When Christian Von Koenigsegg, founder, innovator, and the man behind some of the most extreme hypercars in the world, like the CCX, Jesko, and Gemera, adds a car to his personal collection, it ought to be something truly special, and this one indeed is. This is Koenigsegg’s latest acquisition, the Zagato AGTZ Twin-Tail. Conceived by the famed Milanese coachbuilder and Poland-based La Squadra, and limited to just 19 examples, we first saw the AGTZ in February last year, and the example seen here is #2 off the line.
Based on the contemporary mid-engined Alpine A110, you get a 1.8-liter turbo-four cylinder with 252 horsepower, top-drawer driving dynamics, but the body is completely bespoke, redone in carbon fiber over a 1,000-hour build process. Design details include a cleaner nose with teardrop headlights and Zagato’s signature double-bubble roof. While 19 colors, nine liveries, and paint-to-sample options are available, this particular car has been finished in Alpine’s striking racing color of blue with white roundels and embellishments of the French flag on the roof and extended tail.
But this coach-built masterpiece packs a split personality of being both a long-tail high-speed racer and a more nimble and agile, short-tail cruiser. Unbolt the lightweight rear section, and the car transforms both visually and aerodynamically, going from 15.7 feet to 14.0 feet. The car is a tribute to Alpine’s wild 1969 A220 Le Mans race car prototype, more specifically chassis #1731. Back in the day, the French marque’s engineers came up with a radical solution of hacking off the tail to make the A220 competitive in hill climbs.
Koenigsegg has even owned humble performance cars like the Mazda MX-5, Tesla Model S and Toyota GR Yaris, along with several models that bear his own name, but the Swedish hypercar maker’s bespoke commission is especially noteworthy as it goes to show that the man is not all about only chasing high-speed world records, but also someone who celebrates the art of boutique manufacturing and a has a real appreciation for cars built by hand the old-fashioned way.
Image Source: Zagato, LaSquadra / Instagram
