One-off Koenigsegg tops Festival of Speed auction with £3.3m hammer price
Hypercar maker’s only ‘race’ car gets top price at Goodwood sale
A Koenigsegg CCGT race car that has never competed was the most expensive car sold at the Goodwood Festival of Speed auction.
Taking place on Friday (July 14), the CCGT was by far the most expensive car to go under the hammer, selling for £3.319m, including fees at the Bonhams auction. This Koenigsegg is a true unicorn, and was devised when the Swedish hypercar firm was looking to enter the 24 Hours of Le Mans racing series.
Hand-built over several years, just a few months after test drives of the CCGT had begun in 2008, regulation changes meant that Koenigsegg would have had to significantly ramp up production numbers to enable it to go racing.
As a result, the project was canned, and this CCGT remains the only example, with Koenigsegg never making a racing car since. Afterwards, it went into the collection of Bård Eker, who was then the largest shareholder in Koenigsegg. It has remained with him since, and is said to be ‘practically’ new after being stored in ‘temperature controlled, dry and dark conditions’.
Tim Schofield, head of motoring in the UK for Bonhams Cars, said: “Being the 30th anniversary of our very first auction at Goodwood, we were really hoping for a significant sale, and so we are, of course, thrilled to have sold the Koenigsegg for such an outstanding price.
“It is a true unicorn supercar, which was hard to value, but I feel that the price we achieved is well worthy of its remarkable stature.”
Other notable sales included a 2008 Mercedes SLR McLaren ‘Crown Edition’, painted in a unique yellow shade, that sold for £379,500. A ‘dismantled’ Aston Martin DB5 ripe for a complete restoration also sold for £326,600.
Despite these high-profile sales, 31 of the 79 collector car lots failed to meet their reserve. It was many of the high-worth models that struggled too, including an ex-Peter Sellers Aston Martin DB5, which was estimated at £2.2m-£2.6m, and an ex-works 1984 Audi Sport Quattro S1 Group B rally car, estimated at £1.2m-£1.4m, which were both unsold.
