We recently sat down with Henrik Fisker. This modern day renaissance man designed many of the cars that adorn posters and dreams worldwide. Not content with having an amazing design career, he went on to found several companies, design a yatch, and a motorcycle, and furniture, and…well you get the idea. He is currently launching two (!) companies – VLF and Fisker Automotive – along with two new cars (one car for each company, ‘natch…), so we just had to meet Henrik Fisker to figure out what makes him tick.

Interview has been edited for clarity and brevity:

[question] First of all, thank you for sitting down with FactoryTwoFour. I loved the Fisker Karma and it was the second car I reviewed as a new automotive journalist. You’ve done so much over your career and have been involved in so many interesting projects. When you were 25 years old, what did you imagine you would be doing with your life right now? [/question]

[answer]Honestly *haha* I expected I’d be owning my own car company quite frankly, living in LA! What hasn’t happened is owning my private island and racetrack! [/answer]

[question] There’s still time… Viewed from outside, you’ve had the Midas touch with your designs. Many if not all of your designs, the BMW Z8, Aston Martin Vantage, the Karma, have stood the test of time and gathered universal praise. What unifies all your designs? What are you trying to say with each one, and why? [/question]

[answer] I have always gone out on a limb and forced through things I believe in – like generous sculpture instead of slab-sided cars. If it’s too cluttered the cars tend to age quickly.

I just love cars. If I can connect anyone emotionally with my designs that’s something I love. Ultimately you want the person who buys a car to really fall in love with the shape. That is always my goal. [/answer]

[question] For you, what’s the most beautiful car every? Why? [/question]

[answer] *Haha* can I mention my own? The Jaguar E-Type convertible is so dramatic and the sculpture is so beautiful, it has to be the E-Type. For myself, it’s the last car I designed because I put so much into it. So that’s the Force One and Fisker EMotion. They have my sweat and blood.[/answer]

[question] Yes, so the Force One is basically a Viper turned up to 11 and re-bodied in more modernism than an art gallery. Why did you choose the Viper to base the car on? And if the Viper is so good, why mess with it?

[answer] Basically I had an idea for an American sports car. It’s the biggest market for sports cars, but there’s nothing at the highest level of the market. American cars mean you get the most band for your buck. I met a guy in Texas who was racing Vipers and all the mechanics of the car seemed perfect.

At the end of the day the Viper was the ultimate because of the long hood, the biggest naturally aspirated motor, and the fraction of the cost of a European sports car. American design is “show me what you got.” You shouldn’t be timid about it. The Force One, more than half the car is the hood, it’s got 21″ wheels, so it was really about designing the car to show the power.[/answer]

[question] So production started in August, have you delivered any cars yet?[/question]

[answer] Yeah, we just delivered the first car to a gentleman in Texas. Our next batch goes out after Christmas.[/answer]

[question]You only plan on making 50 Force Ones. How many have you sold so far, and who is buying them?[/question]

[answer]We’re just having fun. This is a fun club where we’re selling to collectors. We don’t do any advertising. We’re selling mainly to car collectors and enthusiasts. People with a high true affection for cars. This car is for someone who likes having their neighbor come over to their driveway and ask “what is that?”[/answer]

[question]This is such a classic old-school kind of car. Is VLF a rebuttal to electrification?[/question]

[answer]It would be very nice for the future if we have choice, electric cars or sports cars. I like choice. This is the extreme fun side.[/answer]

[question] I really loved the Karma, but given how everything went with that company why are you still playing in the electric car market? Nobody would blame if you if picked up your ball and went home…[/question]

[answer]  With the Karma, it was an amazing experience, it was like the wild west. There were only 3 battery companies for auto and ours went through recalls and went bankrupt.[/answer]

[question]With the EMotion you’ve cracked the 400-mile range barrier. Given that something like 90% of American’s drive less than 40 miles a day, does range really matter?[/question]

[answer]Here’s the simple reason why – it matters until we have an infastructure similar to gas stations. Unless you have a house, if you live in a city like New York or Paris you can’t charge every night. If you have 400 miles of range you only have to charge once a month.[/answer]

[question] So what does the future hold for you? What’s next?[/question]

[answer] A lot of hard work I think! I feel the future is extremely exciting. I just can’t sit still.[/answer]

[question] And finally, here at FactoryTwoFour our goal is to live “the original lifestyle,” what does living the original lifestyle mean to you?[/question]

[answer] Living the original lifestyle means you have to try to make your dreams a reality and never give up. It doesn’t have anything to do with money. I love traveling the world and meeting my customers, and it’s easy because the world is getting smaller. I love doing this, and living your dreams for me is it.[/answer]

The post An Interview with Henrik Fisker, the Designer’s Designer appeared first on FactoryTwoFour.

Walking up to the i3 is an exercise in identifying surfaces and following creases. This motor is a riot of angles and eye-points. While the BMW kidney grills and badge are present and accounted for, every other part of the design language is unique to the i range. This is great news for those considering an i3 as it means your eco-chariot will not be lost in the tidal sea of 2 and 3 series that populate the roads. we took a spin the sunburst orange and black example and found the colors to perfectly match the futuristic quality of the vehicle. Every i3 will be two-toned from the factory, with the black sections moving backward from the hood and fog lights forming the boundaries of what BMW calls the “functional load compartment.” And while it might sound like a crude reddit caption, they are trying to explain that all the action from both the drive-train and the pilot occur between those black bands.

You could swear the this whip would fit in your pocket. This car is seriously tiny. Visually it appears on par with the Smart car, but the actual dimensions tell a different story. As does the interior. Not only is it roomy inside, but the interior engineers in Leipzig have outdone themselves. If the exterior is all hard edges and creases, the interior consists solely of swoops and curves. It is easy to say that the interior of this vehicle is the most forward thinking and revolutionary part of the whole car. The i3 team clearly started with nothing but a blank sheet of paper and happily entertained ideas from half-crazed graduate students and struggling performance artists. This place is mental. And I mean that in the best possible way. The wood used as trim is unvarnished and coarse. the layout of every nook and cranny is fresh and exciting. the materials are, for the most part, luxurious and upgraded. BMW is clearly thinking beyond the driver here and is aiming on making a huge impression on any passengers’ ideas of what a BMW is.

But BMWs are known for their driving. So how does the i3 stack up to that heritage? The standard i3 is a pure electric car tipping the scales at 2.635 lbs, but we’re tootling around Sin City in the upgraded range-extender version. This option ads a 264 lb convention 650cc gas engine that can generate electricity for the on-board batteries but never physically powers the wheels. Because it’s all-electric, the i3 gets up and gos. 0-60 clocks in at 7 seconds, but being a city car the more interesting figure is its 0-30 time of just 3.5 seconds.

This pocket rocket was thoroughly designed to live its life in our urban environments and it shows. Quick, light steering, fluidic lane changes and sudden bursts of acceleration all make the i3 a downtown dream. The 100 mile maximum range of the power pack also chains it to city centers and developed areas, as does the 30 minute recharge time when equipped with the optional quick-charge package.The most unusual aspect of our drive around the Vegas strip was the rabies-level aggressiveness of the energy capture braking system. As soon as you let off the accelerator, the re-gen system begins to convert the movement of the wheels into harnessed energy and recharges the 450 lbs worth of Macbook batteries. This has the practical effect of forcefully applying the brakes every time you lift off the accelerator. At first blush this process was violent and led to a very see-saw riding experience. Quickly, however, I adapted and learned to stay on the accelerator longer (since there is no such thing as coasting in this car) and only using the actual brakes for aggressive stopping or to come to a complete halt. BMW might very well find it difficult to traverse that learning curve with potential customers during brief test drives. Then again, they can always sell customers on the “one set of brake pads to last a lifetime” angle.

Those Armani cologne sporting salesmen will have plenty of other selling points to use as well. BMW is betting billions on Deutschmarks that the i brand is their future, and the i3 is their volume model for the brand. They have crammed this electric buggy with as much new technology and fresh ideas as it can carry on it 101 inch wheelbase. They want every upwardly mobile yuppy going from their loft to their startup in an electric i3, and they’re off to a good start. Although it packs largely the same drive-train tech as a Chevy Volt, its had the Bavarian magic sprinkled all over it. The i3 is revolutionary for BMW and the upscale EV market, and you can fully expect this revolution to by heavily televised.

Take a stroll through our extensive gallery below for more i3 goodness:

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