His subject matter—ultra-rare Euro exotics—certainly help, but it’s not like his are the only photos of Pagani Zondas in existence. What’s beautiful about Morris’s work is his relentless pushing of envelopes.

In every single one of his published photos, you can see and feel long hours of thinking and planning executed with great taste. Like his photo of a Lamborghini Murciélago taken at the humongous airship shed in Cardington, Bedfordshire.

Some of his stuff is just plain audacious. He has a photo of both a Porsche Carrera GT and a Koenigsegg which are deviously not in focus yet both work—and are some of the more memorable pictures you’ll ever see of Carrera GT’s and Koenigseggs.

Morris uses strange equipment to capture his images: Leica rangefinder cameras with manual focus lenses, some of which give you razor-thin depths of field. Not a walk in the park when you try to fit a speeding Lotus Exige in there while hanging out of a chase car.

You can see his photography on Flickr and on Parabolique, his portfolio site.

Photo Credit: Richard Morris

It’s not that the Swedes—who have this summer picked up Saab from General Motors—failed to try. The Koenigsegg’s door system, designed by company founder Christian von Koenigsegg, even has a wonderfully pretentious name. Refer to it by anything other than a dihedral synchro-helix actuation system and Mr. von Koenigsegg, pictured above, will pummel you into linguistic submission with a carbon fiber reindeer femur.

Here’s all that dihedral syncro-helix actuation in brief systemic action:

For your big fancy Lamborghini scissor door, opening upwards, danger lurks from above in the form of low-hanging parking garage ceilings and low-flying pelicans. In the case of the Koenigsegg, it’s from curbes, as made explicit by this warning label I photographed on the doorsill of a one-off K’segg built for a Kuwaiti oil millionaire:

Translation: popping open the extending-and-rotating door actuating the dihedral syncho-helix system closer than 16" to a curb at least 4" high is sure to result in a very, very expensive crunch of carbon fiber. Not that you’d care if you were in a position to custom-order Koenigseggs, but it’s a nice touch nevertheless.

I sincerely hope you Koenigsegg-owning readers out there are smarter than to open your Swedish hypercar’s doors with such reckless abandon. If not, post your tales of dihedral doom in the comments.

Photo Credit: ADAM IHSE/AFP/Getty Images and the author

This comes to us from the hallowed halls of Teamspeed, where one of their forum members spotted this sucker at local South African dealer. Just like the headline suggests, the carbon fiber is coated in diamond impregnated resin to give it that ridiculously expensive, ultimate warlord status symbol finish. Imagine the repair bill when your little warlord-in-training crashes his tricycle into it and leaves a nice long scratch. [TeamSpeed]

That's right, as far as we can tell, the deal requires the European Investment Bank to provide $600 million in financing backed by the Swedish government to Saab and "additional support is to be provided by GM and Koenigsegg Group AB to fund Saab's operations and product program investments." Additionally, "as part of the proposed transaction, GM will continue to provide Saab with architecture and powertrain technology during a defined time period. Additionally, Saab plans to produce its next generation 9-5 models in the Saab production facility in Trollhättan, Sweden." No mention if GM's actually getting anything out of this. In fact, it appears to us as though Koenigsegg's getting Saab for pretty much nothing. Good for them. Full press release below.

General Motors and Koenigsegg Group AB Reach Tentative Agreement on Saab

# Deal will secure Saab's future
# EIB expected to provide $600 million financing with state guarantee by the Swedish government
# GM reinvention achieves another milestone

Zurich. General Motors Corp. and Koenigsegg Group AB, a consortium led by Koenigsegg Automotive AB, today confirmed the details of a memorandum of understanding for the purchase of Saab Automobile AB that secures Saab's future.

The sale, expected to close by the end of the third quarter of this year, includes an expected $600 million funding commitment from the European Investment Bank (EIB) guaranteed by the Swedish government. Additional support is to be provided by GM and Koenigsegg Group AB to fund Saab's operations and product program investments. This includes plans to launch several new products that are in the final stages of development. Saab had filed for reorganization under Swedish Law on Feb. 20, 2009. This tentative agreement is a key milestone for Saab to successfully emerge from its reorganization process.

"This is yet another significant step in the reinvention of GM and its European operations," said GM Europe President, Carl-Peter Forster. "Saab is a highly respected automotive brand with great potential. Closing this deal represents the best chance for Saab to emerge a stronger company. Koenigsegg Group's unique combination of innovation, entrepreneurial spirit and financial strength, combined with Koenigsegg's proven ability to create world-class Swedish performance cars in a highly efficient manner, made it the right choice for Saab as well as for General Motors."

As part of the proposed transaction, GM will continue to provide Saab with architecture and powertrain technology during a defined time period. Additionally, Saab plans to produce its next generation 9-5 models in the Saab production facility in Trollhättan, Sweden.

"The proposed agreement will enable us to maximize the brand's potential through an exciting new product line-up with a distinctly Swedish character. Today's announcement is great news for Saab's current and future customers, dealers, suppliers and employees around the globe, said Jan Åke Jonsson, Managing Director of Saab Automobile AB.

The sale will be subject to customary closing conditions, including receipt of applicable regulatory, governmental and court approvals. Other terms and conditions specific to the sale are not being disclosed at this time. Deutsche Bank acted as financial advisor to General Motors Corporation.

General Motors Corp., one of the world's largest automakers, was founded in 1908, and today manufactures cars and trucks in 34 countries. With its global headquarters in Detroit, GM employs 235,000 people in every major region of the world, and sells and services vehicles in some 140 countries. In 2008, GM sold 8.35 million cars and trucks globally under the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, GM Daewoo, Holden, Hummer, Opel, Pontiac, Saab, Saturn, Vauxhall and Wuling. GM's largest national market is the U.S., followed by China, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Canada, Russia and Germany. In Europe, GM sells its vehicles in over 40 markets. It operates 10 vehicle-production and assembly facilities in seven countries and employs about 50,000 people. More information on GM can be found at http://media.gmeurope.com and http://www.gmeurope.com. GM Europe executives blog at http://drivingconversations.com.To support informed discussion and fact-based reporting, GM and Opel & Vauxhall have launched a new website at http://gmeuropefactsandfiction.com.

Koenigsegg Group AB is a consortium of private investors led by Koenigsegg Automotive AB. Koenigsegg Automotive AB manufactures supercars. It has representatives in Africa, Asia, Europe, the Middle East, North America, and the Oceania. The company was founded in 1994 and is based in Ängelholm, Sweden.

The three remaining bidders for Saab are Koenigsegg, billionaire Ira Rennert and Jim Press's personal saviour, Fiat.

"According to sources close to GM the toughest battle is expected between U.S. billionaire Ira Rennert and Swedish carmaker Koenigsegg," reports Swedish paper Dagens Industri, which goes on to state that Koenigsegg has lined up financing from a group of "very wealthy people."

As former Saab enthusiasts, we've got all our fingers and toes crossed for a Koenigsegg purchase. The engineering know-how and enthusiasm of that brand might just be the only thing capable of restoring the Swedish automaker to its former glory as a maker of truly weird and wonderful cars. [via Reuters]

Don't get us wrong, the two Swedish companies won't officially be working together to build the new Volvo P1800, but their engineering know-how will be in full effect. Vöx has approached Swedish design firm Vizualtech to handle the styling elements of the newly proposed one-off car which, as you can see above, is fairly faithful to the original 1960s design. When viewed next to a classic P1800, you'll first notice that Vizualtech has designed in larger wheel openings to accommodate larger wheels and they've also added 70mm to the front of the car to help fit the proposed powertrain.

Taking cues from his previous 1967 Volvo Amazon station wagon SEMA build, Vöx will supply the new P1800 with a tuned and turbocharged 600-horsepower V8 lifted from a Volvo XC90 SUV mated to a six-speed manual transmission.

We're excited to see this project come to fruition and desperately hope that it isn't just some Swedish meatball pipe dream as so many of these types of projects turn out to be. [autoblog.nl via motorauthority]

The Koenigsegg CCXR Edition is a duel fuel car, running on plain old dino juice the 4.8L twin turbo V8 cranks out 888 BHP. Fill 'er up with E85 ethanol and the car snorts out that mind bending 1085 BHP and will crush your internal organs on its way to sixty in less than 2.9 seconds, 125 MPH (or 200 KPH) doesn't take much longer at 8.9 ticks. Er... yeah, numbers like that don't even make sense to us but we like that kind of thinking. More cowbell!

More than 10 of the CCX's have been ordered already and will be available for pickup at the only U.S. Koenigsegg dealership, which just happens to be in the heart of Caesars Palace. Now that we've finally figured out how to properly spell Koenigsegg we're going to say it a few times. Koenigsegg, Koenigsegg, Koenigsegg. [World Car Fans]

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CCXR Flower Power When thinking about supercars, one of the last things that spring to mind are their environmental friendliness.

Even though the very low and exclusive production volume of Koenigsegg can hardly be considered to have a measurable impact on the Co2 problem that global society is facing, it is an impressive statement that even a small and extreme company like Koenigsegg can afford to develop environmentally focussed solutions.

By following conscientious and forward thinking strategies, Koenigsegg has managed to create the Bio Fuel Powered CCXR - environmentally friendly 1200 with even more spectacular performance than the standard CCX.

These two almost conflicting results are made possible due to the simple fact that the ethanol in biofuel has the positive side effect of cooling the combustion chambers, as well as a higher octane value, well over 100 RON, which gives the high power. Due to the fact that the biofuel has higher octane and cooling characteristics, the power has gone up to 1018 hp at 7200 rpm and the torque to 1060 nm at 6100 rpm.

It is natural to expect a substantial gain in power when optimizing the engine for E85(biofuel) instead of Petrol. Still the actual gain obtained even surprised the enthusiastic engineers at Koenigsegg.

Following the long term strategy of Koenigsegg, all previous CCXs will have the possibility to be converted by the factory to accept the biofuel option and reap the performance and environmental benefi ts of this wonderful and eco friendly fuel.

The CCXR Biofuel upgrade has been developed in-house on the factory's engine dyno by the skilled technicians at Koenigsegg, led by Christian Koenigsegg, Marco Garver and Anders Hoglund from the Koenigsegg partner company Cargine Engineering.

Curiously enough the CCXR is the first homologated car currently in production to reach over 1000 BHP.

So many questions. OK, as you probably know, SSC and their Ultimate Aero TT are on a hero's quest to break and thereby set the production car top speed record currently in the hands of the hated Swedes. On March 22 of this year they gave it a go, but because of a jealous Odin snow in Nevada, were only able to hit 230 mph. So, they tried again on May 22. No luck this time out either. Nope, last Tuesday they fell 0.6 mph short. Meaning that the TT did manage to achieve 241.4 mph at "71% throttle." However, according to SSC they weren't actually going for the record. Rather, they were sussing out the transmission cooling system. Which, apparently, works. So here's our questions. First, if this is truly a production car, why didn't they test the transmission on say March 23? Why the Space Shuttle launch like gap between tests? Second...

...SSC claims to be an American car company. If so, what's with the "71% throttle" position? That's more German than a Hasselhoff poster above a bed. Third, come on. They were going for the record. Why fib and say they were just testing? 72% throttle would have blown the thing up? And finally, according to our very poor algebraic skills, 100% throttle would mean... 339 mph? In a vacuum, we know, we know.Whatever the case, look for the Ultimate Aero to break both the Koenigsegg's viking official record of 242 mph and the Veyron's unofficial run of 253 mph with its thrice insane 1,183 hp supercharged V8. SSC's Junus Khan (is that the single greatest name in the world or what?) is claiming they'll be doing so in the very near future. We'll see you in back here in late July. – Jonny Lieberman

Related:
Snow Day: SSC Ultimate Aero TT Not As Ugly As We Thought [Internal]

Oh dear. You know, their track record with ultra-exotic machinery really resembles mine and Davey's with women. To date, and including this one, they have trashed an Enzo, two 'nigseggs and of course the Vampire jet car. This time out the TG boys were in the one-of-a-kind CCXR, the Swedish supercar maker's new bio-fueled monster. Old Stigy had just finished hooning the beast and a Koenigsegg engineer was driving Top Gear staffer Peter Grunert to new location for a photo shoot. Apparently, the engineer had forgotten that just hours earlier they had detached the under-body venturi tunnel (to attach camera equipment). This, combined with taking a blind corner at over 120 mph, led the unnamed man to smash into the "largest traffic cone known to man." Which caused the right-front wheel to shatter, which caused them to spin into a ditch. Then, the CCXR bounced out of the ditch and performed four more spins before finally heading back into the same ditch. Grunert reports that the carbon fiber tub stayed "perfectly intact," and that the CCXR left 265 meters of skid marks. We like that last bit the best. – Jonny Lieberman

My Big, Fat Green Wrecking [Top Gear]

Related:
Geneva Pre-Show: Koenigsegg Competition Coupe GT Revealed [Internal]

A Koenigsegg with only 600 horsepower? That's the thing about racing regulations; sometimes you have to make concessions. Nonetheless, it's the new K-egg CCGT, an FIA homologated GT1 racer based on the 806-hp CCX, whose homegrown 4.7-liter V8's gotten a double superchargerectomy. But it's also been bored out to 5.0 liters. It's also been lightened porked up to meet the GT1's weight limit of 2,425 lbs. We'll see it up close long about Geneva time. [Note: Spanks on me for missing the delicious irony that K-eg had to add ballast to meet the GT1 weight requirement, not reduce weight.] – Mike Spinelli

Press Release:

Competition Coupe GT
DOWN TUNED TO 600+ HP in order to comply with race regulations.

Koenigsegg has created a new race car - the CCGT, based on the production CC-model range. The CCGT complies with the ACO and FIA GT1 regulations.

The CCGT engine is based on the Koenigsegg CCX production engine with the superchargers removed but enlarged to 5.0 litre.

The reliability of the race engine is expected be exceptional as it is based on the proven strength and durability of the signifi cantly more powerful road car engine.

The minimum weight allowed for a GTI race car is 1,100 kg and most manufacturers struggle to meet this target, having to undergo massive weight saving programs.

Due to the fact the Koenigsegg CC cars are very light and stiff in road confi guration, the racing CCGT weighs in at just under an astounding 1,000 kg. This gives the possibility to place 100 kg of ballast freely within the car structure, still following the set rules. This should give Koenigsegg an interesting advantage over the competition.

The CCGT has very short overhangs, which could be seen as an issue when it comes to generating enough downforce. However, by further developing the clever and "slippery" design concept of the CC range, Koenigsegg believes they have created a unique package incorporating a surprising amount of down-force combined with a very compact package and optimal weight distribution. Since the CCGT has a short overall length and low overall height, whilst still maintaining adequate track width and length, it is thereby gifted with superior agility compared to most of the competition, which should be evident in future heated racing combats.

The Koenigsegg CCGT development team, headed by Dag B lenius, has done a superb job by refining the CC into the CCGT.

The race engine is being developed in-house in parallel with the production units by Koenigsegg engineers, supported by Anders Hoglund from Cargine engineering and JP Motorsport.

Flower Power
When thinking about supercars, one of the last things that spring to mind are their environmental friendliness.

Even though the very low and exclusive production volume of Koenigsegg can hardly be considered to have a measurable impact on the Co2 problem that global society is facing, it is an impressive statement that even a small and extreme company like Koenigsegg can afford to develop environmentally focussed solutions.

By following conscientious and forward thinking strategies, Koenigsegg has managed to create the Bio Fuel Powered CCXR - environmentally friendly 1200 with even more spectacular performance than the standard CCX.

These two almost confl icting results are made possible due to the simple fact that the ethanol in biofuel has the positive side effect of cooling the combustion chambers, as well as a higher octane value, well over 100 RON, which gives the high power. Due to the fact that the biofuel has higher octane and cooling characteristics, the power has gone up to 1018 hp at 7200 rpm and the torque to 1060 nm at 6100 rpm.

It is natural to expect a substantial gain in power when optimizing the engine for E85(biofuel) instead of Petrol. Still the actual gain obtained even surprised the enthusiastic engineers at Koenigsegg.

Following the long term strategy of Koenigsegg, all previous CCXs will have the possibility to be converted by the factory to accept the biofuel option and reap the performance and environmental benefi ts of this wonderful and eco friendly fuel.

The CCXR Biofuel upgrade has been developed in-house on the factory's engine dyno by the skilled technicians at Koenigsegg, led by Christian Koenigsegg, Marco Garver and Anders Hoglund from the Koenigsegg partner company Cargine Engineering.

Curiously enough the CCXR is the first homologated car currently in production to reach over 1000 BHP.

Related:
I Travel at Extreme Speed : The Koenigsegg CCX [internal]

What can you say about a million dollar car that tries to kill people while others are watching, other than "Get get me John Carpenter and Hal Needham, stat." The 806-hp Koenigsegg CCX is gaining that kind of reputation, though no one's been killed and no Koenigseggs have shown up on Wrecked Exotics yet. Still, on an episode of "Top Gear" you'll recall, a CCX tried to at least maim the Stig, though Stiggy struck back after the company slapped on a wing to turn in the fastest time ever on the BBC show's test track. Now, a guy in Norway got his arse rotated by an angry CCX, which had the wing. Wing or no, the K-egg is obviously not to be trifled with in front of an audience.

Dude, you just spun your Koenigsegg [MotorAuthority]

Related:
KITT-ingsegg: Speculating on the New Knight 2000; On A Wing And A Prayer: Top Gear's Koenigsegg-egg-egg-egg Test Redux [internal]

Famous for being the only car ever to attempt to kill the Stig on camera, the Koeniggsegg CCX will launch in the US in Las Vegas on Saturday, August 27th in Las Vegas. To be sold by Exotic Cars at Caesar's Palace (because Roman chintz and mirrored ceilings are the perfect compliment to a 260mph supercar), they're throwing a VIP party on August 27th followed by two days of track time at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The 4.7L, twin-turbo supercharged mill pumps out 806hp, and the whole car weighs in at a sprightly 2,200 ton lbs, allowing it to run a 9-second quarter mile at 146. It's sort of obscene that the thing is even road legal. What we wanna know is, who's gonna be the first to have an Enzo Moment in one?

Related:
On A Wing And A Prayer: Top Gear's Koenigsegg-egg-egg-egg Test Redux [Internal]