AutoWeek Article
Excerpts:
So why is Henrik Fisker any different?
For one thing, Fisker has a solid career in the auto industry, credited with the designs for the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9, among many others. So he has some idea about how cars are made.
But Fisker also has an entirely different approach to making his cars super: He starts with somebody else’s. The originality of Fisker’s approach is that he begins with a Mercedes or BMW that is already DOT- and EPA-legal, with crush zones, airbags, electronic this and that all already engineered by thousands of somebody else’s engineers. He partners with an established tuner for any engine or suspension upgrade—Kleemann for Mercedes, a partner to be named later for BMWs—then installs his own interior and bolts the body panels of his design onto the car.
So Fisker is not a car builder, he is a customizer. To buy a Fisker Coachbuild automobile, you start by going to your Mercedes or BMW dealer, buying an SL55 AMG or a 6 Series, registering it in your name, and then sending it to Fisker. The only requirements that must be matched are maybe one or two corner marker lights (even the headlights stay the same).
.....
The second Fisker, called Latigo after the canyon near Malibu, will be based on the BMW 650 Ci Coupe. At the Frankfurt show, Fisker said only that technical details remain to be worked out on this one. Our short ride in the Latigo passenger seat—Fisker drove—suggests equal promise.
Exclusivity doesn’t come cheap. Minus the performance-plus package from Kleemann, the Tramonto stickers for $253,775, including the cost of the donor SL. With the package, it’s $296,775. The Latigo is $197,900 to start, and performance equipment such as the M6’s V10 drivetrain will obviously come at a premium. Don’t expect any bargains.
....
But once 150 Tramontos and 150 Latigos are built—the first available in April, the second in June—that’s it. Fisker will draw two more cars and start making those. And so on, and so on.
Excerpts:
So why is Henrik Fisker any different?
For one thing, Fisker has a solid career in the auto industry, credited with the designs for the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9, among many others. So he has some idea about how cars are made.
But Fisker also has an entirely different approach to making his cars super: He starts with somebody else’s. The originality of Fisker’s approach is that he begins with a Mercedes or BMW that is already DOT- and EPA-legal, with crush zones, airbags, electronic this and that all already engineered by thousands of somebody else’s engineers. He partners with an established tuner for any engine or suspension upgrade—Kleemann for Mercedes, a partner to be named later for BMWs—then installs his own interior and bolts the body panels of his design onto the car.
So Fisker is not a car builder, he is a customizer. To buy a Fisker Coachbuild automobile, you start by going to your Mercedes or BMW dealer, buying an SL55 AMG or a 6 Series, registering it in your name, and then sending it to Fisker. The only requirements that must be matched are maybe one or two corner marker lights (even the headlights stay the same).
.....
The second Fisker, called Latigo after the canyon near Malibu, will be based on the BMW 650 Ci Coupe. At the Frankfurt show, Fisker said only that technical details remain to be worked out on this one. Our short ride in the Latigo passenger seat—Fisker drove—suggests equal promise.
Exclusivity doesn’t come cheap. Minus the performance-plus package from Kleemann, the Tramonto stickers for $253,775, including the cost of the donor SL. With the package, it’s $296,775. The Latigo is $197,900 to start, and performance equipment such as the M6’s V10 drivetrain will obviously come at a premium. Don’t expect any bargains.
....
But once 150 Tramontos and 150 Latigos are built—the first available in April, the second in June—that’s it. Fisker will draw two more cars and start making those. And so on, and so on.
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