Henrik Fisker, the storied car designer who has shaped Aston Martins, Fords and BMWs, told the Reuters Autos Summit this week that he now wants a starring role in the green revolution.

But he also wants to make the world safe for sports cars for generations to come.

"Being a car enthusiast and loving cars, to be quite honest, I could not imagine a life without a beautiful, fast sports car," Fisker said. "I needed to do something to make sure that I could drive one of those nice cars, my children could drive one of those beautiful, fast cars."

So what was Fisker's inspiration? What was the epiphany when he realized that the world was ready for the upcoming Fisker Karma, a $90,000 plug-in hybrid with 50 miles of all-electric fun?

Leonardo DiCaprio...in a Prius.

"A couple of years ago it started, by people who were maybe a little ahead of their time. You saw some movie starts like Leonardo DiCaprio buying a Prius.

"He could have bought any car in the world, and I remember seeing that on television and thinking to myself, you know, when you've got a guy who could buy any Ferrari or Rolls Royce and he's buying a Prius, you know something is changing dramatically."

(Henrik Fisker photo by Rebecca Cook of Reuters; Leonardo DiCaprio photo by Mario Anzuoni of Reuters.)

With highly touted plans for a new electric car in jeopardy, an overseas investor steps in to provide new capital and a much-needed endorsement.

GM? No, Tesla.

Remarkably, the terms of German automaker Daimler AG's 10-percent stake in Tesla may have also helped the Silicon Valley electric-car start-up inch closer to GM in value.

Daimler's vague disclosure of its purchase price as  "double digit million dollar" means Tesla is valued at a minimum of $100 million.
That would make Tesla, which was founded nearly six years ago, about one-eighth the size of 100-year-old GM.

A world away in Detroit, GM has seen its share price spiral downward to near $1.  That the price may fall to near zero if the automaker files for bankruptcy as is widely expected. It would be worth less than 2 cents if GM proceeds with plans to issue a flood of new shares to pay off creditors.

GM was worth around $768 million, making it by far the smallest component in the Dow Jones industrial average judged by market cap.

A bankruptcy judge would also cast doubts on the 2010 launch plans for GM's Volt plug-in range-extended hybrid while Tesla's all-electric and pricey Roadster is already on the road.

Tesla chief executive, financial backer and tech entrepreneur Elon Musk and GM executives have traded barbs in the past.

GM's flamboyant former product chief Bob Lutz has described San Carlos, California-based Tesla as a "little West Coast outfit" that was stitching together laptop batteries together.

Musk, meanwhile, has shot back that GM's range-extender technology in its still-in-development Volt was "neither fish nor fowl."

Late last year, Musk, who also founded PayPal, couldn't resist a dig when asked why GM, an early proponent of electric car technology,  had not bought his company. "I'm not sure they can afford Tesla right now," Musk said.