Showing posts with label Fisker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Fisker. Show all posts

3/17/15

Aston Martin Vanquish V12 by Henrik Fisker



Henrik Fisker's own automotive company may have gone under, but his love for design persists and after the Galpin 2015 Mustang, he's back to what he knows best with the Thunderbolt study.

It's the former Aston Martin designers one-off coachbuilt take on the Vanquish V12 coupe and it was revealed today at the 2015 Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance in Florida. 

"I wanted to create an elegant beautiful GT sports coupe, with pure emotional sculpture, that would stay timeless," said Fisker, who pointed out that the Thunderbolt was "in no way affiliated with, sponsored or endorsed by Aston Martin". 

The prototype has a completely redesigned body made out of carbon fiber featuring Fisker's signature lines, while the interior was redone with new materials and details, including the world's first application of Panasonic's 11.6-inch Curved Control Screen in a car that is designed to reduce reflections and glare. 

The only performance-related upgrades mentioned are the lowering of standard car's ride height by 15mm and the 21-inch alloy wheels with sport tires.

Fisker said that, while there will be no commercialization of the prototype shown at Amelia, "based on initial response, an extremely limited number of additional cars could be made on a special order basis, available exclusively through Galpin Aston Martin". These cars would not get the prototype Panasonic screen and would features some minor styling adjustments to the front end with a different grille and bumper, as seen in the red rendering.













3/14/15

Galpin Rocket Mustang


The folks over at Galpin Auto Sports call this the "Ultimate American Muscle Car" and judging by both specs as well as looks, holy cow, they might be right!

The Rocket, co-designed by Galpin and Henrik Fisker, was first unveiled in concept form at the 2014 LA Auto Show, where it pretty much won us over thanks to its overly aggressive looks and 725 HP supercharged V8 unit.

Fisker was quoted back then saying that he was inspired by 60's American muscle cars, specifically the 68 Shelby GT500 and its long hood and huge air intakes.

Luckily, he was able to replicate that dramatic look, and now we have this, the first production Rocket to stare at. Fittingly, it's wearing gloss black and subtle racing stripes so as not to upset the dark theme which follows through to the 21" 10 spoke ADV.1 wheels.

Its carbon fiber body was constructed by GFMI Metalcrafters, while its Cat-Black exhaust system with quad tips comes from Bassani Xhaust. The hexagonal grille at the front does look a little Jaguar-ish but we're not going to take away any points for that.

Meanwhile, other styling changes include the new front bumper, new hood, extended rear wheel arches, bootlid lip spoiler, a new rear bumper and a Gran Turismo brake package from Brembo.

You can have yours in either Black, Ingot Silver, Magnetic, Oxford White, Race Red, Deep Impact Blue or Competition Orange - or basically 7 of the 10 available factory Mustang colors.

Naturally, with all that power, comes stiffer responsibility, and so the Rocket also features a custom suspension setup which you'd definitely need in order to keep this thing in check.

As for straight line performance, no official numbers yet, but there are those who estimate (unofficially) that the Rocket will reach 60 mph (96km/h) in 3.5 seconds, followed by a top speed of 186 mph (300 km/h) - which doesn't sound right to us. It should be a lot faster than that.

Oh and also, it's hard to decide which looks better, the production Rocket or the silver prototype sitting next to it. So let's call it a tie.











10/25/12

Fisker Karma at SEMA Show



Fisker said that the "3M" Karma will be wrapped in a new scheme every 24 hours during the show allowing visitors to see how the protective film is applied and removed.

According to the automaker, the films will backed by a five-year warranty when installed by an authorized 3M technician at any of Fisker’s retail locations around the world.

The second Karma is named the Mobil 1 "American Icon” and it will be displayed at the DUB Arena outside the South Hall of the Las Vegas Convention Center. Created in house, the car features Gloss Sterling Silver and Matte Blue Metallic striped graphics from 3M Commercial Graphics.










8/7/11

Karma Fisker Crossover At Frankfurt Motor Show


 Fisker confirmed the development of a new crossover that will combine elements from sporty estate and SUV models, and which will be revealed at the 2011 Frankfurt auto show in September before it allegedly reaches showrooms in 2012.




No other details were given about the crossover, but we reckon it will most likely be shown in pre-production form.


Aside from the Karma and the as of yet unnamed crossover, Fisker is also said to be working on the production version of the 2009 Karma S coupe-convertible (pictured in our gallery) and a smaller and more practical model called the Nina, both of which are due to enter production in 2013.
In addition, Fisker said that the company has plans for a four-wheel drive version of the Karma as well as a new two-speed transmission designed to improve fuel economy and offer a higher top speed.





3/24/11

Fisker Karma Plug-In Hybrid






The curvy-shaped sedan features an aluminum frame and body panels with power coming a hybrid drivetrain that includes two 150kW electric motors (403HP in total) mounted at the rear, a 260HP 2.0-liter turbo gasoline engine located at the front and a 20 kW lithium-ion battery placed longitudinally below the floorpan. The system is said to work similar to the one found on the Chevy Volt with the electric motors driving the wheels and the gasoline engine turning a 175 kW generator that feeds the electric motors when the battery is out of juice.




According to Fisker, in electric-only mode the Karma reaches a top speed of 95 mph (153 km/h) and covers the 0 to 100 km/h sprint in 7.9 seconds, while in hybrid Sport mode these figures improve to 5.9 seconds and 125 mph (200 km/h) respectively.




The combined driving range is estimated at 300 miles (483 km) while average consumption is rated at 100 mpg (2.4 liters/100 km). Fisker's future plans include the launch of an entry-level $39,000 (€27,500) sedan next year. The car will be built in a former GM plant in Delaware, with the help of $529 million (€373 million) loans received in 2010 from the U.S. Energy Department.