Despite whispers of vaporware and only a little more than four months since the original concept was debuted at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show, Fisker has handed out a set of six images of the Fisker Karma testing in Southern California. The prototype looks shockingly similar to the show car and is wearing only the lightest of camouflage, just vinyl stickers which do little to obscure the cars handsome body work.
We can't promise this is anything other than a body and chassis mule, there could be no hybrid power train under that sleek sheetmetal, but we can't help but drool over the idea this thing might actually become reality. Check out Wired for the whole photo set.













Comments
I'll bet you anything that this is just the concept car that's been all taped up to look camo'd. I mean, they aren't even real spy photos, but distributed by Fisker themselves.
Look at the wheel/tire package...there's way too little clearance between the tires and bodywork for a real street car; it in fact looks just like the clearance in the concept.
Needs bigger doorhandles.
I think you've posted the wrong photos for this article... I'm looking for the "handsome bodywork" you're referring to, but all I see is a bizarre 4-door Corvette with a front end that looks like it was modelled off the Joker from "Batman: The Animated Series"
@Pope Dearthair the Awesometh:
although i admire your posts, im going to have completely disagree with you hear, by the way.. it looks ten times better in person, same with quattroport.
fenderpron.
Shot at El Toro, former Marine Air Station.
@69 woodie..wait for it..: I absolutely heart Jalopnik. Anywhere else, I would have had a response telling me I'm "stoopid" and blind and other things said in acronyms I don't fully understand OMGWTFBBQ. That was such a classy response, it would almost make me change my opinion of the car.
Nope, looked again, we'll have to agree to disagree. That thing looks bizarre to me.
I will, however, willingly take your word on the "in person" aspect. Similarly, the Jag XF looked attractive to me in photos, albeit a bit bland... but when I saw it in person, it looked simply stunning, and when I saw it driving I fell in love. So I have full faith in your opinion.
@Pope Dearthair the Awesometh: You say 'a bizzare 4-door Corvette' as if it were a bad thing.
@Solo_Racer: A short drive from the office for me, and set to become "OC Great Park." Sad if you ask me. They could have turned it into a left-coast answer to Sebring, or some sort of gimongous gymkhana/dragstrip/shrine to hoonage (you know, to quell the out-of-control street racing pandemic the MSM and the po-po keep screaming about?), but the more politically-correct redevelopment plan won out.
Granted, I'm sure it'll be a beautiful place once it's done (in a decade or so...), but it's almost like the Man wants to keep street racing alive...
@Pope Dearthair the Awesometh: It really does look better in person. Why it's camo'd is beyond me. Thousands of photos of it are out there, including press shots without vinyl from Fisker himself.
@Tomsk: Amen, brother. It's a great place for Solo racing. Pro Solo was held their in March and it was great. Surface is very grippy asphalt.
If Irvine blows more money on that idiotic balloon they won't have money for the park. The as-yet built homes are supposed pay the bulk of it. Like Qualcomm in SD, it's another site for grassroots motorsports for which the clock is about to strike midnight. We just don't know if it's two or three minutes to 12.
It looks rather like the Maserati Quattroporte, and, much like its namesake, has four doors.
The real question will be how it looks as it drives by. I always thought the Lotus Exige looked ridiculous in magazines and on Top Gear, but in real life it looks absolutely excellent. (The exact opposite can be said for the Volkswagen-styled Bentleys, which need to be purged. Bring back the huge grilles!)
[autoweek.com]
Can't think of any reason for Fisker to rush a "prototype" out. Probably running on the guts of a 93 S10.
[jalopnik.com]
If not for the handlebar moustache-inspired styling, this would be a handsome vehicle.
@Feds: I hope it's got the Iron Duke retrofitted with a carb.
A-pillar shot looks like a neon; but the show car photos from alternate angles prove otherwise.
Grill reminds me of old Mercury Cougar (think Road House.. Swayze asking "these work?")
I'm liking it. If it was dangling a 120V power cord, it'd be even better.
I think it's beatiful, and needs to run the 'Ring in under 8 minutes. Not only would it be one of the first sedans to do so, but as a hybrid? Can't get more awesome than that.
Not bad, not bad. Not pr0n but not bad.
When do they issue a press release in an attempt to shakedown investors?
As mentioned, this was released by Fisker and not real spy shots. Seems kind of desperate to do something like that. At least Opel had the excuse of trying to increase pre-launch buzz for doing that with the Insignia, but since we all already know what the Fisker looks like, I don't see the whole point of putting on that camo.
By articles I read, they have over 100 orders right now for the Fisker Hybrid. Hopefully they have progressed farther than just concept models; 2009 is fast approaching.
Please, Please, Please, Please!
[www.wreckedexotics.com]
nuff said
@skulldriveshaft: Yeah, Chevy Cobalts are definitely exotic vehicles.
Test drive > frontal crash > Justice served.
the lines are absolutely beaut - but please make that grille stop grinning @ me - like that
@Pope Dearthair the Awesometh: thank you sir.
Looks like a combination of a Pontiac Grand Prix and the Flatmobile, yet I like it
The pics probably have less to do with generating buzz than rattling Tesla's cage over the WhiteStar lawsuit.
*sigh*....such a lazy, amateurish design. Scratch that; it's a decade-old Chrysler concept. Whoop-dee-freakin' doo.
@Adamskiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiy: No, but the Cavalier is.
what happened in the mindnumbingly endless lawsuits?
Why did it take Fisker 5 months to go from an empty shell to an actual driving mule test vehicle? Maybe the Quantum drive platform is not a developed as they want us to believe? Especially when Fisker itself releases the photos. I will wait for photos that actually show a series hybrid drive train. If Fisker want to meet the 2010 1st vehicle for sale date, they seem to be way behind, unless they are only going to make one or two vehicle that year. In that case, almost any engineering vehicle companie could build a couple samples. I will wait until they build 1000 units a year; That should be the real 1st year of production.
Tesla, this also applies to you.
i don't like you.@bmoredlj:
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