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.

  • GregLocock That's a bodge, not a solution. Your diff now has bits of broken off metal floating around in it.
  • The Oracle Well, we’re 3-4 years in with the Telluride and right around the time the long term durability issues start to really take hold. This is sad.
  • CoastieLenn No idea why, but nothing about a 4Runner excites me post-2004. To me, they're peak "try-hard", even above the Wrangler and Gladiator.
  • AZFelix A well earned anniversary.Can they also attend to the Mach-E?
  • Jalop1991 The intermediate shaft and right front driveshaft may not be fully engaged due to suspected improper assembly by the supplier. Over time, partial engagement can cause damage to the intermediate shaft splines. Damaged shaft splines may result in unintended vehicle movement while in Park if the parking brake is not engagedGee, my Chrysler van automatically engages the parking brake when we put it in Park. Do you mean to tell me that the idjits at Kia, and the idjit buyers, couldn't figure out wanting this in THEIR MOST EXPENSIVE VEHICLE????
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