MONTEREY, California – As sexy as the Fisker Karma plug-in hybrid looks in pictures, it's better in person – and better still at speed.

The super-luxe EV made its public driving debut Saturday during the Rolex Monterey Historic Automobile Races. It lapped Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca at about 100 mph, and it was wild seeing a car move that fast without making a sound. The lap of the historic track came just 19 months after designer and company CEO Henrik Fisker unveiled the car at the Detroit auto show.

"Fisker Automotive is only 19 months old, and we're already as far along with the Karma as General Motors is with the Volt," company spokesman Rusell Datz told Wired.com moments before COO Bernhard Koehler took to the track ahead of a pack of vintage Porsche 908s and 917s.

The Karma is a lot like the Chevrolet Volt, and it uses the same basic technology as the Volt. Fisker just wraps it in much sexier bodywork.

A 22-kilowatt-hour lithium-manganese Enerdel battery provides power to a pair of electric motors that deliver a total of 403 horsepower – and a stunning 959 pound-feet of torque – to the rear wheels. Fisker claims the car has a range of 50 miles on electric power. As the battery winds down, a 2.0-liter turbocharged direct-injection GM Ecotec engine will power a 175-kilowatt generator to keep the electric motors turning. The company says the car will deliver 100 mpg in combined city and highway driving.

Saturday's lap of the track marked the first time it's moved under its own power in public. Koehler had hoped to take at least two laps, but the schedule got so backed up that track officials only let him make one trip around the track.

Company CEO Henrik Fisker wouldn't let us take the Karma for a spin, but we did get to look under the hood and spend some time in the car. As you'd expect for a car with a list price of $87,900, fit and finish are top-notch and interior appointments are excellent. The car we saw is one of 12 prototypes, but it looked and felt like something you'd see on a showroom floor.

"That car is 99 percent of what you'll see rolling off the line in May. The big difference is that car is handbuilt," Fisker told us, referring to the Karma parked near Turn 5 of Laguna Seca. "But everything is there."

The Karma is roughly the same length and width as a BMW 7-Series, but it's only as tall as a Porsche 911. That low stance makes the car look much bigger than it actually is. Although the Karma bears some resemblance to the Maserati Quattroporte, it is utterly distinctive. Nothing we saw on the grounds of Laguna Seca or the streets of Carmel – where it wasn't unusual to see, say, a Ferrari 250 GT alongside a McLaren SLR – looked anything like the Karma.

"I wanted to design something that is timeless," said Fisker, whose designs include the BMW Z8 and Aston Martin DB9. "If I designed another 7-Series, no one would buy it. I had to do something radical."

Hence the sweeping beltline, 22-inch wheels, aggressive shoulders and short overhangs at the front and back of the car. Fisker talks a lot about the car's "stance" and "proportion," a theme interior designer Alexander Klatt echoed when describing the interior, which is no less impressive. It's got acres of leather – a PETA-friendly "Eco-Chic" version will be available for $104,000 – and wood trim with glass accents. The switches are metal, as is the shifter and the trim around the 10.5-inch touch-screen navi and climate control system. The dashboard follows the curves of the hood, which flow through the passenger compartment. Klatt says he was inspired by the symmetry of the human body, the 3-by-4 "golden ratio" and Bauhaus design.

"We wanted to create a timeless design, something with beautiful proportions," he said.

As radical as the styling of the Karma is, it's nothing compared to the ambitious goal Fisker has set for the company that bears his name and the mid-sized sedan he's got planned. We'll tell you more about that tomorrow, and give you a lot more pics, too.

Photos: Jim Merithew / Wired.com

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Above: The interior of the Fisker Karma.

Fisker Automotive plans to offer a convertible, called the Karma S, in 2011.