Fisker

Here's the thing about living in the city:  if you do it for awhile and long enough, you'll see just about everything after a while.  Today to a trip to Sam's Club (yeah, I know, but it's not the same as a Wal-Mart) I spied a car I had never seen before but after looking it over vaguely remembered reading about it.  This, folks, is a Fisker.  

Many of you may know the name and may even have a pair of Fisker scissors in your drawer or sewing basket.  

First off, it was a hell of a a nicely style car.  It had the classic look of a sports car (long hood, short tail) but was a rather big beast.  Looked a little like a Corvette on steroids.  

This is/was a hybrid which is easily ascertained by looking at the solar panels in the roof.  

A beautiful failure. 

So here is the Fisker story.  Built in Uusikaupunki, Finland by the Fisker Automotive group, the Fisker Karma was a hybrid sports luxury car.  After a couple of delays the first units were available for purchase in the U.S. in 2011 at a paltry $102,000 for the base model on up to $116,000 for the top of the line.  Problems with the car were apparent right off the bat:  it was prone to fires, as well as a rather embarrassing incident with Consumer Reports.  They buy about 80 new cars a year and in 2011 they purchased a Karma for review.  Some malfunction rendered the car unable to be started and in all of the years CR has been reviewing cars the Fisker was the first that didn't start and they never could get it running. 

It declared bankruptcy in 2012 and production ceased.  If you type Fisker in your browser, you will get, among another sites one called the New Fisker.  Apparently the Fisker assets were sold to a Chinese company with North American headquarters in Chicago.  They say they plan to re-start operations, possibly in a factory in Delaware, and maybe at the end of this year or 2015.   I sure hope they can get it going, the world needs "green" autos and this one is a stunner.  With gas mileage at around 50 miles an hour when in electric mode (but only 20 in gas),  it may be a really fancy and expensive way to move around, but it is a sharp, sharp looker.  I say let the fat cats buy this baby so we bottom-feeders can appreciate art on wheels.

This is a 20 minute video explaining everything you'd ever want to know about the Fisker.  (For real nuts only.)