Koenigsegg One:1 brings the 273-mph megacar to life

The second question everyone will have about the new Koenigsegg One:1 is how fast will it go? The as yet unproven answer is 273 mph, which is fast enough to top the record holding Bugatti Veyron Super Sport (269.86) and the recent unofficial one-off run by the Hennessey Venom (270.49) for the title of world’s fastest production car. The first question will be, how do you pronounce Koenigsegg? That one we can answer with certainty; it rhymes with "bun fig leg."

The One:1 name is a bit easier to explain. The car weighs about the same number of kilograms as its twin-turbo V-8’s horsepower output, somewhere in the mid 1,300s, depending on whom you ask. Of course, since both of these numbers are somewhat hypothetical, they could have easily called the car the Koenigsegg Golden Dragon and claimed that the weight and power matched that of the mythological beast and its breath.

It certainly has wings like a dragon. The prodigious two-part flipper out back, the profile of which resembles Salvador Dali’s moustache, is connected to the car’s structure by a pair of buttresses that wouldn’t look out of place on a 19th-century train trestle. All this wild scale is apparently necessary, as the spoiler can be called into varied duty, transitioning actively through a range of motion similar to your grandmother before her shoulder replacement surgery, to provide low drag, high downforce, and air braking capabilities.

Alsohelping to keep this missile from becoming airborne is an active front splitter, intentionally positioned underbody air-suctioning panels, and a host of vents and strakes that resemble a family of isopods, or a quartet of enormous black licorice barber’s combs. Guaranteeing visibility — at least in the highly relevant forward direction — is a wraparound greenhouse that looks like the world’s deadliest sickle.

A few other staggering numbers: 1,011, the engine’s torque output in lb-ft; 26.1, the amount of boost the turbos produce at peak; 1,354, the amount of downforce the big wing creates, 100 or so m.p.h. below top speed. The approximate price in dollars: $2 million. E85: the green fuel on which this “megacar” has been tuned to run.

Center locking carbon fiber wheels, carbon-ceramic brakes, 6-point harnesses, and a USB connection are standard. An unpainted clear-coated carbon body, anodized black aluminum interior, titanium exhaust, anddiamond-encrusted key are available as extra-cost options, a bespoking process which Bunfigleg expects many of their customers to take on. Why a diamond-encrusted key? That's the third question.