There are nigh-on innumerable cool things about Koenigsegg's Jesko hypercar, but some of the most fascinating things about cars this detailed are often the ones you have no reason to notice.

Take the paint job of the Jesko used for the 2019 Geneva International Motor Show debut, for example.

While a car with a price tag running into the millions (plural) of dollars darn well should be built with extreme attention to detail, the simple fact is that paint is heavy, and weight is the enemy of going fast—a prime consideration for a car like the Jesko, which was pretty much engineered to break speed records. Each of this Jesko's 34 layers of paint is a nod to vanity that can ultimately cost it performance.

Koenigsegg Jesko, photo by Keno Zache

Koenigsegg Jesko, photo by Keno Zache

 

Larry Kosilla, founder of Ammo NYC, takes a paint gauge to two cars in their detailing shop in this video covering his detailing of a Jesko in preparation for a show. The first, a Porsche, registers just under 5.0 mils (1/1000th of an inch) of paint. The next, a Rolls-Royce checks in at 7.3 mils. This Jesko? Its paint is more than 30 mils thick. 

"The paint is the thickest and most robust of any production vehicle on the market today," said Kosilla, "I've polished a lot of cars, and this one in particular is very resilient. You can just feel how heavy it is."

Kosilla says it has 20 coats of base, one coat of pearl (which makes up the most of what you see), then one of champagne (for the fleck). Then, on the dark panels, it has a coat each of grey, blue and green. The color is then covered in nine layers of clear coat. Just wow.