We should consider ourselves lucky to be looking at the car pictured above, the VLF Automotive Force 1 V10.
According to legendary designer Henrik Fisker, who penned the lines of cars such as the BMW Z8 and the modern Aston Martin V8 Vantage, Aston Martin has been trying to prevent him and his partners at VLF, auto industry icon Bob Lutz and manufacturer Gilbert Villarreal, from unveiling it.
It seems the British sports carmaker found a sketch of the Force 1 to be too visually similar to the DB10 used in the latest James Bond movie “Spectre.” Fisker responded by filing a $100-million lawsuit against the company last week and taking the wraps off of the Force 1 at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS) in Detroit this week.
Personally, I don’t see the resemblance. You can definitely tell the Force 1 is based on a Viper – that’s been rebodied in carbon fiber – and reshaped with the hard edge of a ruler. Some of its fluid forms have been solidified into geometric shapes, especially up front. The giant 21-inch wheels give the Force 1 a cartoonish, exaggerated appearance.
Whether or not Fisker wins the case, you can’t say the Force 1’s engine is anything like that under the hood of the Bond car. It’s the 8.4-liter V10 from the Dodge Viper – tuned to produce 745 horsepower and a face-flattening 0-60 mph time of three seconds. Top speed is 218. That massive and massively powerful engine can be connected to a standard six-speed stick or an optional paddle-shiftable six-speed auto. No matter which gearbox is selected, it will be in the middle of an interior trimmed in hand-stitched leather and suede, equipped with its own WiFi connection, and outfitted with a champagne holder.
VLF Automotive will sell Force 1s through race car driver Ben Keating’s Viper Exchange in Tomball, Texas and begin producing the first 50 cars in its Auburn Hills, Michigan factory in April. Lutz told Automotive News, “If we do close to 100 cars in 2016, we’ll be very satisfied.” Deliveries will begin rolling out in the third quarter of this year. Prices will start at $268,500.
Derek Shiekhi's father raised him on cars. As a boy, Derek accompanied his dad as he bought classics such as post-WWII GM trucks and early Ford Mustang convertibles.
After loving cars for years and getting a bachelor's degree in Business Management, Derek decided to get an associate degree in journalism. His networking put him in contact with the editor of the Austin-American Statesman newspaper, who hired him to write freelance about automotive culture and events in Austin, Texas in 2013. One particular story led to him getting a certificate for learning the foundations of road racing.
While watching TV with his parents one fateful evening, he saw a commercial that changed his life. In it, Jeep touted the Wrangler as the Texas Auto Writers Association's "SUV of Texas." Derek knew he had to join the organization if he was going to advance as an automotive writer. He joined the Texas Auto Writers Association (TAWA) in 2014 and was fortunate to meet several nice people who connected him to the representatives of several automakers and the people who could give him access to press vehicles (the first one he ever got the keys to was a Lexus LX 570). He's now a regular at TAWA's two main events: the Texas Auto Roundup in the spring and the Texas Truck Rodeo in the fall.
Over the past several years, Derek has learned how to drive off-road in various four-wheel-drive SUVs (he even camped out for two nights in a Land Rover), and driven around various tracks in hot hatches, muscle cars, and exotics. Several of his pieces, including his article about the 2015 Ford F-150 being crowned TAWA's 2014 "Truck of Texas" and his review of the Alfa Romeo 4C Spider, have won awards in TAWA's annual Excellence in Craft Competition. Last year, his JK Forum profile of Wagonmaster, a business that restores Jeep Wagoneers, won prizes in TAWA’s signature writing contest and its pickup- and SUV-focused Texas Truck Invitational.
