What's all this about?

It's a one-off restyled Aston Martin Vanquish, called the Fisker Thunderbolt. It has been shown at the Amelia Island Concours d'Elegance in the US.

Hang on, Fisker? Why do I know that name?

Dane Henrik Fisker is a former Aston Martin designer; indeed, he is the man who penned the DB9 and the V8 Vantage models, two very beautiful modern cars. He was also responsible for the BMW Z8, although you might be thinking of his ill-fated venture involving his own car company.

What was that about?

At the 2008 North American International Auto Show, the world was introduced to the Fisker Karma, a super-luxury plug-in hybrid vehicle to be made in southern California... so Fisker was something of a precursor to the current Tesla operation. Sadly, Fisker Automotive went bust in late 2013 and was bought out by Chinese concern Wanxiang in 2014, with the plug-in hybrid set to be launched in 2016 as the Elux Karma.

So what's the Thunderbolt like?

Seems like Fisker wants to go back to his car design roots. He has made the grille of the Vanquish a little larger, introduced a power bulge on the bonnet with triangular intakes, slimmed down the rear light clusters into attractive LED units and added wraparound rear glass. Sitting 15mm lower to the ground on some glorious 21-inch alloys, the Thunderbolt achieves the near-impossible - it looks better than the Aston on which it is based.

Anything else you can tell me?

The Fisker Thunderbolt is made of carbon fibre and more of the stuff features within, as does an 11.6-inch Curved Control Screen from Panasonic. But, don't whip your chequebook out just yet; it seems that there are no plans for this unique Vanquish to ever make production. So, you'll just have to make do with looking at it and dreaming, sadly...

Matt Robinson - 16 Mar 2015