Earlier, I wrote a story about the launch of the Spyker supercar brand in China in 2004. This story is about Spyker in 2008, at the Beijing Auto Show. I was kindly invited to walk around the booth to look at these beautiful machines that mixed speed with art.
Spyker was a Dutch manufacturer of high-end supercars. The brand was founded in 1999. The name was borrowed from a much older Dutch company, that made coaches, cars, and airplane engines.
Initially, all went well, with the launch of the C8 Spyder and C8 Laviolette. Things went downhill when Spyker went into a costly F1 adventure, bought Saab from General Motors, agreed to a joint venture with Youngman, and debuted all sorts of models that never saw into production.
The company went bankrupt in 2015 and tried to come back several times, and various involved parties are still suing one other in court even today. A sad end for a once-promising brand. But in 2008 all was still fine. Spyker had several shops in China, including one flagship store on Changan Avenue in Beijing.
Spyker was in good company at the Beijing Auto Show, with Aston Martin just across the road, and Ferrari was in the same hall as well. There were 3 cars on display; the C8 Aileron, the C8 Spyder, and the C8 Laviolette.
Spyker C8 Aileron
The big news at the Beijing Auto Show was the world premiere of the new Spyker C8 Aileron supercar. The mid-engined Aileron was an upgraded variant of the C8 Laviolette, with a longer and wider body, and a longer wheelbase.
The C8 Aileron had scissor doors, and air intakes behind and below the doors. The design of the cabin was inspired by an aircraft canopy. I remember walking around the vehicle, so impressed that I initially completely forgot to take photos. As always with Spyker, the interior was just brilliant, with aluminum and fiery red leather all over the cabin, and with the famous exposed-gear lever in the middle.
It had turbine-style wheels, a nod to Spyker’s early history. The rear deck is much longer than with the C8 Laviolette, this was necessary to fit the new automatic gearbox, and to create better aerodynamics. The engine itself remained unchanged: a 4.2-liter naturally aspired Audi V8 with 400 hp and 480 Nm. The top speed was 300 km/h and 0-100 took 4.5 seconds. The gearbox was a ZF six-speed automatic, the first such ‘box in a Spyker. Until then, all Spykers cars had manual transmissions.
The Spyker C8 Aileron was built around an aluminum spaceframe chassis that weighed only 230 kilos. The rear design was rather complex, with an aluminum plate for a bumper and stacked lights on the sides. The wheel arches are super wide. The Spyker C8 Aileron went on sale in China in 2009, for a massive 5.08 million yuan. There is one for sale now, dark blue with 5000 km on the clock, selling for 3.88 million. That’s still massive: $536K! The exterior color of the show car was called Gun Metal, which is a great color name.
Spyker C8 Spyder
The second-sexiest car on the Spyker booth was this C8 Spyder, painted in a bright yellow shade called Malibu Sunset, with an all-black interior. The C8 Spyder was the first Spyker, launched in 2000 and launched in China in 2004. By 2008 it was already pretty old, and the design hadn’t changed much over the years.
Interestingly, in 2008, the C8 Spyder cost… 5.08 million, the same price that Spyker would ask for the C8 Aileron in 2009. Well, the best pricing policies are simple pricing policies. The show car’s turbine wheels were black too.
The C8 Spyder had the same 4.2-liter Audi V8 engine as the C8 Aileron, with the same output. The top speed was 300 km/h and 0-100 took 4.5 seconds. The biggest difference was the transmission. The C8 Spyder & C8 Laviolette were only available with a Getrag six-speed manual gearbox. That brings me to the:
Spyker C8 Laviolette
The third and final car on the Spyker booth at the 2008 Beijing Auto Show was this black Spyker C8 Laviolette coupe. This metallic black shade called Jet Black was like the official Spyker color, used on many show cars and promotions. By 2008, it looked a tad old-fashioned, but still sweet in combination with an all-red interior and large matte silver side mirrors.
The wheels are in matte silver too. The powertrain was the same as in the C8 Spyder, but the C8 Laviolette was a whole lot cheaper: 4.8 million in 2008. The top speed was 300 km/h as well, and 0-100 took 4.1 seconds. There is a second-hand example for sale right now, with 2700 km on the clock for 3.8 million. The seller says it was registered in 2014, that’s a mistake, I guess that should be 2004. Well, it is great to see that there is still some Spyker business in China and that the values of these beautiful cars are holding up pretty well, even if the brand is long gone.