Autoblog

Click image above for high-res gallery of the CCXR Edition

Covering a show like Geneva has its ups and downs for a journalist. Most of the time you are trying to follow a very tight schedule of press conferences that has you shifting 50 feet every fifteen minutes for about 12 hours a day. The upside is that the cars (and sometimes people) around you are quite often breathtaking and, besides the travel expenses, the whole party is free. As much as you'd like to linger, it can be extremely difficult because of the itinerary. Automakers generally have personnel on hand to answer questions, but if you linger you risk missing out on the next big thing across the aisle. But then there are those serendipitous moments when you just happen to be in the right place at the right time.

When we went back into the hall a few minutes ago to get a few more interior shots of the Koenigsegg CCXR Edition, we happened to spot Christian von Koenigsegg himself. We reached out a hand, introduced ourselves and mentioned that we had the chance to drive one of his supercars last fall in Las Vegas. We chatted a bit about the fact that we were expecting a black/red Edition here in Geneva and he said that this was a one-of-a-kind special order, "a Picasso" he joked. What he said next just about floored us. According to Koenigsegg, it took his team about 3,000 hours to hand lay the carbon fiber for this naked knockout. Then he mentioned that the beauty is far more than skin deep. The car produces so much more downforce that he thinks it is one of the easiest supercars to drive. We know we never had any trouble with the old one, but some others have. Then he talked about the fact that he wants to get the car out for more testing. He mentioned the 'RIng and another assault on the Top Gear track. He also shared that six of these Editions have already been sold and that more orders are in process since the show started yesterday. And just like that we remembered that we had to be elsewhere and said goodbye. Oh wow, is that Sir Jackie Stewart over there?!