SCOOP: Fisker reveals second car
Ex-Aston designer shows new car exclusively to PH
Story by Nauman Farooq
PistonHeads can exclusively reveal that ex-Aston designer Henrik Fisker has produced a second design, following on from the Tramonto we unveiled last month (see link below). And it will go into production.
 Henrik Fisker with Tramonto (right) and Latigo |
 Latigo CS |
 Tramonto |
 Tramonto |
This coupé, the Latigo CS, is Fisker Coachbuild's second car in eight months and is based on the new BMW M6. Like the Tramonto roadster, the Latigo CS has been thoroughly reworked by the Fisker team. The BMW V10 has been further worked on by Kleeman, and produces 580bhp, which should be enough to see off the opposition on the autobahn.
As with the Tramonto, the new skin is made from carbon-fibre, the interior is trimmed to customer demands, and yes, this also has Fisker's signature exhaust note. The suspension is also reworked, and this also has the one-inch lift ride height system.
The most prominent styling feature is the nose with its distinctive grille -- which Fisker hopes will become a recognising feature, like BMW's kidney grilles -- and it's lost the Bangle butt.
 Latigo rear |
 Tramonto rear |
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Overall, the car has a lot of Zagato design flair about it, which is no bad thing, especially since the Zagato designs of which this is redolent never made it to production -- think Aston Martin 20/20 concept car and you'll see what I mean, the Tramonto more than the Latigo CS.
This however will go into limited production of 150 units worldwide. However, I didn't get to drive the Latigo CS, since this car isn't the finished product. For a start, this prototype you see here was built on a 645Ci platform, since an M6, on which all customer cars will be based, wasn't available at the time. I was given a ride in it by Fisker's business partner Bernhard Koehler, though, and it felt well put-together. Can't wait to get my hands on it to see how well it really drives, once Fisker has the full on M6 tuned version running.
Fisker cars can be sold in any country where the original donor vehicle is permitted for sale, so Fisker reckoned that they will be global cars. Fisker Coachbuild will cover the warranty on any component that Mercedes-Benz or BMW would refuse to cover, up to the same extent as the original warranty.
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 Fisker Tramonto on the road. Surprisingly Aston-ish... |
Fisker said he hopes to introduce a new car every year, thus bringing new designs on the market constantly, and using different new platforms. He prefers to re-skin new cars. Once a new SL55 or M6 gets registered and delivered to its owner, Fisker will have the car transported to their factory in Newport Beach, California, where it'll spend about two months getting a makeover. If you can afford to buy one of these cars, you probably have other cars to drive around, while your Fisker is getting made, plus, the wait will be worth it, since you'll have a very limited edition car.
The company could re-skin older cars such as a used SL55 or M6 but would be reluctant to do so. "A year-old car with fewer than 4,000 miles might be accepted," said a spokeswoman.
If you are tempted to run to the bank to snap one of these up, you'll need to fork out approximately US$190,000 for the Latigo CS.
We'll have more on this story tomorrow.
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But - will it come to Britain? What price? Will there be the full 6-Series range of engines to go with it and make it more affordable? Sometimes I think some small manufacturers (and plenty of big American ones too) shoot themselves in the foot by not bothering with the RHD/British market.
BMW take note, this is how the 6er COULD have looked (i.e. good)
It even looks a bit like the Chrysler Firepower proto (see Pebble Beach post).
It would have been brilliant if they executed the idea like Zagato did when they converted an Alfa 75 to the Alfa SZ, or the Lancia Delta Integrale to the Lancia Z Hyena: those look completely different but still *very* recognisable as both a Zagato and their originals.
Plus they had an added feature as they were stripped out, added with firmer settings and made in lighter materials.
What is the gain with these Fiskers?
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