Aston Martin DB10 (bettorodrigues/Bigstock.com)

The Detroit Motor Show has showcased the very first car from VLF, a brand new luxury sports car company founded by two of the biggest names in the car industry – ex-GM veteran Bob Lutz and former Aston Martin designer Henrik Fisker.

VLF unveiled the $268,000 dollar (£186,000), 4 cylinder Force 1 to an expectant audience.

"This is an American super-car," said Fisker to the BBC's Michelle Fleury. "What I mean by that is that American cars always show what they got.

"More than half of this car is the engine. It's got one of the largest engines in the world. An 8.4 litre V10 with 745 horsepower.

"Because of the size of this engine the whole cabin is pushed back and it’s almost as if you're sitting on the rear wheel.

"In the luxury market over $200,000, there really is no American car. So with VLF and with this car we wanted to create a company and a sports car that caters for that market.”

He said VLF were planning about 50 for the first run. Another "special series" will be made if there is demand. Fisker said he wants to avoid the pressure of building “thousands” of sports cars.

Aston Martin complaint

There was a delay to the unveiling of the Force 1, after UK-based luxury car maker Aston Martin claimed the design was too similar to its own DB10 model, which appeared in the recent James Bond film SPECTRE.

Aston demanded VLF tweak its design, threatening legal action.

"It was ridiculous what they tried to do," said Fisker, "very threatening and very wrong to do it in my opinion. It’s not the way to do business."

Fisker confirmed VLF is counter-suing the British automaker.