Wheel turns full circle, yet again
 

Apparently Koenigsegg is working on an engine without a camshaft. Pneumatically operated valves were all the rage in the 1890's,; next we'll be having tiller steering(or its modern equivalent, sidestick).Hopefully external contracting band brakes won't be making a comeback on cars ; Dr Fred Lanchester's 1905 Disc brake invention will do nicely thank you.

Many things are coming back as revolutionary many years later.

The vision Maybach 6 is designed to driver completely autonomous, but has a steering wheel, and Mercedes predicts that it will be a sign of luxury to be able to use the steering wheel in the future (when all cars are driving autonomous).

Hemi cylinder heads... 1901

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I believe the F1 engines from the last few years have also used pneumatic valves. It's a better system in terms of performance.

It's not that bad. Yes, some intake valves were opened by atmospheric pressure 120 years ago, but there was still a cam for the exhaust.

For the super high revs of 18,000 RPMs and above pneumatic vales are the only option. It will interesting to see if a modern road car can adapt the plumbing and control mechanisms into an engine at a somewhat reasonable cost with a real benefit in performance and reliability.

Since he is not using US tax dollars to fund his engine, I say go for it and good luck. I really mean that.

I think cost does not really matter when building a Koenigsegg. ;)

No doubt he builds with performance in mind, much like the Mclaren F1 road car.

But he can't ever sell a car that has an engine alone that costs 5 million per car.

Mr. K. is a smart man, and I am sure has hired some great engineers. I really do hope he invents something fantastic.

I remember when the Mazda Rotary hit the market. Some of the magazine writers predicted that every manufacturer would soon be using a rotary engine. They were very wrong. Even Mazda had to stop using them for a long pause from lack of sales.

They brought hybrids back 100 years after that Porsche one they found in a barn

F1 engines have pneumatic valve springs not pneumatic valves. From the video, it looks like Koenigsegg still has steel valve springs since the pressure loss would be too great for a street car vs an F1 engine that only needs valve spring pressure for 2 hours.

I don't know for sure why Mazda dropped the rotary. They claim they were too thirsty and drug down the corporate CAFE numbers.
The rotary we were working on at GM got dropped because of the difficulty of meeting emissions standards. We even had a version with a spark plug in the rotor to try to get it to burn cleaner.

I have not seen or heard the car maker Lanchester mentioned for a long time. I had to google it to see what they looked like.

And speaking of change the elimination of the IMS in the Porch line was virtually unheralded back in 2009......and on to better things.:)

Why the rotary is dead...

Lanchester, once one of the motoring great brands, was a badge engineered and cheapened Daimler when the brand name finally disappeared in about '56. Even Lanchester college, which was where automotive engineering degrees were taught has been renamed Coventry University.