The Koenigsegg CCR Is Now Legal in the United States: The Incredible Story of How This Happened and What It Means for the CCR Market
In recent years, the market for early Koenigsegg models has been heating up significantly. The CC-series cars, as they are jointly called, including the CC8S, CCR, CCX, and its variants (CCX Edition, CCXR, CCXR Edition, CCXR Special Edition, CCXR Trevita), are becoming increasingly desired by collectors. Vehicles from the same era, such as the Porsche Carrera GT and the Bugatti Veyron, have seen prices boom, and the Koenigsegg CC models are following a similar trend.
In recent years, the values of CC-series cars have been driven by the US market. Koenigsegg CCX’s, for example, are valued higher in the United States than in the rest of the world. This is a simple calculation of rarity. There are just fifteen examples of the CCX / CCXR (including variants) that are legal in the US market, compared to thirty examples in the rest of the world. Collectors inside the United States are competing to acquire one of the coveted fifteen US-legal units, while a collector in Europe or Asia, for example, can purchase any unit (Forty five options, as US-legal cars are also legal outside the US). CCX examples legal in the US fetch a premium of at least 25%, sometimes more, compared to non-US examples. The cars pre-dating the CCX, however, were never US-legal, limiting their market to Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia.
Enter the CCR.
Recently, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the American government agency broadly responsible for motor vehicles and their regulation, approved the 2004 Koenigsegg CCR for the Show or Display exemption. The Show or Display exemption allows the import of motor vehicles “deemed to be of unusual historical or technological significance”, provided no version of the vehicle was originally manufactured for the US market. Approved vehicles can be imported so long as they are not driven more than 2,500 miles per year.
The CCR was never manufactured for or sold in the United States: check. It once set the world record top speed for a production car, giving it undeniable technological significance: check. Therefore, it was eligible to be put forward for Show or Display approval. This process could have, in theory, been undertaken many years ago. However, it is known to be time consuming and expensive and required a collector with the desire and resources to make it so. We reached out to Koenigsegg for comment on this story and were told they had no involvement in the process, meaning it was entirely spearheaded by the collector.
June 2021. Milan, Italy.
Renowned auction house RM Sotheby’s is running its first-ever Milan auction and the lineup of cars is small but impressive. There is a 1966 Ferrari 275 GTB by Scaglietti, a 1957 Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Roadster, a 1988 Lamborghini LM002, and sixteen other cars. Included in the mix is Lot 118, a 2004 Koenigsegg CCR: YT9M1G0V8L2007011.
Chassis 7011 was unveiled to the world at the 2004 Geneva International Motor Show, marking the model’s debut. As far as CCR’s go, this is a very special example.
After its debut in Geneva, Chassis 7011 was offered for sale in Norway and, just months later, appeared in the stable of the infamous Norwegian car collector Thor Johannessen, who displayed his collection of over 80 cars in a French castle. His collection was Italian-focused, with highlights such as two Zondas, an F40 and F50, a Miura, and many more. During his ownership, the car was offered for sale a few times, until it was sold to Luxembourg in 2010. The new owner kept the car for nearly six years, also driving it very little, until it was sold to southern Germany in 2016. Its new caretaker drove the car at a few events and, as such, the car was seen at the Koenigsegg Owners Tour 2017 and 2020 and SOC Switzerland 2020.
Back to Milan. Chassis 7011 crossed the auction block and sold for €798,125 (US$967,886). The buyer? An American car collector and businessman whose company had, just days prior, unanimously approved a deal to be bought out for many billions of dollars. In other words, the perfect candidate to take on the process of legally importing a Koenigsegg CCR to the United States.
After selling at auction in Italy, chassis 7011 was transported to the Koenigsegg factory in Sweden. For the next few years, almost nothing was heard about the fate of the car and it was barely seen. Our team heard the car was being used at one point to help train technicians in the servicing of older Koenigsegg models, but the car was otherwise just in storage. With the knowledge that the buyer was an American, we were waiting (im)patiently to see what would happen. Surely it was being prepared to be imported to the United States, making it the first CCR to reside in the country. However, the waiting game continued. The car appeared at the 2023 ‘Koenigsegg Dealer Conference’ at the factory, following which it went back into hiding. Then, more waiting.
After the NHTSA approved the 2004 Koenigsegg CCR for US import under Show & Display, we knew chassis 7011’s arrival in the country was imminent. Then, in mid-2024, it happened. First, import records surfaced of the car arriving in the United States. Then, a photo surfaced online on November 24th showing the CCR in a parking lot in Texas, alongside an Aston Martin One-77, the first photo of the car stateside. It is likely that both cars had been imported together from Europe. Twenty years after its unveiling in Geneva, a Koenigsegg CCR had been imported to the United States.
The import by one collector of his Koenigsegg CCR is not what makes this an important milestone. Instead, it is that the 2004 Koenigsegg CCR is finally legal in the United States and, after two decades, one has finally made it to the country. There are a total of six 2004 model year CCR’s in existence, of fifteen CCR’s total, and only these six cars can legally be imported under this Show and Display exemption (the other nine CCR’s are either 2005 or 2006 model years and the Show and Display exemption has only currently been granted for 2004 model year). The whereabouts of these cars is as follows:
Chassis 7008: Taiwan, since new.
Chassis 7009: Sweden, owned by Koenigsegg
Chassis 7011: United States
Chassis 7014: Switzerland
Chassis 7015: Germany
Chassis 7026: Australia
Until 2030 and 2031 when the 2005 and 2006 model year CCR’s become importable to the United States, the above six units are the only US-legal ones. If the CCR’s follow the trend of the CCX’s, it makes these examples more valuable than their later-built counterparts. Will we see a boom in CCR values and the import of other examples to the United States? Only time will tell.
For now, Koenigsegg enthusiasts in the U.S. can celebrate that this storied car, once the fastest in the world, can be enjoyed on American soil.
Written by Mika Bains and Nils Rodemer - December 2024
Photos courtesy of Keno Zache for RM Sotheby’s and Oscar (obd.photz).
To view the full list of cars that are eligible for importation for Show or Display, see here.
