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Destino - V8 powered Fisker Karma

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Bob Lutz and co are at it again V8 Powered Fisker Karma

Actual pictures here: Bob Lutz brings Destino, a ZR1-powered Karma, to Detroit

NAIAS 2013: Destino: Corvette-Powered Fisker Karma | Motorward

Destino-Karma-V8-1-545x300.jpg


Destino is a new exotic car made by Gilbert Villereal of VL Automotive and former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. It is based on the Fisker Karma, and it has a brilliant idea: replace the Karma’s electric drivetrain with a V8 engine from the Corvette ZR1!


It is not a tuner’s nonsense, either. They are planning to produce this car in the second quarter of 2013, and are already testing prototypes. With Destino you get the amazing look of the Karma, but none of its electric system’s drawbacks. For one thing, it won’t be catching fire very often!

The performance of that ZR1 engine is the cherry for the top of Destino’s cake. The 6.2 liter supercharged V8 delivers 640 horsepower and over 800 Nm of torque. Later on they reckon they can offer the car with the newer LT1 engine out of the new Corvette C7.

Of course they can’t just put the engine inside the Karma’s bonnet and let it loose. There is a lot of testing and re-engineering they have to go through, and after that there’s the certification and validation. So, second quarter of 2013 sounds a bit optimistic.
 
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Destino is a new exotic car made by Gilbert Villereal of VL Automotive and former General Motors Vice Chairman Bob Lutz. It is based on the Fisker Karma, and it has a brilliant idea: replace the Karma’s electric drivetrain with a V8 engine from the Corvette ZR1!

It seems to me the real question is how did they get the rights and who is building most of the car? Why did Fisker give up the rights? Are they that desperate?
 
Interesting that it nixes the main controversial bit of the Karma styling, that front grill. Probably regains a significant about of trunk space by eliminating those inverters. Even gets rid of that mostly useless solar roof. Battery spine space can be repurposed as the more typical transmission tunnel, though it will probably remain larger than it needs, unless they change the stampings. I think that's ok though. The cockpit feel is one of the things I like about the Karma.

I'm not sure how many of these would sell but it would give Fisker something to do their overcapacity. Perhaps a use for those 300+ water damaged, yet intact Karmas from Superstorm Sandy.
 
A few more tidbits from a GTSpirit article...

-> the Destino will weigh 1300lbs less than the Karma, putting it right about 4,000 lbs or os
-> Lutz seemed to imply that they were buying the bodies directly from Fisker
-> Pricing will be $180K for the Destino

I'm not a fan of the new grill... preferred the old one. Also, they raised the hood to accomodate the bigger V8. Wonder what final fuel economy and performance times will be! The ZR1 (whose engine the Destino will share) goes 0-60 in 3.4s but it weighs 3,330lbs. The Karma Destino will weigh 600-700lbs more, so perhaps that extra weight will translate into a 0.5-0.7s slower acceleration time.
 
It's funny that fisker used to take bmws and coach build, and now someone is doing it with his own car. Wonder if that battery tunnel will go as well. They plan to get this out in 6 months? We shall see. For 180k you can get nicer cars I think.
 
Destino--The Corvette-Powered Fisker Karma: Detroit Auto Show


The Destino is a collaborative project between Lutz and industrialist Gilbert Villereal, and made its debut today at the 2013 Detroit Auto Show. It will be built in Auburn Hills, Michigan--not far from where Lutz's former colleague at GM and now Fisker CEO, Tony Posawatz, is setting up a Fisker technology center.

The car is scheduled for retail sales in the second half of 2013.

Maybe The Fisker will be built in the same factory!!!!!
 
Maybe The Fisker will be built in the same factory!!!!!
Depends what they mean by manufactured. Putting on new bumpers and installing the drivetrain likely counts. Seems to me they'd get Karma gliders from Fisker via Valmet. And honestly, those flooded Sandy Karmas are probably enough supply for the numbers of Destinos they could realistically expect to sell within a year, probably longer.
 

That really looks like a Maserati now...
Maserati-Grand-Tourismo-2012-i1.jpg


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...And honestly, those flooded Sandy Karmas are probably enough supply for the numbers of Destinos they could realistically expect to sell within a year, probably longer...

Is there some confirmation that these cars will use those Karma bodies?

I would think that the flood damage might render those old Karmas as complete salvage, not able to be re-titled as new again.
You don't want hidden rust and corrosion showing up in a supposedly new car.
 
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Is there some confirmation that these cars will use those Karma bodies?

I would think that the flood damage might render those old Karmas as complete salvage, not able to be re-titled as new again.
You don't want hidden rust and corrosion showing up in a supposedly new car.
No, no confirmation. It was just an idea. As far as I know those cars are in limbo given the insurance lawsuit.

But the body is painted aluminum and they weren't flooded for that long. With a new drivetrain and interior going in anyhow, I think they'd be fine for this purpose.
 
Let's make an EV. And make it hella-stylish. And add an ICE to give it some spunk. Let's call it an EREV or EVER so it sounds cooler than "our Prius" (aka hybrid). Oh, and let's take away some of the spunk because the mileage sucks, and the engine would be too heavy/expensive/etc. Oh yeah, and hella stylish. And let's add a solar panel so the OCD greenies are happy even if it doesn't really provide much energy. And ship it!

Oh right, we forgot to make decent user interface so let's retrofit that.
(And more stuff I forget.)

But really the problem is that damn EV motor and battery. Apparently it's the battery that catches fire, not this MW-equivalent (Dave Duff's characterization) of gasoline we're carrying around.
With Destino you get the amazing look of the Karma, but none of its electric system’s drawbacks. For one thing, it won’t be catching fire very often!

And when we're done we'll have an awesome Karma, that's not really a Karma, which wasn't really an EV but a half EV ("EREV"/"EVER"/hybrid)...and now it's even better because it's not EV at all. In fact we'll put a Corvette engine in it. When we're all done it will "have Karma's good looks", a Corvette engine, and look like a Maserati.


I'm a little confused. What is Fisker bringing to the table here? And why did "EV" money go to them at all?

I think you're right. The "WTF" articles write themselves.
 
No, no confirmation. It was just an idea. As far as I know those cars are in limbo given the insurance lawsuit.
But the body is painted aluminum and they weren't flooded for that long. With a new drivetrain and interior going in anyhow, I think they'd be fine for this purpose.
I think insurance companies are afraid of flood damaged cars and there is a history of dealers trying to unload them without saying... So, there tends to be a strong message to just shred/recycle vehicles that went through floods even if the odds are good that they are still in decent shape. Basically the 'bean counters' tend to say the risk is not worth it so just get rid of them.
(I know it is painful to think of just tossing out what may be good cars...)

Remember that story of 4703 scrapped Mazdas because they sat sideways too long?
Mazda scrapping all vehicles aboard capsized Cougar Ace
 
Destino is just buying the bodies from Fisker and installing their own powertrain. Fisker did not give up any rights. This is pretty common in the automotive world.

I am not a lawyer but I think that the problem of rights exists anyway. I think that Fisker should prevent that his cars, having the fame of being EVER cars, have the powertrain replaced and become ICE cars.