Koenig-Special F50

Yes there was one made with twin turbos and there is a video of it.
http://youtu.be/5DOPtRCr9O8

 

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8oR-mNZWVk[/ame]

 

Maybe there is more than one, because the one that was for sale has silver wheels and stock seats and the one on the video had gold wheels and Kevlar race seats. Or it may be the same car that it's latest owner made these changes.
There is also an awesome Enzo in Japan I believe, which has no turbos, but a custom exhaust by Koenig.

 

+1

 

Speaking of turbocharged F50s, there was (past tense) the John Carmack twin-turbo F50, which, thankfully, is a twin-turbo no more...

The single question that is begged of any Turbo'ed F50 is: why?
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I believe the copy of the article you posted attempts to ask the same question and to answer it as well. In my mind, why not? When you strip the name and the myth it is just a car underneath.

 

The article, by knowledgeable Car & Driver testers, in essence concludes that the owner's attempt to push the performance envelope by turbocharging his F50 was a failure.

 

I understand. I am not arguing either side. I don't understand a lot of choices people make related to their cars. Just saying that some people just love to thinker with their toys. And if it makes them happy and they can afford it, why not.
I also don't understand how there are people who pay $200K for a custom fabricated street rod and then paint fake rust on it to make it look beat up. But they love it. Would I do anything to a F50? No. But someone had nothing better to do and some money to blow and had fun in the process.
This I believe is kind of like the recent debates over the V12 over the turbo 8. If you like the Turbo experience and love the looks of the F50, I guess Turbocharging the F50 would make sense.
In Koenig's case for me personally his F50 was the last of an era of senseless excess. He was known for it and whether we like it or not, apparently a lot of people liked his creations enough to pay pretty penny for them.

 

You've described it perfectly.

 

If one wanted more power from the F50 I'd have gone the atmospheric route. The turbos add too much weight and ruin the sound of the V12.

With the F50 GT, it's proven that well over 750hp can be made from the engine, without adding unnececcary weight associated with turbos. Plus...you can enjoy that F1 engine even more...!

 

John Carmack is a great guy. If he was on this list and you asked him politely why he did this - he would give you a long, and accurate answer on the steps involved, the ideas that were proved true, the ones proved false - what the problems were and how they could probably be solved next time.

 

I am always fascinated by why people do these things and would be very interested in what he would have to say.

Best,

 

I agree. Although I would imagine the owners would counter with: Why not?

 

Sent him a tweet, very busy man with his goggles these days, but see what happens.

 

What issue of Car & Driver is that? I'd like to go back and read it. I don't remember that one.

Thanks.

MDS

 

May 1999.
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Between iD and Armadillo I don’t see him having time for FC.

Did he take over the Oculus Rift startup? I know he previewed it and talked highly about it but did not know he was involved

 

Carmack turbocharged is F50 because he wanted a low boost setup. He loved modified Ferraris. At the time of this article he owned two cars. His 1100+ hp Testarossa and this F50. If he needed a ride for more than two, he would rent a limo. He also lived in a very modest home, barely furnished with a 55 gal drum of race fuel in the garage.


FYI - I'm the guy standing in the trailer. John Carmack is standing below to my right.

 

John Carmack is one of the smartest people on the planet. I wouldn't second guess anything that guy does. Modified Ferraris are not my thing but for someone like him I can unerstand it. He basically started an entire industry by pushing the envelope. If I were as smart as him I might think I could improve on Ferraris designs too.

 

I don't believe his ideas were to "improve" upon Ferrari's designs. I think it was more about tuning the experience his Ferraris gave him to his own liking. Which is pretty much why any mod/personalization is applied to any car.

 

SPORTS CARS INTERNATIONAL dec/jan 2000
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Keonig F50
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http://www.albrex.com

->Videos and select the third one.