Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut

Rear wheel drive and a V8 remain a deliberate choice here, even in a catalogue filled with machines that pursued different layouts in search of speed. That decision carries an obvious trade off, yet it also delivers something no other car in this collection can match. The Jesko Absolut sits first out of all 600 cars for top speed, proving that this route did not limit the final result. It bought outright supremacy in the one measure where every other entry, regardless of configuration, falls short.

That headline figure would mean little without the supporting numbers. The twin turbocharged 5.1 litre V8 produces 1,280 bhp and 1,500 Nm, placing the car twelfth for power across the entire catalogue, within the top 2 percent. It reaches 100 km/h in 2.5 seconds, fast enough to rank fifteenth and quicker than 585 other cars here. Those figures explain why the rear driven layout matters. Rather than following the most common formula for extracting performance, it achieves results that remain near the very front of the field while reserving absolute distinction for top speed.

Context inside the catalogue sharpens the picture further. Only 216 of the 600 cars use a V8, 132 combine that engine layout with rear wheel drive, and just 41 pair a twin turbocharged V8 with rear wheel drive. Even within that smaller group, none asks more financially of its owner. At a used price of GBP 4,200,000, it stands ninth overall for value and is the most expensive V8 car in the collection. That equates to GBP 3,281 per bhp, a reminder that this is not a route chosen for arithmetic alone.

Its rarity is measured rather than exaggerated. Production reached 2,020 cars, leaving 156 of the 177 catalogued low production models rarer still. Sweden contributes only eight cars to the entire catalogue, seven of them wearing the Koenigsegg name, giving this national thread an unusually concentrated presence.

A two door targa top with the catalogue's highest top speed occupies an unusual position because it stretches opposite qualities together without abandoning either. In a dream garage, it becomes the point where several extremes meet. It is the fastest car in the catalogue, the most expensive V8 within it, and one of its strongest demonstrations that a rear wheel drive V8 can still define the outer limit.