Chapter 14

Sunshine would be nice. The warmth of the sun on your face would be good. Sipping mai tai in a lounger poolside would be perfect.

This was not one of those days. Today was rain, lots and lots of rain.

I went through the bathroom, threw on some clothes and grabbed my phone. A memory came to me so I grabbed my phone and looked through the contacts for Leslie. She worked for the BBC in England and is family to Richard Wellington who was the man who cleaned the ductwork some years ago for John and Krystal. She was my IN for meeting the guys from Top Gear.

I gave hugs and kisses to those who were awake and went to my office and closed the door.

buzz buzz

buzz buzz

“Hello, this is Leslie”

“Leslie, good afternoon, this is Paul Johnson from the states, have I called you at a good time?”

“Sure, everything is fine. What can I do for you Mr Johnson?”

“Richard Wellington here in Kansas City gave me your phone number...”

“You talked to Uncle Richard? How is he? I haven’t had a chance to talk to him in ages.”

“Yes, the last time I talked to him was a few years ago when he helped me refurb a friend’s house. He and I had a chance to talk and when I mentioned that I really wanted to go to England and see the Top Gear show personally, well, he thought of you immediately...”

“PAUL!! Now I remember. Yes. Uncle Richard talked to me years ago about you. Where have you been? Why haven’t you called before now?”

“Well, my plan changed rather drastically and this is the first chance I have had to travel overseas. I got married shortly after we talked, then we got pregnant and I have been very busy with my family since then.”

“Congratulations on the family. I’m thrilled for you. So, what can I do for you now?”

“Ok, here is the deal. My daughter and I are flying to Sweden to visit the Koenigsegg factory to pick up my new car and I was wanting to drive it to England, maybe take a spin on your track and see a show. If that was at all possible?”

“Hang on a minute, let me check our schedule.”

Ashlee happened to open the door to my office and knock softly. I waved her in and put the phone on speaker.

“Whatcha doin?” She said in a little girl voice from Phineas and Ferb. Looks like all of my kids like the same show, no matter what year it is.

“Talking to the BBC in England.”

“The BBC? What is going on?” she said moving to a chair next to me.

“Remember the guy who helped us by cleaning the ductwork on John and Krystal’s house?” She said yes and nodded her head. “I just remembered this morning what the guy’s name was and the name he gave me, so since I’m going to Sweden, I thought I would drive the car to England and maybe catch a show recording and maybe take a spin around the track. Leslie...”

“Paul, are you still there?”

“Yes leslie, go ahead.”

When did you say you were going to come over the pond?”

“This coming weekend I was going to fly out and then probably be there for about a week.”

“Hrmmm, that should be fine. We already have our star set up, but if you still want to come over and let us take your new car for a spin, then that would be great.”

in the background I heard a man’s voice ask, “he is coming?”

“Yes Jeremy, Mr. Johnson is coming this weekend and bringing his car with him.” leslie said to someone in the office with her.

“Wonderful. Mr Johnson, this is Jeremy Clarkson, I want to thank you for offering your car to us. That is really generous of you.”

My eyes got really big and I was practically bouncing in my chair with excitement. Ashlee was also excited, but not as much as I was. EEEEEEEEE “Mr Clarkson, it is I who should be thanking you. I am very excited to be allowed to be there and have a chance to run around your track. This is a dream day for me.”

“No problems mate. Tell me about this car of yours. I heard that christian Von Koenigsegg is the one who made it. Is this correct?”

“Yes sir. The car is a modified Agera which I am sure you know, but it is the engine that is the real story here.”

“Really? What is it? V-10, V-12?”

“No, a simple V-8 with twin turbos, but there are a few other things that make it special and if our plans worked out correctly, then it will be groundbreaking for everyone on the planet.”

“So what did you do? Make the cylinders really large? Really small? I need something to talk about for the show.”

“Mr Clarkson, even if I tell you, you won’t believe me, you are just going to have to trust me on this. Seeing is believing.”

“All right, I’ll leave it to you to surprise me. Go ahead and switch the schedule around and make sure we have four minutes to see a lap of our track and have a chance to do a walk around of the car. I really want to get to know this machine.” Jeremy said to Leslie and then said good-bye.

“Not a problem Jeremy. I’ll make the arrangements?” Leslie said to him then came back to me. “Mr Johnson, do you need any transportation? A hotel or anything?”

I looked to Ashlee, she shrugged her shoulders and I went back to Leslie. “A hotel in London would be fine if you know a good one.”

“Ok, I’ll get one arranged for you, at the same place that we usually house our stars and if it happens, we can send a car for you and a lorry for your car. I’ll send the details to your assistant or would you like them?”

“Send them to me since I don’t have an assistant. the only other person who may want to read them are my lawyer and I’ll give you that information as well.” So I gave her my personal e-mail address and cell number and also the contact info for Craig. She took it all down, made sure that it worked and said she was going to send me all of the information I would need.

We signed off and i just bounced in my chair. I was going to Europe and I was going to be on my favorite TV show. “SQUEEEEEELLL!”

“You know that you sound like a kid when you do that don’t you?” Ashlee said while laughing at me in my joy.

“I can’t help it, I’M GOING TO BE ON TOP GEAR!!!” I jumped up and yanked her up and we spun around jumping for joy.

“Better now?” she said with sarcasm.

“Yes, thank you.”

“Ok, call the agency and get a jet arranged for over there and then a shipping jet for coming back and then call to get a translator arranged while you are in Sweden. Unless you learned Swedish in the last few days?” She said mocking me and my joy.

“no, I have not learned Swedish and you are correct, that would be a good idea to have. I will also make sure Brenda and I have transportation to and from along with someway to get the car back. I’ll make the calls honey.”

She came over and kissed my forehead then left me to do my work.

The days passed quietly. Ashlee took the kids to meet the new baby who was still not named until the party, which was on Friday. the day before I leave for Europe. Jenna decided on Olivia Carolyn Newtown. Everyone thought it was a good name and seemed to fit the baby perfectly.

Now I could buy the locket for her.

Saturday, I woke up early, kissed my naked wife. She opened herself to me and it took everything in me to not to jump on her and ravish her body, but I had a plane to catch and a car to pick up.

“I’ll take care of you when i get back.” I said and gave her one last kiss and a quick swipe of her vulva.

“Hurry back honey, all this is waiting for your return.” She said lying on the bed with her legs spread and her arms up above her head showing off.

I licked my fingers and then turned to go. My bag was over my shoulder, a simple duffel bag with the bare necessities since I could get anything I needed while overseas. Considering the car I was getting, I didn’t want to burden myself.

The jet was waiting for me downtown and the staff welcomed me aboard.

We taxied, took off and turned north to Wisconsin. Two hours later we were landing. An amazing woman came bouncing out of the terminal heading for the jet dressed in matching hat, jacket and comfy sweats. the hat and jacket had a large VS Racing logo on them and the very stylish bag she had hanging from her arm really matched the ensemble.

I stepped down from the plane and she bounced to me yelling “DADDY!!” the whole way. Geez, when did this little girl get all grown up?

“Hello little Miss B. How is my girl?” We hugged standing there with the engines running and the staff waiting for us.

“I’m great. Thanks for coming to get me. I can’t wait for this vacation.”

“Well, let’s get aboard and get it started.”

We boarded and took off and turned east. The stewards came through, took our orders and then brought to us drinks, food and let us know that the trip was going to take about 8 hours before we arrived. She showed us how the seat folds back and that she had plenty of pillows and blankets to make our trip comfortable.

Brenda and I ate our meals, talked a bunch and took our naps. When we arrived in Sweden it was almost midnight and in spite of the luxury accommodation of the plane, we were burned and took the first taxi to our hotel for the night.

I managed to book a two room suite in Stockholm and when we closed the door, we were both out shortly thereafter.

The next morning, we went back to the airport for the short hop to Angelholm where the factory is located. Just an hour in the air, no biggie.

We flew into an old military base and there was a car waiting for us at the end of the runway that I saw through the window. It had a ‘follow me’ sign on it and our plane followed it to a large building with the Koenigsegg logo on the side of it.

We parked and when we got off the plane, a distinguished bald man along with several others were there waiting for us.

The sun was shining which was good, but a cool breeze welcomed us to our second day in Sweden. “Mr johnson, welcome to Sweden!” the bald man said as he stepped to us.

I took his hand and then he surprised me by leaning in and kissing me on each side of my face. Very European. “I’m Christian Von Koenigsegg and I welcome you to my factory.”

“Thank you so much. I am very excited to be here. May I introduce my daughter, Brenda. Brenda, this is Christian Von Koenigsegg, the man who designed your car and made mine. Christian, this is my step-daughter who actually has one of your Agera cars back home in Kansas City.”

She stepped forward and for her, she accepted the air kisses with class. Christian went ahead and introduced his wife and business partner and again we all exchanged air kisses.

The last man to step forward was my lawyer in Sweden, Arnold Meinheim. I didn’t recognize him of course, but slowly the memories started to come back. He was my lawyer in Sweden, but also an employee who kept track of my company over here. As far as i could remember, a good guy.

“Arnold, good to see you and shake your hand again. How long has it been?”

“Two and a half years. A long time.”

“Yes it has. Have you met my daughter? brenda, this my lawyer here in Sweden, Arnold Meinheim. Mr. Meinheim, my step-daughter Brenda.”

He was a little more formal with her but she still accepted the air kisses graciously.

“Come inside, come inside and let’s talk about our engine.”

We all filed inside the factory and up to the conference room where a large screen TV was set up along with coffee service for all of us.

At this point, another man joined us, but instead of a suit, he had on a work shirt and jeans. An engineer if you were to ask me. “God Morgon.” Brenda and I tried to repeat what he said but must not have said it correctly, one of the assistants snickered at what we said. Christian spoke to the man in swedish and he then looked at us and changed his tune. “Sorry about that. I hadn’t been told we had englishmen with us.”

I waved my hand, then stood to shake his. “Not to worry. But we are Americans actually.”

He blushed at his mistake and shook my hand then Brenda’s and started the meeting. His name was Jorgan and he was on the team that developed the engine and he went over all of the details of how it worked, the amount of gas it would save and the additional horsepower it developed and the problems that they found when they put it in a car. “We had to change the original design for the car from what was proposed to something a little different.”

I got a sinking feeling in my gut and looked over to Arnold for his assurance that things were not about to fall apart on us. He just smiled and nodded his head with confidence.

I looked back at the engineer and he changed slides and revealed their solution.

“What we had to do was model the powertrain after the Ferrari FF four wheel drive system in order to use all of the 1200 horsepower that the engine produces.”

“Wait. 1200? Christian, you didn’t’ say anything about 1200 horsepower.” I said a little concerned by all of the surprises.

Christian: You are right, I didn’t say that, but I also didn’t tell you how much horsepower it made either. I think I said it made a lot.”

I sat back in my chair and rubbed my chin. “So what does this do the performance and fuel consumption of the engine? You said it was getting 80MPG. Is that still true?”

Christian stood up and took over for the engineer. “Yes, it is getting 80MPG with 1200 horsepower and has a top speed of 290 MPH.”

“At 80 MPG?” Brenda said very surprised by the numbers that were being thrown out. She knows engines and I was just as surprised by all of this as she was. “Explain how this works.”

The engineer spoke up, “We use every milliliter of fuel that we put into the engine very efficiently. The valve system is so precise that we don’t have to waste fuel or air when the engine is running.”

The meeting continued on with Brenda and I very interested in what they were saying and after about an hour of talking tech, we broke for a break and then a test drive. Brenda grabbed her bag and went to the ladies room with a purpose.

When I came out of the men’s room and had joined the others in idle conversation, Brenda arrived in her full race fire suit. We all looked her over amazed at what we saw. Her race suit is a dark pink with VS Racing all over it along with badges from every manufacturer that sponsors her. It is quite the outfit if I do say so myself.

“Now, which way to the car?” was all she said.

Christian recovered first and then nudged the engineer who was struck dumb by the sight. Christian lead us through the factory floor and when the other men and women saw Brenda, they also had a similar reaction. The very quiet manufacturing floor got even quieter.

“Daddy, did I make a mistake wearing my racing suit?” she asked me while we walked.

“No honey. I don’t think any of them knew a race car driver was coming today. Oh, and the fact that you are a gorgeous blonde doesn’t hurt either.”

She giggled her little laugh and gripped my arm as we walked.

We stopped in front of a curtain and Christian addressed us. “Mr Johnson, Ms Davis, behind this curtain is your car and what we think will become the most incredible innovation is engine design. I give you, the Agera XF.”

One of the unnamed assistants pulled the curtain open. Now it was my turn to be struck dumb.

The white of the paint job was amazing and it caused me to blink a time or two before my eyes adjusted. You all have seen white, but this seemed to take the color to a whole new level. From the front bumper to the back, roughly where the driver and passenger sit in the car, were black stripes. the wheels were white with the same black stripes on them. The car had a wing at the back. I know that my description doesn’t do it justice, but it was a thing of beauty and I was speechless.

Christian waved us forward and he started to show us around the car explaining how this flap and this tunnel under the nose helped with downforce and how the wing at the back was an active wing and would deploy under braking to add an additional source of slowing the car down as well as plant the rear end of the car to the ground so it wouldn’t lose grip in the corners. He then opened the doors and walked us through the inside all of the features it had and the extra sound insulation that was added per my request. The seats were also custom and from the look of them, very comfortable.

Then it was time for the really important part, the engine. Christian reached under the dash and pulled two levers and the front part of the car popped up as well as the back. Christian opened the front hood and showed us where the roof panel would be hidden and how even with it in place we could still put our bags while we drive. Very nice is all I said. He went over the suspension with me but it was a bit over my head. Brenda on the other hand had a question or two for the men and they both seemed to be really happy to answer her questions.

Christian then opened the back and there was the 50 million dollar engine. It looked normal to me, but it was Brenda that pegged to something being different and she jumped all over it. “What the hell? You guys are pulling my leg with this crap. What did you do to the engine?”

The engineer stepped up and using a tablet he explained that they had removed the camshafts and the time chain that power it all and replaced the whole thing with electronic valve management system.

I moved away from the tech talk and went to Arnold. “I thought it was grey and black?”

“Well yes, it was supposed to be grey and black, but I went ahead and said that they could paint it white. I thought it made for a much more impressive site, don’t you?”

“Yes, it is very impressive, but did you touch base with me about it?”

“Actually I did. Several months ago.” he looked at me like I was crazy, then it dawned to him about my injury. “Paul, we have had this discussion and it was decided by you and I that the white with black stripes would be the color. I’m sorry, I forgot about your accident.”

“It was no accident, someone tried to kill me, and you can’t do that accidently.” I turned my back to the car and watched as Brenda started directing men to get lifts and such so that she could get under the car and look the transmission and all wheel drive system over before she took it out for a drive.

The car was lifted off the ground, she crawled under the car and with the engineer right at her side, she started to quiz the guy about this part and that part and what each of them did and how it was supposed to make the car faster, lighter and better able to take the turns faster and all of this. She was in her own little world and I was just a bystander.

“She is quite amazing, your daughter.” Christian said suddenly standing next to me.

“Yes, even though she is only my step-daughter, she means just as much as my own kids do to me.”

“I know what you mean. My kids are almost grown now and the time I have with them is so precious. I wish I could build cars in my living room so I do both of the things that I love at the same time.”

“Daddy, can i drive it first?” Brenda yelled interrupting our talk.

“Sure. Just don’t wreck it.”

She went about getting the car back on its wheels then firing it up. It is quite loud, but the deep rumble of the V-8 is very satisfying to these old ears. She revved the engine and I noticed that it revved very quickly.

“How high do the revs go?” I asked Christian as he stood next to me.

“We have an electronic limiter set to 9000 RPM but we actually could take it higher, but beyond 9000 it just doesn’t do anything more.”

“9000 you say? Wow.”

Brenda took the driver seat as the engineer took the passenger and the doors to the building we were in opened for us and Brenda took the car out and onto the test track they had set up. I followed behind with everyone else and watched as Brenda got her first lesson on how to do a Formula 1 launch in my new car. All I heard and saw were the brake lights, the engine at the rev limiter and then the car took off. I have no idea how fast it was, but I don’t think I have ever seen a car leave the area like this one did. I hope it as fast as our Agera back home is. That one takes off like this as well. Though, I have a feeling that this is going to be faster than that one.

“Mr Johnson, come with me sir. Please. Viewing stand over this way. Please.” One of the assistants got my attention with her broken english and managed to tell me that they had a covered viewing stand set up for watching the car go through its paces around their test track. Brenda was doing laps and based upon what I could see and hear, she wasn’t using the brake very often to take those corners. When she exited the corner, I would hear the engine rev up as she, I think, hit the gas and exploded out of the corner repeating the process over and over again as she went around the track.

“How many miles have you all done on this engine and transmission?” I asked no one in particular.

Christian took up the question. “This one should have just over 4000 miles on it.”

“Change the oil?”

“Yes we did and again just before you arrived to pick it up. All of the fluids have been topped off and the car is ready for some serious driving.”

Brenda finally got tired of her trips around the track and came to a halt near the viewing stand. She got out and looked up at us and gave two very enthusiastic thumbs up.

I gave her my thumbs up and started down the ladder.

“Are you ready for your trip around the track Mr Johnson?” The test driver said after saying goodbye to Brenda.

“Yes I am.”

“Daddy, you are going to love this car. It is so fast, even I had to get used to it.” Brenda said then left me to get in the car.

I ran my hand over the roof, then back along fender thinking. “How do you get the roof off?” I finally asked after considering what I wanted to do.

“Here.” the driver flipped an unseen latch and then came around and did the same to my side. He then opened the front and together we lifted the roof panel off and placed it in its storage place. I closed the front and we got in. With the roof off, I had easy access to get in and out of the car. With it on, I would have to enter it with my rear end first and that isn’t very, well, I didn’t want to look like an idiot when i got into my car the first time.

The seat was a bit forward for me, so I adjusted it and just like I wanted, my legs were extended and I was in driving position ready to go.

“The starter is this button on the dash, press and hold it.” werewerewere VAROOOM!!

“Wow!” Hey, what would you say to the sound of that engine starting?

“Then, use the paddle shifter on the steering wheel to shift it into first and off you go.”

With the engine running, the top open and me just about to explode with excitement, I had almost forgot to put on my seatbelt. I put my belt on and pulled the little lever on the right side of the steering wheel to put it in first.

I checked my mirrors, noticed that my view behind me was very limited, and set off. The ride around the parking lot, then onto the test track, was very smooth. I kept checking the dash for speed, tach, fuel, temp and such and realised that all of the gauges were in metric. “Can the dash be converted to non-metric settings?”

“Yes sir. All we have to do is hit the button on the dash and it will switch them for you.”

I took the car up to highway speed and cruised down the track. I took a turn at speed without lifting and the car took that corner like it was on rails. Coming back the other direction, I planted my foot and the semi-automatic transmission downshifted and we took off. The revs climbed, the engine was screaming and I lost my nerve to go much faster at 175MPH.

The wind from the open roof was deafening. I would need to make sure that the roof was on before we did anything much faster.

The test driver told me about the zig-zag cones up ahead and told me to jump to the right side, then haul over to the left and then back to the middle of the track.

“How fast should I be going?” I asked him.

“As fast as you want. I personally have done this trick over a hundred.”

Well, that certainly is amazing.

I came around the corner, got lined up for the jump to the right and

SQUEEEL!!

Then haul the wheel over to the left

SQUEEEL!!

Then back to the middle of the track. Done.

I looked down at the speedo’ and saw that I had just done that whole thing at 75MPH. I couldn’t imagine any other car in the world doing what I just did and not spinning out.

“Is it the tires that make that possible?” I asked once I had us going straight and my heart had slowed down.

“Yes and no. The tires are made just for this car, engineered to handle the stresses we put on them, but it is also the rear wing and the traction control system that is helping us make that turn. It all works together to ensure we keep going forward.”

“Can it be turned off?”

“It can, but I wouldn’t suggest it.”

“Why, what happens?”

“The car becomes almost undriveable except for the most experienced race drivers.”

I got a funny thought in my head. “Like Brenda or the Stig?”

He laughed at my joke, “Maybe Brenda with more seat time, but definitely for the Stig. He could handle it. Not that it would make the car faster. I have run this track many times with the system off and on, and I have found that the car is faster with it on than off.”

“Interesting. Any other items that I need to know about performance?”

“No sir.” I continued to drive and then he jumped and spoke, “I just remembered, one little tid-bit for you. If there is a computer failure while you are in motion, the system will close all valves in the engine to keep them from being damaged. The transmission will pop into neutral at which point you will have steering and brakes to bring it to a stop safely. We tested this with a different car and a different engine and it works fine. Strange, but it works.”

“Good, glad to hear that.”

I made a few more hot laps around the track, tested the swerve thing another time or two, then brought it back to the viewing stand. Brenda came down the ladder and bounced over to me. “Don’t you love it daddy? I mean it is so quick and that transmission is so smooth, I could barely feel it shift.”

I hugged her to get her to calm down for a minute. “Yes it is honey, but this isn’t your car. Your race car is at home and waiting for you to get home and drive it.”

“I know. Thanks.” She was a bit let down, but this is life. She is an adult. She can handle it.

I went to Christian and stuck my hand out to him, he took it and I started in, “That is amazing. Well done good sir. Well done.”

“Thank you.”

We turned to look at the car as some of the other technicians went to it, opened the hood, plugged in their laptops to the computer. They must be double checking everything.

“What else needs to be done before we leave?”

“Nothing but a few registration documents for you to sign, then you are free to leave.”

We went back to the office and I sat down with one of his employees who presented me with a number of documents with my information already filled in but since the document was in swedish, I had to defer to Arnold for translation.

He walked me through the American and Swedish automobile registration documents along with the import documents into the states. After about 20 minutes, I had signed everything and after some more hugs and air kisses, Brenda and I used the toilet one last time, and we got into the car and headed out. She of course had changed her clothes into something more comfortable, yoga pants, tennis shoes and her VS Racing jacket with her matching hat. Her pony tail stuck out the back of it. Yes, she looked really, really good dressed like that.

I drove first and with her help, we talked about where we wanted to go, which route would be the most interesting and what not. She checked for hotels on our way and found one that was about five hours away in Germany. Hamburg Germany actually which is so strange to me. Entering a new country just didn’t make much sense since we were not really leaving the area. We were on the same soil, but entering and leaving countries as we drove.

Brenda took us into Hamburg to a nice hotel that had a five star rating and a valet to park our car.

Another suite, another night of hotel food. Before we went to sleep, we walked around the area and found a couple of nice shops that sold men’s and ladies clothes. We each picked out some clothes to sleep in along with a change of underthings.

We walked back to the hotel passing a pub and with the music coming from inside, we went in. The pub was pure German architecture and both of us looked around the room like tourists with our mouths hanging open. A few of the locals who were sitting at tables near the door looked at us when we entered, but went back to their drinks as we moved to the bar.

Brenda pulled out her phone and found her translation app and spoke into it and when the bartender came over she motioned to him and she played the german translation of her english words. he understood and poured us two beers and then went to the back.