Spyker C8 History

Victor Muller and Maarten de Bruijn relaunched the Spyker name in 1999, and the C8 debuted at the 2000 Birmingham Motor Show as a handcrafted roadster powered by a 400 PS Audi 4.2-litre V8. Every detail reflected the brand's aviation and watchmaking aesthetic: the fully exposed gear linkage under a glass panel, the riveted aluminium bodywork, and the 'Nulla tenaci invia est via' motto — 'For the tenacious no road is impassable'. The open C8 Spyder was joined by the fixed-roof C8 Laviolette (named after the original 60 HP's engineer) from 2001, and then the race-homologation C8 Double 12S from 2002, of which only 16 were built.

A second generation arrived at the 2009 Geneva Motor Show as the C8 Aileron — wider and longer than the original, with the same 400 PS Audi V8 but now available with a ZF automatic for the first time. The Aileron also spawned an open Spyder variant. Spyker's turbulent years — a failed acquisition of Saab in 2011, insolvency in 2014 and again in 2021 — interrupted production repeatedly, but the model line never fully died.

The third-generation C8 Preliator was announced at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show with a supercharged Audi 4.2-litre V8 producing 525 hp and a claimed 0–100 km/h time of 3.7 seconds. Very few customer cars were delivered before the 2021 bankruptcy halted production again. By 2025–2026, Spyker announced a renewed Preliator with an 800-hp twin-turbocharged V8, targeting production of 5–10 cars per year to sustain the brand's ultra-boutique status.