First look: Fisker unveils its Frankfurt supercars

YOU'LL need to look closely to identify the donor cars behind the creations of Fisker Coachbuild, the specialist coach-building company based in Newport Beach, California, that opened its doors in April this year.

Henrik Fisker, former Aston Martin chief designer and now CEO of Fisker Coachbuild, says the fledgling company’s cars are "all about emotion and design excellence".

There’s no specific allegiance with Fisker products introduced at this year’s Frankfurt motor show either. The two cars unveiled this week were the Mercedes-Benz SL-based Tramonto and the BMW 6 Series based Latigo CS, sketches of which were revealed previously.

Although the originals are at times difficult to detect, there’s a lot of Benz in the Tramonto, including the power-retractable hardtop and Active Body Control, while the mechanicals include an AMG-crafted 5.5-litre V8 with forged aluminium pistons, balanced crankshaft and a liquid-to-air intercooler that is capable of delivering zero to 100km/h acceleration times of around 4.5 seconds.

The Tramonto’s body has been re-proportioned too, with an extended bonnet and a shorter back end with no visible bumpers. The long bonnet also has a bulging power dome that, in the stratospheric Fisker/Kleemann supercharged version, conceals a blown V8 engine capable of turning zero to 100km/h times of around 3.6 seconds.

The Fisker Latigo CS has its origins in BMW’s current 6 Series coupe, but lifts the super coupe into an altogether different category with the choice of either the 32-valve, 4.8-litre V8 or the stunning V10 seen in both the new M5 and M6 models.

Like the Tramonto, the Latigo CS has seen some fundamental proportional changes, with the C-pillar relocated "to flow in a more sculptured manner", shorter front and rear-ends and a signature Fisker power dome on the bonnet.

Production in expected to begin in April 2006 and no more than a total of 150 examples each of Tramonto and Latigo CS will be built.