Have you heard of this contraption called a Spyker? We're told it's an actual road-going car, but we have yet to actually see one on the road.
From our experience, Spykers are beautifully detailed sports cars that are fully capable of looking pretty on auto show display stands. Apart from that, their capabilities, not to mention financial backing and company history, have always been a bit murky.
An opportunity to clear the air arrived recently when we were given the chance to drive an actual Spyker at Miller Motorsports Park in Salt Lake City, Utah. Intrigued, we hopped in a car and drove all the way from Los Angeles to find out more about the somewhat mythical car company from Holland.
Upon arrival, we were assured seat time in the new 2009 Spyker C8 Aileron along with some background information about the boutique car builder and how it has managed to survive in an industry notorious for spitting out newcomers with alarming frequency.
After seeing the new C8 Aileron at the Geneva auto show earlier this year, we figured Spyker at least had a decent chance of survival. The Aileron is slightly bigger and less extreme than Spyker's first models, the C8 Spyder and Laviolette coupe. It's more of a GT than a hard-core sports car and is optimistically aimed at cars such as the Aston Martin DBS, Ferrari 599 and Maserati Gran Turismo.
The Backstory
Spyker's history goes back further than you might think or even care to know. The original company was founded in the late 1800s by the Spijker brothers in Amsterdam. Carriage builders by trade, they strapped a Mercedes-built engine onto one of their horse-drawn wagons in 1898 and called it a motorcar.
They fared better than most in the nascent car business and survived long enough to build the 60/80HP in 1903, the first car with four-wheel drive and four-wheel brakes. Also around that time, the brothers realized that their name was virtually unpronounceable outside Holland, so they changed the company name to Spyker.
World War I put a slight crimp in the luxury-car market as world wars sometimes do and Spyker was eventually forced to merge with a Dutch aircraft company to stay alive. The combined company had modest success building both aircraft engines and entire planes, but by 1925 Spyker had gone bankrupt.
Enter the Rich Guy
In 1999, Victor Muller, a wealthy Dutch lawyer and entrepreneur decided he wanted to start an exotic car company. Well, that's easy enough, but he also wanted to promote his Dutch heritage, so he convinced the remaining ancestors of the Spijker brothers to allow him to use their name and Spyker Cars was born.
It's around this point that many of these supercar-upstart stories begin to turn sour. Victor Muller's story is slightly different, though. An avid car collector, Muller had become somewhat of a disgruntled customer. The Aston Martins, Ferraris and Maseratis he was buying continually disappointed him with their plastic trim, unimpressive woodwork and useless, nonfunctional details.
For $200,000 a car should be special in every way, Muller thought, so he decided to spend a sizable chunk of his personal fortune trying to build a car that would meet his own expectations. He eventually took the company public and now lists the government of Abu Dhabi as a major shareholder. That would be the same Abu Dhabi that owns 5 percent of Ferrari.
Pass the Dutchie
After being briefed on Muller's background the night before the drive, we awoke the next morning half-expecting to meet an aristocratic Euro-snob dandy. Instead, Muller met us in the hotel lobby wearing blue chinos and a Spyker pit-crew shirt.
Anxious to get to the track, he gladly jumped into a rented Hyundai for the drive over. Along the way, Muller enthusiastically talked cars. When we told him about the 2010 Chevrolet Camaro we drove out from L.A., he gushed over the exterior design. "They really got that one right, it's fantastic" he said.
And when the conversation moved to the Ferrari California? Well, as a longtime Ferrari collector he could barely contain his disgust. "What were they smoking?" he sighed.
The Real Deal?
Upon arrival at the track, we finally saw them: two actual working prototypes of the C8 Aileron. They looked as good on the pavement as they did on the show stand, and although they were development mules, they appeared quite complete.
Like Spyker's earlier cars, the rear-wheel-drive Aileron is built on a unique aluminum space frame chassis with aluminum body panels. The fully independent suspension and hydraulic steering system were both designed by Lotus, while Audi provides the midmounted 4.2-liter V8.
In a nod to the Aileron's GT intentions, the Aileron is the first Spyker to offer an automatic transmission, a ZF six-speed. There's a six-speed Getrag manual offered as well.
At 182 inches long, 77 inches wide and 50 inches tall, the Aileron is within a few inches of a Lamborghini Murciélago in exterior dimensions. Spyker claims a dry weight of 3,142 pounds, so figure around 3,300 pounds when it's gassed and ready to drive.
The Gentleman's Track Car
Getting into the Aileron isn't easy as the sills are wide and the door openings narrow. Once situated, however, there's plenty of room for larger drivers. Standard Recaro seats and optional diamond-weave leather make for a comfortable cockpit.
One of Spyker's signature design traits is an aircraft-inspired dashboard design. Mixed among the sturdy-looking analog gauges are toggle switches that snap up and down with a heavy click. They are the daddy of all toggle switches and Muller says they cost $50 each. That's about $49 more than your average automotive dashboard switch.
After flipping the ignition switch and hitting the start button, the 400-horsepower V8 roared to life with a sound we recognized from Audi's R8. We slid the solid metal shifter and its exposed linkage (another Spyker design cue) into Drive and were off.
Quick steering and a heavy brake pedal are the first things we noticed. Unlike Spyker's smaller cars, the Aileron gets power-assist for the steering and brakes. Both need a little more fine-tuning, but the Lotus influence is obvious as the car delivers very direct feedback from the road.
Power from the 4.2-liter V8 is merely adequate, which struck us as odd given the car's weight and 400-hp engine. It's hardly low on torque either as the all-aluminum V8 is rated to produce 354 pound-feet. Lazy shifts from the six-speed automatic were an obvious culprit as more work needs to be done there, too. The paddle shifters didn't really improve the experience.
Once up to speed, the Aileron gripped the track well thanks to the dual wishbone setup front and rear and nicely tuned Bilstein dampers. Sticky 19-inch Michelin PS2 tires sized 235/35 up front and 295/30 in back helped, too. Its midengine configuration requires patience to avoid excessive oversteer, but we found it fairly easy to approach the limits without spinning. There is no electronic stability control.
The Rock Star's Street Car
After our time at the track, we took the Aileron on a brief street drive to sample its real-world drivability. It was immediately clear that those looking to get noticed in a sea of Ferraris at their local athletic club will do well in a Spyker. Sure, we were in rural Utah, but the C8's functional air intakes, LED marker lights and unmistakable profile will likely draw looks anywhere it goes.
The suspension that did such a fine job on the track remains compliant enough for the street as well, sorting through bumps with direct but not jarring movements. Again, the motor seemed to get sucked dry by the soft shifts of the automatic transmission. Compared to its more established rivals, the C8 feels a bit primitive in this area.
Once we got settled in, it was hard not to be dazzled by the C8's jewel box of an interior. Our car had the optional engine-turned dash trim and Chronoswiss treatment for the dials and switches that gave them the look of antique watches. All the switchgear snaps from one position to another with such crisp movements, you feel more like a pilot than a driver.
Given its early-prototype status, our C8 had a ways to go before it could rival anything out of Maranello in terms of build quality. Of course, Muller and company assured us that the car's numerous issues would be corrected by the start of series production early next year. We would hope so considering its $225,000 asking price.
The Spyker Lives
So with that we can confirm that the Spyker is for real. It starts, it drives, and it does most of the things you expect from a high-dollar exotic. Sure it could be faster, but they're just leaving room for a C8 Aileron Sport right?
Above all else, the Spyker prides itself on exclusivity and that is virtually assured. There are only 18 dealers in North America and the company has sold a grand total of 85 cars here since they were approved for sale in 2005. Spyker expects to build only 20 or 30 Ailerons a year.
So yes, the Spyker C8 Aileron exists. Just don't expect to ever see one yourself.
Edmunds attended a manufacturer-sponsored event, to which selected members of the press were invited, to facilitate this report.
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