Driver's Notebook: About Face
10/01/2007
Henrik Fisker, the Danish designer responsible for the BMW Z8 and the Aston Martin DB9, launched his eponymous Fisker Coachbuild with a simple concept: He would design unique bodies for existing sports cars. Thus, the Mercedes-Benz SL65 and BMW M6 became blank canvases for Fisker’s artistry.The Tramonto (The Robb Report Collection, February 2007) arguably improves the already svelte Mercedes SL, but with the Latigo, Fisker transformed the lumpy BMW 6 Series into one of the most seductive shapes on the road. Beginning with Fisker’s signature face—narrow, slanting headlight covers peering over a broad mesh-grille—the Latigo’s carbon-fiber coachwork sweeps over a long hood and powerful fender arches to an elegantly curved rear deck. "My goal was to make it look like an understated spacecraft," says Fisker. "I wanted to visually take weight out of the [6 Series dimensions]—it is wider, but a half-inch shorter and 1-inch lower. I also slimmed up the C-pillar and did a complete new rear with slim LED taillights." Fisker integrated the bumpers and added an inch of flare to the rear fenders. "The Latigo buyer is more into performance," he explains.
"I saw the prototype and it was the most beautiful car I’d ever seen," says Marc Jones, an investment banker and owner of Latigo #001. "I went up to Henrik and said, ‘I’m your first customer.’" Though not a BMW enthusiast, he immediately ordered an M6 and began the process of selecting specifications. Jones, who will use the Latigo as a daily driver, claims the car suits his needs. "There are no comparable options," he says.
Unlike the Tramonto, which is built in Turin, Italy, the Latigo’s final assembly takes place just south of Los Angeles in Irvine, Calif. But work on Jones’s car began with the engine at Racing Dynamics, an Italian tuner that specializes in BMW engines. "We prefer to leave it up to the customer to do the tuning," says Fisker. "We’re the coachbuilding experts."
Racing Dynamics massaged 648 hp and an 8,250-rpm redline from the 5-liter V-10, all delivered via BMW’s 7-speed Sequential Manual Gearbox (SMG). Fisker added three-piece forged alloy 20-inch wheels of his own design—9 inches wide in front and 10 inches at the rear. The brakes, more than capable of handling the Latigo’s 648 hp, are the stock M6 units. Other than springs that shave an inch off ride height, the suspension also remains as BMW intended.
Interior changes included reskinning all soft surfaces in Alcantara and fine, furniture-grade Italian leather. Metal trim is milled aluminum. Jones requested that the wood trim in #001 be redone in piano-black finish, a change Fisker good-naturedly wishes he had devised himself.
With the fifth of seven factory shift programs dialed in, the transmission snaps upward through the gears with light pressure on a leather-and-aluminum handle, and it downshifts with a burbling blip of the throttle; absent is the odd jerkiness of previous-generation SMGs. The Racing Dynamics sport exhaust delivers a pleasant, non-intrusive rumble at cruising speed that escalates—in unison with rpm—to the captivating howl of a Formula One racer. The Latigo matches a Lamborghini or Ferrari in audacious performance. But just as quickly as it twists the tachometer’s needle on Malibu’s canyon roads, it can drop back to 2,000 rpm at 65 mph in sixth gear, for a placid cruise along Pacific Coast Highway.
Latigo buyers have a menu of options, starting with engine selections: The CS V8 Coupe ($199,000) and CS V8 Con-vertible ($204,000) are based on the BMW 6 Series, and are powered by a 360 hp V-8; the CS V10 Coupe ($244,000) and CS V10 Convertible ($249,000) use the M6’s standard 500 hp V-10 engine; the CS V10 Coupe HP ($299,000) and CS V10 Convertible HP ($304,000), meanwhile, are powered by an M6 with 648 hp. For speed freaks with the non-HP Latigo versions, Fisker offers an optional Performance Plus Package (PPP) that sports a 548 hp engine for an additional $14,600 or a 580-hp powerplant for $24,200. Engine work is performed by premiere BMW engine tuners, such as Dinan or Italy’s Racing Dynamics. Then, there is Fisker’s infinite range of bespoke touches—interior and exterior—ensuring that no two cars are alike.
Fisker will produce a limited run of 150 Latigos, ensuring that exclusivity is built right in. The build process normally takes about four weeks, and there is currently a four-month backlog. Having experienced the Latigo firsthand, it is definitely worth the wait.
Fisker Coachbuild
www.fiskercb.com