Carbon fibre can be shaped into nearly any form, giving an aesthetic finish, with some opting for a clear coating over the carbon fibre exterior instead of paint. Alloys and metals used include Inconel for the exhaust headers, chosen for its lightness and heat transfer properties, titanium for other exhaust components that need to be lightweight, and gold for sections of the engine bay for its appearance and heat reflection capabilities. In addition, the ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, Dyneema fibre improves the impact resistance of carbon fibre composites and gives additional chassis crash protection.
Almost all the components are designed and hand-made in-house by the design and engineering workforce at Koenigsegg’s production facility in Ängelholm, Sweden. In-house manufacturing enables low volumes to be made as required. Koenigsegg works with suppliers to evaluate emerging materials for potential use on its cars. ‘The industry is constantly evolving and we have to keep ourselves plugged in to the constant change cycle of materials technology.’
Traditional craftsmanship
Morgan Motor Company, UK, has been hand-making sports cars since being founded by HFS Morgan in 1909. The materials used for its vehicles must be both lightweight and ‘lend themselves to hand production,’ says Jonathan Wells, Head of Design at Morgan. All of its models are based on aluminium, ash wood and fine leather. ‘We practice traditional coach building for the bodies of our vehicles. This means using an ash wood frame as a non-structural “coat hanger” upon which aluminium panels are hand beaten. Ash is easy to sculpt, source and sustain, and is a static wood in terms of how it adopts moisture and moves throughout its life. Aluminium is soft and easy to manipulate. Recently, we have explored carbon fibre, hand-worked over a wooden frame to lower weight on our electric platforms,’ explained Wells.
The design and manufacturing phases of Morgan vehicles are a mixture of traditional and modern. Morgan’s EV3, an all-electric 150-mile range three wheeler, currently in development, takes under nine seconds to go from 0–62mph (0–100km/h), weighs less than 500kg, has a carbon fibre bonnet, tonneau cover and side pods.