The Koenig C62 is a $1.5M, Street-Legal, Porsche LeMans Racer - One Take
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 27 ก.ย. 2024
- Anson Belt ansonbelt.com/... Check out the Box Set for 6 Belt Combos. Thanks Anson for sponsoring this video!!
When the FIA disbanded the Group C class of tubocharged LeMans prototypes for 1991, a lot of privateer teams were left with virtually new, race-ready Porsche 962 chassis and engines. Three enterprising lunatics, Dauer, Schuppan, and Konig, all separately, decided to do something about that: turn them into street cars.
Wily Konig and his company, Koenig Specials (yes, the spelling is different) had been tuning Ferraris, Mercedes and Porsche with extrovert flair for some time, and this was the perfect logical conclusion to that business model. The Koenig C62, this Koenig C62, was the very first one to hit the road of a reported three converted. Dauer and Schuppan's cars came later, with a bodywork and interiors that were quite a bit more refined than the C62, which is vurtually unchanged from the Jaegermeister race car, on hand when I picked it up at PEC.
The chassis and powertrain are full-on 962 race car, with a 3.4L, air-cooled and Carrera-based engine detuned to run on pump gas. In this trim, it makes 800 HP. The car weighs just under 2,200 lbs. It has a dogleg five-speed gearbox, geared for 235 mph. (The fastest production car in the world in 1991 was the Ferrari F40, which went 201). It has incredibly sketchy pneumatic doors, a very weak ventilation system, and pretty much no way to get out if you're in a crash. Because this car is so rare, so valuable, and because the miles are so low (just over 600 km) I was not able to take it all the way out into the canyons and double the mileage in order to open it up.
But only a grade-A moron would pass up the chance to see what it's like to actually drive a Porsche 962 LeMans race car around Los Angeles in normal daily traffic.
Driving notes:
- I was handed the keys to the C62 with ZERO further instruction. Everything I learned about this car I had to figure out on my own. There are no manuals and very little information online about "How to drive a Porsche 962."
- Unlike other air-cooled Porsche's, the C62 has some sort of hydraulic clutch system. The extremely irregular clutch feel and take-up, especially from a stop, I suspect is due to this system malfunctioning. Disabling the system via dashboard switch did not alleviate the issue.
Brings back the memories to the first time everyone drove a manual, “please don’t stop please don’t stop, need to stay in gear”
I was literally dying when he said that. So fucking relatable
I learned on a beat to shit 58 mercedes "3 on the tree" (it was actually a 4 speed, but the first owner ruined 1st and no one knew, lol) and he sounds EXACTLY like i did. Especially the lack of shifting feel
EXACTLY!!!!
Honestly I think it's American thing, here where I am from non of my friends had issues with manual, almost every car have manual, it's just how it works.
I picked up my FRS a few weeks ago and this is so me on a incline, still not good at hill starts.
I couldn’t imagine the stress involved with driving this thing on the road. What lunatic hands you the keys to this, without any instruction?!
He said “with minimal instructions”
Bill gates....
Dave Franklin I’m not saying he isn’t “qualified” to drive this, opposite.
Someone should have fully explained the car, and all its functions to him.
@Dave Franklin Yep, exactly. If there's anyone I'd feel comfortable just throwing the keys to anything and telling them to figure it out, it's Matt.
@@MikeKayK yea, makes for better content aswell.. a bit of a curve ball for such an experienced driver..
Everyone loves calling their modified car a "racecar for the road". No boys. THIS is a racecar that's allowed in the road.
Abacus Fitness and Money You do realise there are many classes of racing right?
@@christinsley2530 are you an idiot?
@@ChynaDawl he dropped the ball didn't he? Nobody said anything about different race classes he said it because there's different types of racing therefore different types of race cars but he forgets that no amount of mods on a road going car will be the same as a actual race car from the ground up that was made road legal big difference structurally and so on
@@theanimelibarian7881 Bingo.
Actually Brendan my Honda Civic is a real race car
ten solid minutes of pain and agony and discomfort, then finally gets into boost
twice! :-D
More like after he found on the e-break was on
sounds like most of my shits
That's how you know the purpose built greatness!
"No one told me anything about this car!" Seemed like the nice lady at the beginning was trying to but you shut her up
I literally posted the same thing. I felt for the girl. He was so rude it was unbelievable. I’ve noticed he’s getting more like it But that was too much for me. When does he think he is
This was a fantastic video, but he did seem rude to the girl.
LMAO exactly
@T HEX I agree 100% but I'm not basing my opinion on him from this one instance. I have seen him talk down to people many times and this just reinforced it.
@@mbh8621 does he really? i only watched a few of his videos havent notice it
962
- makes Your Koenigsegg average, Chiron normal, Ferrari boring.
Hahaa, close. Koenigsegg is 👑
YUP!
@Dave Franklin Le Ferrari?? Lmao what are you a ten year old buying hot wheels that attend hot August nights with Daddy......?????.....
@Dave Franklin Wow, slightly racist.
@@drummerdoingstuff5020 Koenigsegg never won LeMans, so that ain't true in the slightest
I still remember that black Koenig Testarossa on the cover of Road & Track... 800hp, 686 lb-ft, a plexiglass cover over the engine, the extra air-intake slats cleanly done away with, and exposed headlamps... Pure dream car.
Remember this? th-cam.com/video/P8oR-mNZWVk/w-d-xo.html
Yup, not so bad: i.wheelsage.org/pictures/f/ferrari/koenig/pininfarina/testarossa_competition/koenig_ferrari_testarossa_competition.jpeg
Thanks for making me aware of the Koenig Testarossa
freibier Litterally a baby f40
I think i had my first lotion moment to a Koenig Testarossa poster... Maybe that's also why I married a redhead
At 20 mins, “I flicked it, I don’t know what it does...” Ahh, that gave me a good laugh. Hats off to you Matt Farah, for being brave enough to upload video of when you were way out of your comfort zone and struggling. This is video is a perfect example of the beauty of youtube. Nothing this raw goes out onto cable airwaves.
I would drive it with a helmet, just to confuse peoples even more.
I would pee out of it in the McDonald's parking lot
@@juffurey best typo ever
@@kengerrish8217 wut typo I no mek typo
Brilliant
But then you cannot see at all :D
"koenig" is the german word for "king", in german you would write it "könig"
This. Matt said it wrong, the oe is there to replace the ö for international use ( english) so its wrong to say konig when you cant pronounce ö
Genau
richtig 😄
Königlicher Kommentar.
Koeniglicher Kommentar. :)
Sounds like the mixed the words around
Lmao, this is what driving supercars was all about. Sheer panic, grimaces at strange sounds and laughter once you get to open it up
Leuff yup
“There’s a switch here, I flicked it, I don’t know what it does” amazing
Didnt even notice I just watched the whole thing I was so captivated by the stressfulness of that drive.
The clutch and gearbox probably just needed to come up to temp.
That is done at speed (100+)
He just needed to realise that race cars aren't meant to be shifted into 2nd at anything but the top end of revs
No it comes from the people who brought you the 914. The linkage is rod based, goes behind the driver, diagonally under the drive shaft, under the gearbox all the way to the nose, then a rocker arm as the gearbox is upside down so the driveshafts are in line with the wheel hub. #leaveitin2nd
@@AAARREUUUGHHHH Not necessarily, like most race cars it's not meant to start and stop. First gear is just to get going and you're mostly using second to third, hence the dog leg.
@@Eargesplitten-Loudenboomer 1st at le mons could over 100mph in the past due to the high speeds on the track
I hate when I find out I’ve been driving with the handbrake on.
This is def one of my favorite one takes- from the stalling in the city traffic to the turbos kicking in on the freeway hahah this is amazing Matt thank you
Truly a special piece of automotive history. I can't even fathom driving the Koenig in that traffic.
I believe this gear box clutch was designed for launching the car on first gear and downshifting, since the car would normally be in the happy 7000 rpm range up shifts probably (from my assetto corsa experience 😂) don’t require clutch engagement. Definitely the gear box is not designed for low rpms or traffic situations
Yeah hes driving all wrong lol...but he would get arrested if he drove it right.
rubbiebubbie Exactly 😂
It's just like any other dogbox man, really was nothing special about it. Quite honestly sad that he didn't even bother rev-matching nor shifting hard enough.
th-cam.com/video/PZxC-knQmkM/w-d-xo.html
Of course, you are right! Matt Farah is just an arrogant clown who is living on daddys money, who really thinks that he can just go out and drive a road legal Porsche 962 on shitty LA streets and crowded roads with 30 mph top speed in first and second gear. It just hurts watching this fucking bullshit! This is still a race car and totally out of place on such shitty LA roads, even more when the driver is such an untalented little bitch, who is really rude to a woman who just wanted to help this clown driving this car.
Matt Farah is just a privileged clown, who constantly pretends to be a car nerd.
How this guy really is as a person, shows his behaviour to the nice lady at the beginning of his untalented attempt for driving a race car. Why is this prick so fucking rude to the lady at the start of his shitty drive??
We need more of these cars, cars that are so unique that they feel completely out of place...until you drive it like you stole it.
Yeah, but with cars this expensive, the risk is too high to "drive it like you stole it", He's driving around in a constant state of anxiety.
Aside from something like a Saleen S7, Mosler MT900, Panoz GTR1, etc., there are more alternatives.
For instance: rodin-cars.com/models/fzero
At 5:46 you say it's 3,100 pounds, and later at 14:07 when on the 405 you say it's 2,100 pounds. Might edit that out. Great video, fantastic car, thanks for sharing!
He's a slug
He thought he was driving a NASCAR...
@@tommack8650 the car is 4500 lbs with Matt onboard.
@Erik Friedland Thank you! I thought I had hallucinated.
30 year old gearbox that's probably been ripped on by like 100 people. No worries man!
and TIL that some 962 prototypes had a double-clutch "PDK" transmission!
@@hovnojede010101 Yeah, that's right. But it took years for Porsche to bring the PDK in this race car, because in the beginning it was just too heavy for the Porsche 962.
This reminds me of old top gear with Jeremy, Richard, and James. Doing some outrageous Roadtrip in lemans cars. Excellent content.
An amazing experience Matt! Did not want the video to end. Thank you for filming and sharing👍🏁
I feel like you should have given her a kiss goodbye before closing the door
definitely
@@Gandalf721 come on. I know he's got a wife. Do you know humor bro??
I don't care how difficult it is to drive or how scary it is. I absolutely love it. Thanks.
This sounds like me when I just learned manual "Go go go! I don't want to stop!"
One of the best things humankind did.
Boss of Gods.
I dont want to watch it.
Im scared.
In fact, since last december, there is one street legal Porsche 962 quite near my town, down there in Poland.
This Koenig car is an amateur bullshit. The only valid street-legal 962 is the Dauer.
@@gustavoflorio5383
Well, i want that bs all over me.
I want to have kids with it!
Gotta love Koenig Specials everything they did was nuts!
Not to many cars can make a 90s viper seem luxurious..this thing is pure race..wish you did 2 or 3 more full throttle pulls tho..woulda been cool
Wow! You’re brave my friend. I think your genuine concern was warranted and appropriate. I hope the pull to 7000rpm made it all worth the effort.
Koenig, Dauer, and Schuppan all made street-legal 962s. If someone managed to do a road test of all three it would be the most incredible thing ever.
Oh look, a Montana plate. Surprise....
?
@@y4nnickschmitt People register expensive cars in Montana to avoid paying the sales tax on them. I believe there's no sales tax in Montana.
And you don’t have to actually live there to open a “business” to register the cars to. Cars don’t need to even be in the state to get tags
For a cheap amount you can have a Montana lawyer set up an LLC for you, then register the vehicle using the LLC's address usually a PO box. Or the lawyer's office physical address. All legal. For now. There are attorneys in MT that specialize in this. Very popular among RV community
This is now my favorite one-take ever👍👍😂. The car is cool, Matt is human and it’s a a crazy thing👍👍
11:18 “OMG! This thing is so stupid” is what my wife would say after taking her for a ride after I bought it.
Parked across not one but two disabled parking spots. Classy Matt.
Watching you drive basically a race car through daily traffic is Hilarious.
21:53 this man is sigma. He feel bad on homeless. He respects them. I love this man
Did you ever think when you started the Smoking Tire you would ever be driving something like this?
I will never forget Reeves Callaway saying, "Lot's of people say they want a race car for the road. (frowns) I can tell you that is not what they want." Matt says, let me show you.
I remember when I had a '68 Karmann Ghia with grindy front disks with an engine so weak I could barely make it up Sepulveda Pass. I know about panic.
Often people claim that a certain car is quite the handful. This car is two solid fistfuls of terror! I f'n love it.
Why is this belt salesman reviewing cars?
tomayte tomahte
bwahahahaha!
😂😂
This has the be the gnarliest car you have ever featured on your channel. A video of this thing on the track would be amazing since that’s where it’s in it’s element.
Nice job on feeling the clutch after a short while!
dude owns a countach
Yessir... those smiles and laughter of enjoyment hitting the hwy. Priceless
I felt the tension every step of the way. Felt like speed 2
I hate it, I hate it, it sucks, you can't drive it... 11 minutes in cackles of laughter and smiles it's GREAT!
We all think it would be cool to drive a race car on the road, but this is proof that that is not the case. I have a feeling this car would be amazing at like 8 tenths or 9 tenths. The transmission would probably be so much happier driving it hard. Race cars at normal road speeds don't seem like fun.
This is sick I’d rather drive this in the streets then a Lambo
Ya but the lambo isn't constantly raping you while you drive it
I loved watching you be scared driving the car, because it reminded me of my first time driving a manual transmission lol
I’d lose it if I looked over and saw that on the highway lol
Hell yeah Matt that was great to see you in such a iconic car .. Great video
Seeing my mom's Lexus in the thumbnail I thought the Porsche was gonna race it
That was awesome, yet terrifying.
Never understood the need to drive something that was designed to operate flat-out in stop and go traffic
Cause your givin the opertunity that most will never get
Because you can?
I think it’s some what the boy racer in some folks. It’s cool to experience what race car drivers experienced. I’m one of those people that get turned on by nonsensically difficult cars to drive. Basically. The more out of place on the street it is. The cooler it is; to a certain extent. I feel like this car is the zenith of that thought.
@@jayswisher575 I get the appeal of driving a 962, trust its on my grail list, and I do understand the novelty of it being out of place on the road. It just seems like its doing more harm to the car than good and doesn't look like a pleasant experience. Thumbs up for the content tho.
@@Eargesplitten-Loudenboomer I guess that's a good enough reason lol
The 3.5L era produced some of the coolest and fastest prototypes ever. At the same time it was pretty much over before it started.
Why does he sound exactly like the magician Penn from Penn and Teller?
Well, it's expensive but we're having SO much fun!
Being the kind of person who freaked the fuck out at seeing a dead stock R33 Skyline GTS earlier today, I have never so strongly felt the desire to own & drive a million+ dollar car. So good
When you gotta roll down your window to hear a car you’re excited about @ 20:35
Dauer 962LM is cooler, but you just can't find it anywhere, bunch of them is in Brunei royal car collection. C62 still is dope and unicorn from hell.
Dauer was also more throughout modified and more luxurious like a proper supercar, more interior space too (slightly wider cockpit)
One Dauer was in Sweden, south of Stockholm - owner was a father to a young F1 driver.
One street legal Porsche is in Wroclaw, Poland. Owner is a private person.
@@jareknowak8712 interesting, thanks!
I wanna see Doug review this and all it’s “Quirks and Features!” 😂 I think he drove by a Ferrari 599 on a rollback on the interstate
Funny video, I had tears rolling down my face. Reminded me of when I was a teen, driving cars in snow with no driving assist what so ever and crappy road tires.
Konig means king in German I think?
König, yes. Which is written Koenig in languages that don't have umlauts.
Kaiser means "king" in German
@@Sum_Ting_Wong kaiser is german for emperor not king
@@Sum_Ting_Wong No, Kaiser is the equivalent of emperor. König does mean king.
You guys should bring it to the unrestricted German Autobahn. That is where the fun begins.
such a beauty. brings back teenage memories.
I literally just had this car go by me on a trailer.. Woop wow what a car.
"there's some sort of power/slave situation going on with the clutch" lmfao he was driving around with the e-break on
I think this is what regular people think driving any manual car is like. Manuals are easy as hell to drive, even in traffic. This car might be an exception.
I drive a race car on the street.I know what your feeling ,but I love it and you do figure out all the needed moves
Jay Leno would know how to drive it
Every second I thought the same:
*HIT IT AND LET THE MOTOR SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!*
That 7000 rpm pull...the turbo/wastegate sounds! Awesome.
That has to be one of the most beautiful cars in the world.
14:18 Toblerone?
It was actually entertaining to watch you a little uncomfortable behind the wheel. Probably because you are always so poised behind the wheel. Good stuff.
For christ sake would someone get Matt a friggin Valium!!!
So much high anxiety, you could've saved this hell run for Halloween.
Should have done this a 3AM
Didn’t Jay Leno review this already? Yawn 🥱
Group C cars are the best! I don't know how I ever would get the chance or where... but would like to drive one before I die.
*Woahhh I haven’t been this early in...forever! Lol*
*edit: wait when did this company start making these? Bc it has new features like cameras for mirrors...?*
"I do have my shoes off, I know you all want to know".... Farah is freak'n hilarious. Great car reviews!!!!
I was actually relieved when he made it back in one piece.
Such a scenic drive !
“Matt do you want to drive our 91 Porsche race car on public streets?
Matt: you son of bitch I’m in!”
If people are wondering about 1st being sketchy... you don't use 1st except when you take off from a standstill on a racetrack
Not sure how I'd justify buying this rather than 20 Ultima GTRs that are just as bad-assed as this.
@@Gandalf721 Your economic logic is flawless... just saying I couldn't personally drop $1.5M on that, while the Ultima - still pretty damn rare - is out there for a fraction of the money.
A masterclass in distracted driving!!
That was awesome! I would have been panicking as well.
There are some days that I just love the internet. Thanks for sharing this Matt!
The 1st time I went to lemans in 1987 with my dad, the Rothmans liveried 962 won , such a cool time in sports car racing
Matt, your stream-of-consciousness narration while driving this monster in city and freeway traffic is worthy of an Emmy or whatever sort of journalism prize streaming TH-cam videos are eligible for. It's the best thing you've done, and that says a lot.
Your fans know you as the expert driver you are. But this car's marketing crew were not up to the courtesy of giving you a day of familiarization with the car. The result was, for your regular viewers at least, immensely entertaining. Observing your experience with an all-out race car in stop-and-go traffic AS IT HAPPENED was so intense -- we had no idea what was going to happen next.
The dogleg transmission's worst feature is getting off the line, because it only has to do that a few times in a Le Mans type race. And the clutch does you no favors, either. So your driving environment, urban and freeway commuter traffic, could not have been more brutal. Far worse than racing at Le Mans in many ways!
And yet you survived it. Obviously the Koenig C62 is a track day baby and should never see a city street. But that's where they put you and with a car this exotic it's hard to say no. I think your viewers' take-away from this experience should be something like: the more you modify your car for the track, the bigger a piece of shit it will be on the street.
Fellow viewers, think about what Matt went through before you take your Mustang GT to the next level. For wanna-be racers like myself and many of your fans, your experience with this Koenig is a reality check we will not soon forget. And despite your misery when piloting it, or because of it, this video was an absolute blast to watch and is destined to be a classic.
Out of all the places I wouldn't want to drive such a beast, the 405 is definitely at the top of that list.
Koenig Specials have always been a personally favorite. So wicked.
This is great.. Matt is a world class driver and is struggling as he should with a car never meant to be in traffic... get this in the canyon!
That car is bonkers!...Ive never seen Matt so stressed out!
20:00 switch for power clutch sounds like the same benefit as the "turbo" button on old PC towers...."I flicked it...I can't tell the difference"
One of your best videos. Your reactions are so real. It really got good when you got on the 405.
I was sweaty just watching. I was dumb enough to install a really crazy 3-puck carbon-ceramic clutch with a light flywheel in my Evo, was a total nightmare to drive around on the street. Worked great on the track though, lmao.