Koenigsegg is regarded as one of the most revolutionary automakers in the industry. Take the Koenigsegg Agera, for example. Introduced a decade ago, the Agera was, in many ways, a revolutionary supercar that helped Koenigsegg transition from being a niche automaker to a globally renowned automotive purveyor of hellacious speed and performance.

The latest episode of YouTube channel Mr.JWW shines a light on the supercar that made Koenigsegg a household name.

Why is the Agera a significant part of Koenigsegg’s history?

The Agera represented more than just a ground-breaking supercar for the Swedish automaker. It was the supercar that pushed Koenigsegg to new levels of technological capability. It was the supercar where we saw Koenigsegg transition from using superchargers to turbochargers. It also featured carbon-ceramic brakes, which not only was the first time they were used in a Koenigsegg, but, more importantly, they were built in-house for the first time. Heck, even Koenigsegg’s naming strategy changed from initials nomenclatures like the CCR to full-blown names like the Agera, which, by the way, means “to take action” in Swedish.

Arguably the most important innovation in the Agera, though, was the Vortex Generating Rims (VGR). It sounds like a term you’d normally encounter in Star Trek, but there’s nothing fictional about what Koenigsegg created. These rims were designed to provide the brakes with cool air while also producing extra downforce for the car.

As a whole, the Koenigsegg Agera was a game-changing supercar for Koenigsegg, and the innovations didn’t just end on the surface. At the heart of the Agera was a 5.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 engine. It sounds like a typical turbocharged engine now, but it was important back then because Koenigsegg didn’t use turbochargers before the Agera.

But the transition to turbocharging, together with upgrades to the exhaust system, unlocked levels of power that Koenigsegg knew would catch the world’s attention. On that end, the automaker was right. Koenigsegg only built seven units of the Agera between 2010 and 2014. Variants subsequently followed, including the One:1 and the Agera RS, the fastest production car in the world.

But it all started with the Agera. You can say that Koenigsegg was already a known brand before the Agera’s arrival, but there’s a difference between a known brand and a household name. The Agera changed that for Koenigsegg.

Koenigsegg Agera specifications