The VLF Destino was a proposed

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

from American car company

VLF Automotive VLF Automotive is a small American-based automotive company formed in January 2016. It was founded as VL Automotive in 2012 by Bob Lutz and Gilbert Villarreal, then renamed after Henrik Fisker joined the company. GreenTech Automotive merged w ...

. The Destino was a large four-door sedan and was first shown to the public at the

North American International Auto Show The Detroit Auto Show, formerly known as the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan. Hosted at Huntington Place (formerly Cobo Center) since 1965, it is among the largest auto shows in ...

in January 2013 as the VL Destino, and subsequently the WM Destino, before being named VLF Destino in January 2016. Sales were expected to commence in 2014, but the expected start of sales was later pushed back to 2016.

History

The Destino was based on the

Fisker Karma The Fisker Karma is a luxury vehicle, luxury plug-in Range extender (vehicle), range-extended electric sports sedan produced by Fisker Automotive between 2011 and 2012. The cars were manufactured at Valmet Automotive in Finland. The United St ...

, which ceased production in 2012. VL had obtained 20 Karma " gliders" from

Fisker Automotive Fisker Automotive was an American automobile company. It produced the Fisker Karma, which was one of the world's first production luxury plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. The company was founded in 2007 by Henrik Fisker, a Danish automobile d ...

, and reported 100 orders by May 2013. Sales of the Destino were originally scheduled to commence in the second half of 2013, but the start was pushed back to 2014, due to the ongoing restructuring of Fisker. The Destino retained the Karma interior and most exterior panels, but removed the Karma's electric motor and battery system, and installed a

General Motors General Motors Company (GM) is an American Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturing company headquartered in Detroit, Michigan, United States. The company is most known for owning and manufacturing f ...

LS9 6.2-litre V-8 gasoline engine producing 638 hp (476 kW; 647 PS) and 604 lbf·ft (819 N·m) of torque fitted with a 6-speed

automatic transmission An automatic transmission (AT) or automatic gearbox is a multi-speed transmission (mechanics), transmission used in motor vehicles that does not require any input from the driver to change forward gears under normal driving conditions. The 1904 ...

. It was planned in 2013 that the cars would be built in

Auburn Hills Auburn Hills is a city in Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. A northern suburb of Detroit, Auburn Hills is located about north of downtown Detroit. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 24,360. Auburn Hills is home to ...

in Michigan. The manufacturer proposed a sale price of 200,000 in 2014. In May 2014 VL merged with WM GreenTech Automotive, which resulted in the car being renamed WM Destino by its new owners. In January 2016, the car was renamed as the VLF Destino V8, to mark the creation of the new company

Technical

Unlike the discontinued hybrid

, the Destino was powered by a traditional gasoline engine from GM manufactured to power Chevrolets and Cadillacs. The 6.2-litre (6162 cc) V8 supercharged LS9 engine was front mid-mounted and powered the rear wheels. Producing 638 hp at 6,500 rpm and torque of 604 lb-ft (819 Nm) at 3,800 rpm, the Destino was claimed to accelerate 0-60 mph in 3.9 seconds and reach a maximum speed of 200 mph.

References

External links

* * {{Henrik Fisker Luxury vehicles Sedans Cars introduced in 2016 Henrik Fisker