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Fact or Folklore? The Infamous Koenigsegg Speeding Ticket
Koenigsegg CCR
From Wikipedia:
“During its review of the CCR’s successor, the CCX, BBC television program Top Gear reported that the Koenigsegg CCR holds the fastest speeding ticket in the United States allegedly occured in May 2003 in Texas. It was supposedly 242mph (389 km/h) in a 75mph zone. The car was involved in the San Francisco to Miami Gumball 3000 Rally.”
That much I knew. But the rest of the story, if true, is easily twice as ludicrous.
“The car was involved in the San Francisco to Miami Gumball 3000 Rally. The driver, Arthur Chirkinian, was arrested and the car towed. His co-driver paid his bail and they retrieved the car from impound. While trying to catch up to the other gumballers the driver noticed smoke and steam from the engine and his gauges showed that the car was over-heating. He pulled over to find his radiator cap had gone “missing” while it was impounded. Arthur Chirkinian hitched a ride to the local Volkswagen dealership where he purchased a brand new Volkswagen Beetle and drove it to where his CCR was parked. He purchased the car because the New Turbo Beetle had just come out and the auto parts stores had not even received any inventory for that car. By placing a call to Koenigsegg they told him that that is the only radiator cap that would fit. He filled the CCR back up with radiator fluid and took the radiator cap off the Beetle and put it on the CCR. He then took off in hopes of catching everyone else, leaving a brand new Turbo Beetle on the side of the road with the doors unlocked and the key still in it. He caught up to the pack later that night in New Orleans.”
There you have it. And after tons of searching I couldn’t find a single piece of evidence other than this quote roaming the internets. What say you Lusters, fact or fiction?
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why would Koenigsegg use the same radiator cap as a beetle?
Words by a on June 13, 2009 at 3:16 am | #
Epic. That’s one to tell the grandkids.
Words by Guyon on June 13, 2009 at 9:05 am | #
I hope it’s true, because that’s one of the better stories I’ve heard.
Words by sketch on June 13, 2009 at 3:49 pm | #
Shenanigans.
The New Beetle Turbo S was launched in 2002 not 2003, so it wouldn’t have been so new in May 2003 that a VW dealer couldn’t supply a new rad cap (but could somehow supply the entire car). The basic turbocharged engine was available in the New Beetle from 1999.
Further, the 1.8t (basic turbo) and Turbo S use the same radiator. Even worse (for this story), the 1.8t, non-turbo, and Turbo S use the same radiator cap according to two online parts searches.
Words by Dean403 on June 15, 2009 at 5:52 pm | #
One more thing: unless this guy is a complete moron (read: inherited all his money and hasn’t earned a penny), he should have figured out that he need not abandon an entire car (with key no less!) for a rad cap.
Surely he could have parked the new car at the dealer (minus rad cap) and come back for it (or had it shipped) with a new rad cap later to recover at least some of his money. In 2003, a New Beetle Turbo S (the “new one”) started at about $24k before discounts, negotiation, and options.
Words by Dean403 on June 15, 2009 at 5:58 pm | #
Thanks, Dean. The radiator cap argument makes sense. Your second point, however, is all relative. Imagine if your income were $40K per day and you felt like making a high-profile statement of excess. If I had the means, I just might be capable of the same idiocy.
Words by Nathan Redden on June 16, 2009 at 10:02 am | #
Got an ugly ticket that I want to get out of. My friend turned me on to a free site, (no email needed, they make money on advertisements) on how to get out of a speeding ticket. It has a pretty funny video and I downloaded the pdf, and it looks pretty cool. I am going to try it out. It is http://www.ticket-gone.com Let me know what you think… Bert
Words by Bert on June 25, 2009 at 4:18 pm | #
Folklore.
It’s from a movie: http://www.kalahari.net/dvd/Gumball/1/32741281.aspx
Words by DRJ on July 11, 2009 at 10:55 pm | #
The Koenigsegg Arthur drove was a CC8S, not a CCR. The CCR debuted at the Geneva auto show in 2004. Also, Arthur told the Gumball 3000 film crew that he saw the cops and managed to slow down a lot before being clocked. He got a fine for doing 127 mph, according to himself.
When the CCR did its top speed run at Nardo it reached 240.7 mph. Bear in mind that the CCR developes 150 more HP than its predecessor, CC8S.
Words by Patrik on July 30, 2009 at 3:26 am | #