to Jalopnik about the issue:
That process has taken quite some time. This creditor, the landlord, was unwilling to wait any longer so he went to court. We expect funding in a matter of days and then we will pay him. We then either stay in the building or move to the adjacent building which we own.
Either way we are fine.
Either way, it’s not a good look.
I hope they’re fine. I really do. I love Vic and I desperately want to see him building Spykers again soon.
Who knows what format the race will take, but Tiff Needell will be helming the Volvo against someone in a Koenigsegg One:1
I like the teaming up of these Swedish icons. The full video will be released next week.
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Datsun Stop!
It was so exciting when Nissan announced they were breathing life into the Datsun name again. Words flowed about reviving the classic Datsuns of the past – the old Z’s, the 510, the Fairlady.
Well, for a moment at least.
The reality is a little less exciting and whole lot less safe.
Rumours that every car sold will come with a protective chub suit are yet to be confirmed.
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Japan’s Car Culture in 4K
Car Culture exists everywhere and car culture in Japan is as nuts as you can get.
GoPro took their new Hero4 cameras to Japan to document it and the result is a great little film, ten minutes in length. If you’ve got the right hardware and sufficient bandwidth, crank this one up to 4K and enjoy the super hi-res experience.
And also via Hemmings, the perfect car for our PJ Paintings stall at Salamanca Market. Or any market stall holder. Or any business person looking to get noticed. Or anyone, really.
It’s a late ’70s Citroen HY utility and it looks absolutely perfect in all its surface-rustiness etc.
If I had local access to one of these at this price, I’d be all over it.
Let me say this quite plainly – Despite the revelations of Traumatic Bonding, I’m going to restore my Lancia Fulvia.
It’s dawning on me, though, that it’s going to take more time than I first thought if I’m going to a lot of the work myself in order to reduce the cost. We’re planning on a new garage/workshop being built at home and I really need that building before I can do a lot of the things that I’d like to do.
Given that it’s going to take some time, that leaves me with just the Brumby to drive. As much as I love the Brumby, where’s the fun in that? As several people noted in comments to the Traumatic Bonding story, the thrill is often in the chase and there’s little I like more than a good car hunt.
It’d be totally impractical for me to buy another car until our garage is built, but I thought I’d have a look around last night, anyway. It’s my first bit of car hunting in a while and it was lots of fun.
The criteria are simple – a $10K budget with the desire for an interesting ownership/driving experience. The manner in which the experience is interesting doesn’t matter. It can be sport, luxury, touring, body style, history, whatever.
Here’s what I came up with. All of these cars are for sale in Australia right now.
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2000 Audi TT Quattro
Some will call it underpowered, but it’s got similar power to a Saab 9-3 Viggen (less torque, though) and it’s a Quattro. The TT was, in many respects, the arrival of Audi as a serious premium player on the world stage. It was a concept car for the road.
I’m not interested in many Audis, but I like the TT. I’m not sure I’d like getting in and out of it every day, but it’s not a boring car by any means.
I like these old Benzes and this V8 would fulfil anyone’s weekend cruiser needs just fine. Built like a tank, drives like a limo and has timeless class.
Yes, a brick! But a brick with a difference. The 262C styling by Bertone makes the brick look almost elegant. Plenty of kit for the era, too. This car had an engine rebuild and hasn’t been driven much since. It’s a Canberra car, which means rust is less likely to be an issue. The interior looks a little worn in the seats, but otherwise, it’s all pretty good.
Not an overly likely contender for me, but still an interesting option.
Anyone of a cognisant age during the 1980’s will likely have fond memories of JPS cars. They were almost like the Red Bull of their day. Even if they weren’t winning, you noticed them. The black and gold livery vastly outweighed what was soon to become quite a distasteful sponsorship product. And on that note, isn’t it amazing to think in 2014 that back in the 80’s a car company could sell a special edition product based on tobacco, sell it at a premium and have it still be desirable today?
This JPS BMW looks like the real deal. It’s condition looks great, too. The interior’s usually the best place to notice wear and tear but this one looks as clean as a whistle.
This has been a favourite in our house for a while now. Geoff’s little Fiat X1/9 was an authentic mid-engine bargain option mainly because MR2 prices have been going up in recent years.
This MR2 is a local Tasmanian car and benefits from an engine upgrate to the ‘black-top’ 20-valve engine. The extra oomph combined with the MR2’s nimble mid-engined handling is sure to please. The only downside for me is the interior. This one is in superb condition, but the blocky MR2 interior design has never won me over.
This has long been a personal favourite but I never seem to get around to buying one. I normally opt for the six cylinder but given the trade-off between price, generation and balanced handling, I think the twin-spark four-banger might be the better buy.
I’ve had one before but I never got the best out of it. I never really gave it a proper chance. Part of that was frustration with the hardtop roof. It’s a two-person job to remove it so you tend to leave it on much of the time. That defeats the purpose of the MX-5, doesn’t it?
I wouldn’t mind having another crack at an MX-5 but this time, I’d get a roof-mounted pulley system to remove and store the hard top.
This car is the very desirable 1994 model. It’s the last of the NA series but with the slightly bigger 1.8 litre engine. It looks to be in great condition with minor but tasteful modifications. It has a full service history right from the day it was first sold. And it comes with the hardtop. The after-market tail lamps are the only downside, but the originals come with the car.
Yes, it’s still on my list. It’s got both the derrière and the handling to shake it. I love the blood orange colour, too.
This one might not be ideal. It has a changed engine, which might be a cause for concern given the number of modifications. It might have been beaten up a little. BUT, there are others out there and they’re only getting to be better value as time goes on. Don’t rule out an RS Clio at this price, either.
Not just any Saab, though. It’s my favourite 1985 model Saab 900 Turbo. The first of the 16-valve cars with the flat nose. And it’s in black. Mmmmm.
With 300,000kms on the clock, you’d have to check out the condition but the seller says it’s been serviced regularly by Swedish Prestige, in Melbourne. They’re good operators, so it’d hopefully be ready to go. No rust. The sunroof seems to be stuffed but it’s got a rebuilt gearbox, clutch, turbo and distributor.
For sale for $8,500, which is one of the higher prices I’ve seen for a classic 900 recently.
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1981 Alfa Romeo GTV TurboDelta
This would be a real contender. It’s not without needs, but it’s got superb rarity factor.
The TurboDelta was a limited run based on AutoDelta’s Alfetta of the same name. The Australian one was put together as a dealership special by John French and this is #1 of the French TurboDelta’s sold.
It looks quite clean on the outside but the interior needs a good going over. It also needs a head gasket (possibly) and the seller’s offering a replacement turbo for an extra $1000. Ominous, but do-able.
I watched the new Petrolicious video this morning. It’s called “Traumatic Bonding” and it’s about a guy who bought a Lamborghini Urraco back in the 1980’s and subsequently spent a whole bunch of time and money fixing the car up.
I could only nod my head as I watched it and trembled ever so faintly with fear for the future. Excitement, too, but just a little bit of fear.
Here’s the video. It’s about 8 minutes long.
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Right now, I’m at a tipping point with the Fulvia. I’m dismantling the car but nothing that I’ve done has made the job of restoring it any harder. I haven’t spent any real money on it yet but that’s just about to change (read below).
I have no intention to walk away but if I were thinking about it, now would be the time. The car is still in a condition where it can be restored. It’s 99% complete but everything needs fixing. It could be sold as-is. In fact, I’ve even heard of a prospective buyer who has the skills and the resources to do the job. I could even make a tiny profit if I were of a mind to do so.
I’ve made my first enquiries about replacement panels for the floor and the sills and the costs are a little scary. Just a little. I’m going through Omicron, in England, because they’re the ones with the best reputation and the most comprehensive range of in-house parts and services, and price comparisons with other, similar companies were competitive. The sections I’ve been quoted on – front and rear floors, sills, quarter panels and two rear light housings and lenses – come to just under £1,400. That’s $2,500 Aussie dollars.
What’s scarier is the freight. The supplier has obtained one freight quote so far and it’s £453!!! That’s more than A$800 just to move bits from one place to another.
I’m waiting on him to get a few more quotes.
I also took the top dashboard pad to a restoration company in Melbourne last weekend while visiting my family. The cost for restoring and re-covering – $395. Not unexpected. Maybe $100 more than I thought it would be.
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I don’t want this to be a five-seven-ten-twelve-year process. I want to get this car fixed and use it as often as I can, as soon as I can. I want to do as much of it as I can myself, but I know that I’ll have to pay skilled people to do a LOT of the work.
I’ve set money aside and I’m emotionally invested in this process already, but I’m not made of money and I have to try and be as financially responsible as possible. When I see $800 freight bills I start to wonder about my own sanity.
Thankfully, this will probably be the biggest single parts purchase for the car (at one time) and getting the floors replaced is a significant part of the body repair. I just hope the rest of it is structurally sound and fixable without having to resort to a life of crime in order to get it done before I’m dead.
Again, we come to that idea of the tipping point. Maybe I should try and get one of the Bocchino brothers out to see the car and tell me if the rust is terminal, if the seized engine is fixable and whether or not the car’s skewed front-end can be realigned.
Can this job actually be completed or am I nuts to even try?
I’m committed to my little Lancia Fulvia and I want to enjoy both the process and the end result. Maybe I just need to know a little more about what the process is going to entail. And maybe I need to start looking harder for supplies that aren’t going to blow a third of my budget on freight. I’ll use Omicron for the crucial custom made parts because they make the best stuff – and they’ve already been a valuable source of advice – but there must be a way to source some generic stuff at a more wallet-friendly price.
I did a little more work on the Lancia Fulvia today. It doesn’t feel like much was achieved, but it sure was time consuming!
When I last left you, all this stuff was still in the car with the exception of the panic handle….
The main focus for today was to finish getting the central part of the dashboard out.
On the right side of the photo, above, you can see the main areas worked on today – the two knobs and three ‘piano switches’ on the black strip, and the lower-central dashboard padding located below that black strip.
The lower part is the one I worked on first. You have to unscrew the ring around the ignition first. This is one of the securing points (I love you, Lancia). There is a screw inside where the instrument cluster used to be, and two screws inside the glove compartment. The final thing holding it in is the wiring attached to the cigarette lighter. One is a clip, the other had to be cut.
Voila!
Next was the somewhat tougher task of removing the upper section, with the two knobs and the three ‘piano key’ switches.
There was wiring a-plenty here. These controls operate your wipers, washers, lights and heating. The knob on the right has 7 wires attached to it all by itself! The labelling of the wires and the terminals on the back of the switch is what took up so much of my time today.
You can see there’s a little hole in the side of the knobs in the photo, above. Sadly, even though I have a selection of very small hex keys, I didn’t have one that would fit.
The knob on the left was connected by two vacuum hoses only.
This is what I’m left with now that the centre section is cleared. I have a clock and a whole lot wiring to pull out, along with the heating system.
I didn’t want to start on that stuff today, though. Working in the interior is very awkward at the moment. The car is parked sideways across a slope in my front yard so balance can be a problem. I need to put at least one seat back into the car, too. That’d make life a whole lot easier.
So, with the interior done with for today, I thought I’d turn my hands towards getting a glimpse of the future. I want to rebuild my car without the front and rear bumpers so it made sense to take them off and see how it looked.
Rear, with bumper…..
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And rear, without the bumper!
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I much prefer it without. What do you think?
Next, the front end with bumper…..
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And the front, without the bumper!
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Much better!
The bumpers were fixed by 17mm bolts/nuts and were easy, if slightly awkward, to remove. I also removed the bumper mounts from the front end, though I couldn’t get to the mounts at the back of the car today.
This front-on view has me worried, as it always has with this car. It looks a bit like Bugs Bunny after doing 10 rounds with Muhammad Ali. It seems to have a lopsided toothy grin. Hopefully the fundamentals are OK and it won’t take too much fettling to get into line again.
I’m off to Melbourne on Saturday evening and while I’m there, I’m going to drop my dashboard in to The Dashboard Doctor for some repair work. There are numerous cracks along the top and the whole thing needs to be re-covered.
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I’ve also made my first big order of bits to get the restoration underway, with new floor sections and sills on their way from Omicron, in England.
I’ll do a run down of the costs once the order and freight are finalised.
Well the ruse worked for about 5 minutes. Yes maybe I had some people thinking about SAAB, and why not? It could just have easily been the case, as it has been for many.
Recently I have questioned my prejudices much more robustly and taken more time to understand why I might feel a certain way. It also helps me understand where others might be coming from.
Why it wasn’t about SAAB is only because I have purchased two post-2003 SAABs, one a 06 9-3 SportCombi shortly after they came out and later a 08 Combi which we still have and love. As a matter of fact, the other day I was almost home when I saw one at a roundabout and thought, “Wow! That’s a cool looking Combi!” and realised it was Mrs Turbin returning home from work.
SO, it wasn’t SAAB I was writing about. It wasn’t even a brand of car or anything car related except for the setting where I have enjoyed this new product has been exclusively while driving.
It is Queens of The Stone Age aka QOTSAs fourth album “Lullabies to Paralyze”.
Now I’m not about to try to sell that band to anyone or explain the reasons I am so into them at risk of boring you. I do not know anyone, friend, foe or family who likes this band even remotely as much as I do. It’s personal, just like SAAB is for those who love the brand.
What’s important is that after buying their 2002 album which really broke through in 2003, I also saw them live both times they were in Australia. As much as anything I loved what their bass-player and sometime vocalist bought to the band in quirkiness, edginess and the rest. He was booted out after the Australian tour and I, like many, thought that was the end. I, also like many, saw the guitarist and sometime vocalist as the demon that ruined something good and decided that I wasn’t going to buy into what came next.
SO, while I’m a person who had no qualms spending large on a couple of those post 03 SAABs I wasn’t prepared to take a chance on spending $20 on an album or two that I might prove to hate or possibly, just possibly, even really love.
Recently while on a Swadesque journey through the albums of Led Zeppelin, I went to buy the next installment, “Houses of the Holy”. It wasn’t at the shop so I finally thought, “Why not take that chance?”, and finally bought the next 2005 QOTSA album, almost 10 years after release. To be honest it wasn’t completely spur of the moment as I had worked my way backwards through the QOTSA catalogue and came to realise that the “demon”, Josh Homme, was actually the founder of the band and had everything to do with their sound as much as his sometime partner in crime, Dave Grohl, is core to Foo Fighters and their sound.
Guess what? I came to love it really quick. Any album that has Billy Gibbons from ZZ Top guesting on a track supplying “guitar lead, vocals” where Jack Black is also credited with “marching” might just have something going for it.
I then got thinking why I let prejudice get in the road all these years. I also came to see there was this strange-but-true parallel with SAAB and thus we get to this point.
My question then is:
Have you, readers of Swadeology, ever come to a point where you’ve finally given up judging something and thought “What was I thinking to have not done this before? I’ve been missing out!”??
Last weekend I had the chance to drive a blue Series 2 Lancia Fulvia here in Hobart. The car is (tentatively) up for sale and the owner got in touch to see if I’d be interested in coming to have a look.
He didn’t have to ask twice!
It was wonderful to finally get some seat time in a Fulvia and make contact with an owner who’s been through the ownership experience, including a partial restoration.
I won’t be making an offer on the car because I realised as we drove the blue S2 that I’m far too engaged with my little red Series 1 and I don’t think anything’s going to tear me away from that at this point.
If any Aussies are interested in a blue S2, though, let me know via email and I can put you in touch with the seller. He’s not actively looking to sell at this point, but maybe you and he can work something out. Fulvias don’t come up for sale in Australia very often.
Since then, I’ve done a few sessions on the dashboard, which is packed with switches, gauges, nuts, bolts and screws. I got some Fulvia repair manuals online but the information in them about dismantling the interior is sadly lacking. It’s been a case of taking what little info there is, asking a few Fulvia friends for help and when all else fails – just going for it!
The first task was to remove the wooden fascia on the dashboard. There are two control knobs just above the steering wheel. The one on the left resets the tripmeter. The one on the right is a dimmer switch for the dashboard lighting. But together, they also secure the wooden dashboard fascia on the driver’s side of the car.
Undo the threaded sleeves holding these on and that’s two of the three nuts holding the wooden fascia done with. The third and final one is inside and just above the glove compartment.
And here’s the dashboard with the wooden fascia removed…..
Removing the gauges was fun! They were all quite easy to remove with just a screwdriver and the various cover plates were just clipped into place. The toughest part was labelling all the wires that connect into the back of the central cluster. The wires are all covered in masking tape labels now, with matching labels on the back of the gauge itself.
The next task was to take off the top dashboard pad. This is fixed in four places. The first two bits to remove are actually the air vents on either side of the dash pad. I kept feeling around the back of the vent for some screws to release the vents. I tried just pulling them out (though not with much force). I then had some helpful advice from a Dutch friend telling me about the spring release system that holds them in place. You can see the curved bits of metal inside the vent. They sit in a groove in the metal. Simply pop them out with a little bit of leverage from a small screwdriver and the vents come out easily.
The other fixing are underneath. Two 10mm nuts that were easily accessible from underneath the pad, inside the dashboard. Here’s the dash removed and turned upside down, showing the location of the fixings.
Removing the dash pad revealed some more rust in the top RHS corner of the dashboard. There must have been a windscreen leak in this area. I’ll show you some more rust from that in a moment.
The lower dashboard pad on the driver’s side was secured by two tiny little 8mm nuts that were a complete pain in the backside to undo (until I stopped trying to use my small shifter and trudged down to the garage for an 8mm spanner!)
You can see from the photo above, where the lower dash pad was removed, it revealed a little more rust in the metal. The lower dash pad itself is your usual foam with a vinyl covering, but it seems to be formed around a metal mould. The metal in the dash pad itself has rusted quite badly – that likely windscreen leak, again – as you can see from the photo below.
The last task for this evening was to remove the ‘panic handle’ from the passenger side of the dashboard. This was held in by four fixings: two inside the glovebox and two inside the handle itself. Important to note – the of the glovebox bolts also acting as a fastener for this blue wire to the body (presumably an earth, maybe for the clock?)
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I’ve still got the central cluster of switches and instruments to remove, which I’m told will get very tricky when it comes to the ventilation system. Then there’s the lower dash pad on the passenger side, including the glove box.
While you’re all pondering the subject of Turbin’s recent Guild writing – Prejudice Part 1 – allow me to distract you momentarily with a rather epic and detailed Ebay ad for a Porsche 911 Turbo. I’m posting it now because it’d be a good idea to see while the auction’s still live.
Mention the name ‘Magnus Walker’ at a Porsche Club event and you’re likely to get mixed reactions. Some people love the guy and some people………. don’t.
He’s certainly worked wonders with his own profile in the last few years. Some would argue he’s done the impossible and actually lifted the already-pantheonic profile of the Porsche 911 in some circles.
Some 911 owners might sneer, but air-cooled 911 prices have gone through the roof in the last few years. If Magnus’ promotional work has added even a single percentage point to that, then that’s a reason to be cheerful.
Magnus is certainly cashing in on a personal level. He was on Porsche’s official guest list at events all over the northern hemisphere last summer. And now he’s cashing in by selling one of his 911 Turbos on Ebay.
You’d be forgiven for thinking he’d simply say “this is a Magnus Walker 911 Turbo” and wait for his notoriety to draw the bids in. But no. This is actually one of the better Ebay ads I’ve ever seen. He’s definitely working hard for the money.
The ad has 159 photos!!!
30 or so of those photos show the car looking all shiny. The rest of them are shots of the rebuild that was done to the car and detail shots of the interior, the undercarriage, etc.
This is a genuine, epic car ad. I’d encourage you to take a look while it’s still online.
It seems to be working, too. As at the time of writing, there have been 33 bids and the asking price is up to $111,099
