The Fisker Tramonto was the first car of Fisker Coachbuild, the small custom-car company Henrik Fisker started with Bernhard Koehler in 2005. It was a Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG re-bodied as a roadster and built with the Italian coachbuilder Stola.
Fisker Tramonto at a glance
| Maker | Fisker Coachbuild LLC, Orange County, California |
|---|---|
| Company founded | 2005, by Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler |
| Base car | Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG |
| Body | roadster with new coachbuilt panels |
| Coachbuilder | Stola |
| Price | $253,000 |
| Planned volume | a limited series of 150 |
| Built | 17 |
| Sister model | Fisker Latigo CS, a re-bodied BMW 645Ci coupe |
There is no Wikipedia article on the Tramonto itself; this page uses the Fisker Coachbuild sections of the English article on Henrik Fisker and the German article on Fisker Automotive, and has no free photographs of the car.
History of the Fisker Tramonto
Fisker Coachbuild was set up in 2005 in Orange County, California, by Henrik Fisker and Bernhard Koehler as a company that carried out development work for other makers, much as Porsche did, and also sold its own coachbuilt cars. The first of those was the Tramonto, a roadster built on the Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG: the mechanical parts came from Mercedes-Benz and the body was drawn again by Fisker, with the work of turning the cars out carried out together with the coachbuilder Stola.
The Tramonto was offered at $253,000 and was meant to be a limited series of 150 cars, but only 17 were ever completed. The second model of the company was the Fisker Latigo CS, a coupe based on the BMW 645Ci and priced between $195,000 and $235,000, again as a limited run. The small volume and high price of both cars made them a niche product, and Fisker moved on in 2007 to found Fisker Automotive with Quantum Technologies, the company that built the Karma hybrid sedan.
The Tramonto therefore belongs to the brief coachbuilding period between Fisker’s work as a designer at BMW, Ford and Aston Martin and the electric-car venture that made his name. It is the car that established the Fisker Coachbuild formula: a proven luxury donor car, new bodywork, a low volume and a price far above the original.
Design and features
- Mercedes-Benz basis: the running gear, engine and platform of the SL 55 AMG were left alone.
- New bodywork: Fisker drew the roadster body that replaced the standard SL panels.
- Coachbuilt by Stola: the Italian coachbuilder handled the small-series construction of the 17 cars.
- Very small series: a planned run of 150 cars ended at 17 examples.
Fisker Tramonto versions
- Fisker Tramonto: the roadster on the Mercedes-Benz SL 55 AMG.
- Fisker Latigo CS: the company’s second model, a coupe on the BMW 645Ci.
Fisker’s later company built the Fisker Karma hybrid sedan and the Fisker Surf concept. More cars are in the Fisker collection.
Video: Fisker Tramonto
Video on YouTube.
Sources
- Henrik Fisker, English Wikipedia: Fisker Coachbuild, base car, Stola, 17 built
- Fisker Automotive, German Wikipedia: price, planned series of 150, Latigo CS
