NAIAS 2013: Everyone's Most Favorite-ist Car Exec Saves Least Favorite-ist Electric Car…With A 6.2-liter LT1 V8!

Mark Stevenson
by Mark Stevenson

It isn’t often one of the biggest news items coming out of NAIAS 2013 is from a tuning house … especially a tuning house nobody has ever heard of before. Attach the name Bob Lutz to a car, along with a brand new, fire breathing, tire shredding 6.2L LT1 V8 from the new Corvette, you are bound to turn some heads. Oh, and they wedged it into a Fisker Karma.

That’s Maximum to the Bob.

The supposed soon-to-be production ready boutique supercar is called the VL Automotive Destino. While the fossil-fuel burning horsepower generator and its choice of automatic or manual transmissions is an addition, the rest is a story of subtraction. Gone is the weird polarizing Fisker Karma face for a more Ferrari-esque affair. Chuck out the batteries and their added risk of fiery death. Oh, and that EcoTec? That’ll just get in the way of its bigger brother.

Everything else is pretty much as it was when it left Finland.

Want one? They say toward the end of the year you’ll be able to buy one. The price? If you’re asking, chances are you won’t be able to buy one.

Mark Stevenson
Mark Stevenson

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  • CarnotCycle CarnotCycle on Jan 14, 2013

    The Volt Fastback Edition got a real engine? Yawn. Whoa, hold on here...let me get this straight: Leo DiCaprio's boutique Finland-made eco-car ends up with a high-tech-redneck pushrod truck motor? And all basically exist at taxpayer expense? Indeed, it is a government program.

  • Corey Lewis Corey Lewis on Jan 16, 2013

    I don't care for the seams on the fenders/hood in the front view. The original design is much more fluid in that respect. This one sorta looks like a body kit from another car.

  • Slavuta Nissan + profitability = cheap crap
  • ToolGuy Why would they change the grille?
  • Oberkanone Nissan proved it can skillfully put new frosting on an old cake with Frontier and Z. Yet, Nissan dealers are so broken they are not good at selling the Frontier. Z production is so minimal I've yet to see one. Could Nissan boost sales? Sure. I've heard Nissan plans to regain share at the low end of the market. Kicks, Versa and lower priced trims of their mainstream SUV's. I just don't see dealerships being motivated to support this effort. Nissan is just about as exciting and compelling as a CVT.
  • ToolGuy Anyone who knows, is this the (preliminary) work of the Ford Skunk Works?
  • Kwik_Shift_Pro4X I will drive my Frontier into the ground, but for a daily, I'd go with a perfectly fine Versa SR or Mazda3.
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