The precious metal, painstakingly applied by Italian master craftsman Ettore ‘Blaster' Callegaro, adorns exterior badging, makes up the body's racing strips, adorns interior surfaces, and has even been used on the engine and to dress the hood's struts.
To ensure the gold has the optimal contrasting effect, the car's body has been left in naked, albeit clear-coated carbon fibre so that the Gryphon's structural integrity is presented as art as well as science.
Yet as impressive as its exterior appears, it's what it covers that truly makes this car spectacular. Sitting behind the Alcantara-trimmed driver and passenger seats is a 5-litre V8 engine designed, developed and built from the ground up by Koenigsegg itself, which, thanks to prodigious twin-turbocharging and some serious engineering knowhow, outputs a frankly physics-defying 1360hp.
Little wonder that the Gryphon - the name of the mythical creature that is half lion, half eagle and the embodiment of strength and speed - comes with a bespoke carbon fibre crash helmet also finished in gold leaf.
To put Koenigsegg's engine into context, the Bugatti Veyron, a car built using the immense R&D reach of VW, the world's biggest carmaker, needed 16 cylinders, an 8-litre capacity and four turbos to generate “just” 1,001hp.
And, even with the gold leaf, luxuriously appointed interior, full infotainment system and hydraulics for raising either the front or rear end for overcoming things like speed bumps, this car tips the scales at 1,395kg. That's just a passenger seat and a few creature comforts short of the magical 1:1 power-to-weight ratio that's the supercar maker's holy grail.
The Agera RS Gryphon will make its global debut at the Geneva motor show, before being handed over to its owner.
After all, from the gold leaf to the engine output, this car has been built specifically to a client's requests - one of which was that the finished car be completely road legal in the US, where it is set to be driven.
Two Regeras
Koenigsegg will also use the Geneva show to celebrate the completion of the first two Koenigsegg Regeras - one in green and the other in red.
The first Regera to be delivered is finished with a modern twist on a well known sports car livery. Reminiscent of classic British Racing Green, the green tinted clear coat allows the carbon fibre weave to shine through.
The car is fitted with Koenigsegg’s new “Tresex” hollow-core carbon fibre wheels, which reduce wheel mass by 40% compared to a lightweight alloy wheel of the same size. Fitment of Michelin’s brand new Pilot Sport 4S tyre is standard.
The second Regera wears a combination of candy apple red with a clear carbon centre section and candy apple red hood stripe.
The Regera features the world’s first Direct Drive system for a production vehicle. It marks the first time Koenigsegg will build two concurrent models in its Ängelholm production facility.
It features the first 800-volt electrical system to ever be used in a production vehicle. This is used to supply power to three electric motors, which, at 670hp, have the highest electric power output ever used in a production hybrid.
The Regera is the first production vehicle in the world available with a fully robotised body and the first with a fully stowable, top-mounted rear spoiler for better aerodynamics.
The hybrid powertrain in the Regera will propel it from standstill to 300kph in 10 seconds – faster than even the Koenigsegg One:1 – and on to 400kph in just under 20 seconds, yet another world first for a production car.
