Fisker’s Karma gets reincarnated with fire-breathing V8, hybrid models

By Joe Mahan February 21, 2014

Fisker Atlantic — Image used with permission by copyright holder

The Fisker Karma has been passed around like a stray dog. It goes from place to place, leaves a mess, has accidents, and then finally ends up with a loving owner who gracefully nurses it back into shape.

Now it seems there’s some semblance of reality for the bankrupt automaker, as it has been purchased by Chinese giant automotive supplier Wanxiang. Wangxiang now has the tough task of essentially performing open heart surgery on the Fisker to give it a reboot. Its first live-breathing move is to offer the Karma in both plug-in hybrid and V8 models.

According to Reuters, this sleek and fantastic looking four-door will no longer be the silent green missile it was originally designed to be. Instead, it will be a rip-roaring and rare luxury sedan powered by a Corvette engine.

Sound familiar? It should. It’s essentially the car VL Automotive has been making from the carcasses of croaked Karmas for years, called the Destino. Don’t worry, Wangxiang’s Fisker isn’t simply ripping off the VL Automotive’s idea. It’s conscripted the help of former General Motors exec and current VL Automotive Chairman of the Board Bob Lutz to head the project.

I just hope that the reborn hybrid-powered Karmas are better than the last iteration. Henrik Fisker might have made a gorgeous-looking car, but he did a mediocre job designing a hybrid system, to say the least.

Now that Fisker is owned by Wanxiang, I hope to hear the whistle of a supercharged V8 howl past me in the near future, especially from a car that was once a prismatic-fluid-leaking hybrid.

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Former Digital Trends Contributor

Joe Mahan is an intern at Digital Trends working in the Cars section. He is currently a Junior at the University of Portland…

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