Destino, a Vette-powered Fisker Karma, makes a surprise appearance in Detroit

Just around the time all the journalists like myself decide to turn in before rising at 6 a.m. for the Detroit auto show press days, this arrived in the inbox: the Destino sedan, a four-door luxury car holding the engine and drivetrain of the Chevy Corvette ZR1, set to go on sale later this year with the guidance of former General Motors chief car guy Bob Lutz. The real news: It's actually the body work and interior of the troubled Fisker Karma, minus the tricky plug-in electric/gasoline engine power source. What. The. Heck?

Fisker's world of pain hasn't eased lately, what with their battery supplier's bankruptcy shutting production down since July and its $34 million insurance claim for vehicles lost in Hurricane Sandy heading to a court fight, forcing the company to seek partners and additional investors. Certainly no one person could claim authorship of the thought that Fisker would have been better off building an old-fashioned gasoline-only version of the Karma before attempting to blend lithium batteries and a gasoline generator.