Koenigsegg wanted to build a sports car that could exceed the standards set by the McLaren F1 at the time, and achieve speeds over the 386 km/h (240 mph) set by the F1 in 1997.

The design of the CC was inspired by the McLaren F1 along with the Ferrari F40.

[4] The deal with Audi for the use of their 4.2 V8 fell flat after the car's designer, Christian von Koenigsegg, made clear his intent of tuning the V8 far beyond its standard output.

The next candidate was the Flat-12 race engine developed by Motori Moderni for the Scuderia Coloni Formula One team, in which this engine was raced under the Subaru badge in the 1990 season.

This deal failed to materialise when the founder of Motori Moderni died, sending the company into bankruptcy.