The article was originally produced on March 29, 2012, some facts and prices may have changed since then.

Bård Eker

With fires, run aground offshore boats and a crashed Saab business, life has been anything but simple for one of Norway's most successful men, Bård Eker.

Cars Collection had the opportunity to have an exclusive meeting with the Norwegian super-entrepreneur Bård Eker in the middle of the Stockholm Week itself on Gotland and in connection with the Gran Turismo event on Gotlandring. Bård was there with his team to show off his products. Boats from his own brand, Hydrolift, cars from Swedish Koenigsegg (of which he is a co-owner) and also motorcycles from the Italian brand Ducati, for which he is an agent in southern Norway. During our stay on the island, we also got to enjoy Gotland's best attractions this year, sun, party and Gotlandring, one of Sweden's funnest racing tracks according to many.

It was with the Saab deal in 2009 that the name Bård Eker became known to many in Sweden. Before that, the name was probably best known to people in the boating world and those who knew of his part ownership of Koenigsegg. The Saab deal, together with Christian von Koenigsegg, initially looked like it could go down the road. Among other things there were plans to start building the attention-grabbing solar cell prototype, Quant. But when it finally collapsed, there were many who claimed that the whole thing had just been a media spectacle. Something that Bård firmly rejects and he admits that the period afterwards was one of the darkest in his life. There were certainly many reasons why the deal fell apart. One was that the negotiations dragged on. "Perhaps we were not clear enough in conveying the complexity of the deal," says Bård. The consequence of this gloomy time was a new model for Koenigsegg, the Agera. The name was a direct connection to what needed to be done after the Saab story, something had to happen. Bård and Christian had to "act"!

In addition to a couple of Hydrolift boats, Bård had also brought a Koenigsegg CCR and also a very special Koenigsegg model called the CCGT to Gotland. A pure racing car built in a single copy according to the FIA's GT1 regulations and with a value of around twenty million. The idea for the car was from the beginning to run in the long-distance series for GT cars, but with the financial crisis the costs became too great to carry out that project. Now the car is proof that the brand has the skills to build pure competition versions of its models, but also an extremely expensive toy that is perfectly suited to use at events such as Gran Turismo events. 

When you meet Bård, you are surprised by his down-to-earth aura, he takes his time even though his life is maximized far beyond most people's imagination. One day in Bård's life would in all probability have caused an ordinary person to have a heart attack. His interest in talking about his life, his projects and products shines with a commitment like no other. Not in a salesy way, but out of an inner passion for the extreme that goes fast. Bård Eker was born in Fredrikstad in the early 60s, where he has chosen to stay and build up his business. A stone's throw from the center by the water are the premises that house the Eker Performance Center. Here the Hydrolift boats are produced from scratch to final assembly and sale. The premises also include sales of the Italian motorcycle brand Ducati and a showroom for Koenigsegg. Something that is seen as quite unique in Norway. If you drive a couple of miles out of town, you come to the place where the Eker Group has its stronghold, and here all the design that is the basis of Bård Eker's success takes place. "It's not just boats and cars that are designed here, but also prams, furniture and video projectors," says Bård. Eker Group is awarded several times in design for a number of its products. In 2011, they won the Red Dot Award, which can be compared to the design world's Oscar, for a wheelchair.

Hydrolift was started in the mid-eighties and with an ingenious V-hull design, the Norwegian boat brand, founded by Egil Ranvig, became a success in offshore racing. When Bård Eker took over ownership of Hydrolift in 2002, production was focused more on larger and faster powerboats. With a range of models such as the SX-24, C-24, C-31 and C-32R, the brand has established itself as one of the best brands in its genre. When Bård embarked on offshore racing, the boating world's answer to Formula 1, his goal was to become world champion. A feat he achieved in 2005 after only three driving seasons. After that, further bets were placed on ice, Bård simply reached his goal far too quickly. The financial crisis also contributed to the cancellation of further projects. A few inroads that drivers have though.

When we meet Bård on Gotland, he offers us a ride in a C-31R equipped with a 662 horsepower Mercury engine. The ride wasn't that long when a weather front came in over Gotland and we were soon completely drenched when the sky opened up. But the short trip still showed the incredible performance of the Hydrolift boats, Bård provokes the boat sideways against the strong hazards without the slightest worry in the hull. The latest addition to Hydrolift's model range is a C-32 Sun RR, the coolest company built for sales. The C-32 Sun RR is roughly ten meters long, built entirely in carbon fiber and equipped with two American Ilmor V10 engines of 725 horsepower each. It's the same engine that sits in a Dodge Viper, but now there are two that together produce 1,450 hp. Top speed is estimated at 96 knots but not tested as the propellers are still not fully tested. However, Bård says that he hopes to be able to squeeze 100 knots when the time is right and the right conditions prevail. The price of the C-32 Sun RR is around SEK 5.1 million.

Hydrolift has always been focused on fast racing boats, but in recent years a wider range has also been created in the form of fast archipelago cruisers. What makes the brand unique is that it has extensive experience in tailoring all of its models exactly the way the customer wants them. Since the heart always beat for the faster type of models, the use of lightweight materials has been diligent in all models to get extra stiffness without increasing the weight, just like on a sports car. 

The collaboration with Koenigsegg started in 2005 when Bård stepped in and bought around 45 percent of the company. But his involvement in the company became more involved than just ownership. Christian and Bård found each other because their personalities are similar in many ways, where others think the race is over, the race begins for these two. Both companies suffered great hardships after local fires where pretty much everything burned up, but they still managed to get up and rebuild the business. Something few thought possible that they would be able to accomplish. A classic quote from Bård is: "it's when the wallpaper burns that you learn something". The quote speaks quite clearly about the type of person Bård Eker is.