I May Have Found the Fisker Karma's Styling Roots

The Fisker Karma is a lot of things all rolled into one.  It allows celebutantes and starlets to drive something ecologically friendly without suffering behind the wheel of a Prius.  It is perhaps Henrik Fisker's most significant work, it's an odd performance proposition (A thousand pound-feet of torque at the wheels!), and it's a statement on sustainability.  Why is it then, that when I look at a Karma, all I can think about is how gorgeous it is?

Styling plays a roll in the emotional connection to all cars, that can't be denied.  That's probably the biggest reason at least half the people who buy a Challenger or Camaro find themselves behind the wheel.  It's important: even Toyota has realized that you can't sell a bland boringbox on it's practical merits alone.  The new Camry is probably not an interesting car to drive (I'll be honest, I haven't bothered to try) but they've done a good job of injecting some style into it.  And the Karma just oozes style, out of every pore.  Every ecologically responsible, renewable-resource pore.

It's remarkable in a lot of ways.  For instance, it's humongous.  The Fisker Karma has a 124" wheelbase- 4" longer than a new 7-series, but 3" shorter overall.  This stretched-and-clipped ratio gives the Karma it's menacing proportions, helped by the giant standard 22" wheels.  Then there's the beltline - absurdly low, clinging to the wheel wells and dropping dramatically in between.  For such a big car, there's not much of an interior.  It's neat, though: intimate, creatively trimmed, and not overly ornate.  It's different and special enough to justify the "we are the 1%" price tag.

But the back seats are tiny- like Aston Martin Rapide tiny.  All those batteries must have a downside, and in the Karma it's the tiny back seat in an almost absurdly large car, and the 5,300lb curb weight.  All of which finally brings me around to my point.  What does the Karma remind you of?  Because if I had to pick an inspiration, it would be the '61 Lincoln Continental.

When Elwood Engel spearheaded the redesign of the Lincoln for the '61 model year, one of the biggest changes was a remarkable 15" reduction in length over the outgoing model.  While today a 123" wheelbase is pretty gigantic, by 60's standards it was radically downsized.  To aid in rear seat ingress and egress, the designers switched the rear doors to reverse-hinged, creating the iconic suicide-door Continental, which is arguably the most memorable Lincoln product ever made.  It was quite a success back then, and stuck around for 8 years.  It was a badass looking car: low, mean, long and large.  It was also remarkably small inside for it's footprint... sounding familiar?

Of course, the similarities are largely stylistic.  The Continental had leather, chrome, a dashboard that would kill you, and 430-460 cubic inch gas-gulping V8's.  The Karma has a small GM 4-cylinder that provides power to a pair of electric motors, and an interior trimmed with reclaimed wood, soy-based seat materials, and carpets made of post-consumer recycled plastics.  Also, a solar panel built into the roof that's a work of art.

But the real similarity is what both cars represent: high-water marks in the history of American design.  The '61 Continental was from a much braver era of design - it's a shape that's engrained on the public consciousness, from JFK to The Matrix.  None of the Continentals that came after it really ever approached the gravitas that the '61 suicide-door held.  Same with the Karma: is there another American-designed car on sale that's so damn dramatic?  Corvettes and 300's are pretty, but they're not imaginative or original.  Most of Ford's modern designs are pleasingly euro-centric, but reactionary.  The Fisker Karma just sits there and demands you stare at it.  It's been a while, but I'm glad to see that American design is back - Engel would be proud.  What do you think?