FISKER Force 1 V10

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The Force awakens: meet Fisker's new V10 supercar | Top Gear

They’re calling it the ‘All American Supercar’ and the men behind it certainly have the nouse to make the new VLF Automotive Force 1 a…er … force to be reckoned with.

The two-seat, carbon-bodied supercar is the product of a partnership between Henrik Fisker (he of the eponymous Karma, the BMW Z8, Aston DB9 and V8 Vantage), eccentric and utterly brilliant former General Motors chairman ‘Maximum’ Bob Lutz and Ben Keating, legendary Viper racer.

Indeed, Keating’s experience with Vipers essentially provides the hardware, because the Force 1 is powered by a 745bhp/638lb ft 8.4-litre V10 from the Dodge-branded supercar (note the side-exit exhaust a la Viper), and features the computer-controlled active suspension system developed by Keating from his racing exploits.

And that’s a naturally-aspirated V10, don’t forget, and with only 1538kg to push around, a six-speed manual (auto is an option, with paddles), Pirelli tyres and Brembo brakes, this should be a hoot to drive.

Of course, there’s already been controversy surrounding VLF’s initial sketches, with Aston Martin intimating that it looked too much like the Aston Martin DB10 featured in Bond’s Spectre. But in the metal/carbon, the Force 1 is much more singular. The tiny glasshouse, the wild feature line and kick over the rear wheel arch, the fierce front end - there’s not much that’s shy and retiring here.
Inside, there’s the usual bespoke leather and accoutrements, though we’re really rather taken with the champagne saddle between the two seats. Because you need your wine to be secure at 218mph, obviously.

The most interesting thing? The Force 1 is relatively cheap for a low-volume supercar of just 50 initial units. Listing at $268,500 (around £187 grand), you’re looking at Ferrari 488 or Lamborghini Huracan money, and for some, those cars are just too common.

Specs:

Engine: 8.4-litre n/a V10
Six speed manual/6-spd auto option, front-engined, rear-wheel drive
Power: 745bhp @ 6100rpm , 638lb ft of torque @ 5000rpm
0-60mph in 3.0 seconds, 218mph top speed
Weight: 1538kg
1/4 mile: 10.97 seconds/136.88mph

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Henrik Fisker and Bob Lutz give us the inside line on VLF's future

TG chats with the men behind the VLF Force 1 | Top Gear

The men behind a new Viper-based, carbon-bodied, 745bhp supercar are two legends of the car industry. Lutz, a straight-talking ex-Marine, served as vice-president of GM until 2010, while Fisker is the hand behind design icons like the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9. We cornered them in Detroit…

TopGear: You already sell the Fisker-Karma based Destino V8, what’s the idea behind the Force One?

Henrik Fisker: The Force 1 is obviously the sports car in the family, and really aggressive. We tried to strike something between a race car and a luxury car. The interior’s very luxurious, but because of the active suspension, you can actually adjust the ride so it’s useable.

Bob Lutz: The interior is spectacular, just wait until you see this very frosty, high metallic content silver with this pumpkin pie coloured interior. It’s just dynamite. And you try telling me it looks like an Aston-Martin.

TG: After championing plug-in hybrids with the Karma, isn’t selling V8 and V10 super cars a bit of a contradiction?

BL: He means what’s a greenie like you doing with 650bhp cars like this.

HF: I always say it’s great to eat salad, but I don’t want to eat salad every day, I like to have a steak as well. Electric cars, plug in hybrids, hybrids, diesels, and supercars are all part of the car industry, and if I have a choice, which I do, I love working with cars that have a lot of power, that are luxurious and sporty.

TG: So what other models can we expect from you in the future?

HF: Within the next 12-16 months, we will have a new body on the Destino. Or at least, have a very modified one.

BL: If there’s one thing between Henrik, Gilbert, and myself, we have fifteen times the ideas that we can actually execute. We actually have a rule. We are only allowed to talk about our ideas on Saturdays. We have to put them in a special box, not to mix them into our daily work.

HF: I just had an idea. What about, for instance, a four-door convertible? Nobody’s done that. The Karma platform is definitely stiff enough…

TG: It must be refreshing having such a small, nimble team?

BL: Sure. We were talking about who was going to say what at tomorrow’s press conference, it took five minutes. We locked it up, decided that it was right. What we did would have taken a corporate PR staff of probably 20 or 30 people.

HF: With experience and a certain basic intelligence, which I think all 3 of us have, it is unbelievable how many steps you can skip.

TG: Is this the return of the old coach-building tradition?

HF: Sort of, but these cars actually have their own VIN number. It is a VLF Destino or VLF Force 1. Our aim is to bring cars a little faster to market, change them more often. There is something to that. Also, making a luxury car company that’s sustainable because that’s one of the problems, everybody’s chasing numbers. Because..

BL: Because they’re investing too much. I mean, you look at Bentley. Bentley sales have been down catastrophically. That’s because these kinds of cars have short shelf lives. You can’t leave them untouched for 4-5 years, which Volkswagen did. We will never build a car that’s not based on somebody else’s basic components, that’s where you blow tens of millions of dollars for nothing.

TG: What sort of numbers are you looking at selling per year?

HF: We will be close to selling a hundred Destinos this year. That’s all the cars we can get from the Chinese that now own the Fisker Karma… You can also convert Karmas, so if somebody wants to convert, we can do both. The Force 1, we are planning to do lower volumes, start with an initial run of 50, and of course, it’s built on the Viper chassis. We start production of the Force 1 in April this year, and start the first deliveries in June.

BL: Predicting numbers is tricky, because if you say one and don’t hit it people think you’ve failed. I’ll take an extreme case: 10 years from now, if all goes well, when I’m 94, we might be at a couple of thousand cars a year. We could be the size of McLaren, which looks huge, and we have no aspirations to do that. But, if natural growth takes us there, so be it.

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[swfk]

Damn that rear badge looks like it's from the Walmart car badges section.

[meme405]

Front end is really busy, but I like it more than the Karma already...

[BoostedBB6]

Looks like they just took a maserati granturismo and did a tiny bit of glass work to it......not a fan.

[ZN6]

The moment they put champaign bottle holders in a car near your head is the moment I can't take it seriously. Why not a caviar mini fridge? Why not a compartment for oompa loompa to skin grapes for you? Why not have a turbo charger for every single cylinder in there to make it over 9000 horsepower? Interior looks like something out of the 70s, better grow an afro to go with the car.

Nelly would buy this car and add an AIR in front of the name to go with his shoes.

[E-SPEC]

What the hell is up with the ever so visible defrost liners in the rear?

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Originally Posted by E-SPEC

What the hell is up with the ever so visible defrost liners in the rear?

it's the oem glass from the donor viper.

[white rocket]

I don't mind it at all. Needs some massaging in a few areas but considering how horrible most new cars that come out nowadays this isn't too bad at all.

[Hehe]

So... they took a Viper, slap on a fugly kit and called it a new supercar?

[ZN6]

Originally Posted by Hehe

So... they took a Viper, slap on a fugly kit and called it a new supercar?

Yes.

This ain't McLaren.

[Nlkko]

Lol what do you expect. A designer and 2 guys in a shed.

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i wish fisker and galpin could have done something with this, but it's so expensive i don't think it will ever happen