With less than 300 models in existence, the Spyker C8 is one of the most exotic and highly expensive sports car, currently priced over $300k
What do you think of on hearing the term ‘sports cars’? You might think of the Germans like Porsche and BMW, or the Italians like Ferrari and Lamborghini. But you probably don’t think of the Dutch. In 1880, the blacksmith brothers Jacobus and Hendrik Spijker founded a company, Spyker. The company enjoyed various successes in carriage and automobile manufacture. Interestingly, Spyker produced the first 4 wheel drive car. During the First World War, it produced some 100 Spyker fighter aircraft and 200 aircraft engines. But the company could survive only until 1925 when it went bankrupt and had to shut its doors.
Inspired by this piece of history, Spyker Cars was found in the Netherlands in 1999. It is best known for its sports car, the Spyker C8 which has been around for over two decades. An awe-inspiring sports car most people have never seen in their life, the C8 is a work of automotive art and a product of Spyker’s crazy Dutch engineering.
A Spyker C8 Is Worth Well Over $300,000!
Classic.com prices the Spyker C8 Spyder at around $328,000. A lot of factors justify this sports car’s whopping price, but the biggest has to be its exclusivity. Spyker has only produced just under 300 C8s, making it one of the most exotic sports cars in the world.
The latest Spyker C8 to be launched was the Preliator in 2016 with a price tag of $354,000. The Dutch brand announced it will only make 50 examples of the Preliator. To put it in context, Lamborghini makes more Aventadors every month than Spyker did in the Preliator’s lifecycle!
At the heart of C8 Spyder sits a 4.2-liter V8 sourced from Audi. It has a top speed of 186 mph (300 km/h), and a curb of weight of just 2205 lbs. Light and nimble, it is no wonder the C8 flies from 0-60 mph in mere 4.5 seconds. On the inside, one can see the gear linkage of the six-speed manual gearbox. C8’s dashboard is embellished with round instruments and toggle switches, sustaining the classic analogue feel of the car. The newer versions of C8 like the Preliator and Aileron feature suspension tuned by Lotus and the brakes by AP Racing, which justify its price tag a tiny bit more. But the Spyker customers don’t make just value-based decisions, for this sports car is as much about luxury as it is about performance, despite what its mid-engined configuration may suggest.
The Spyker C8 Has A Unique Design Theme
The reason why Spyker produced so few C8s is its design. It is almost entirely hand-crafted, from the quilted leather interiors to the gorgeous polished-aluminium exterior trim. The C8 Spyder body flaunts lovely details, such as the polished side mirrors and gun-turret side and roof air intakes. Like any classic sports car, it flaunts the button-enabled scissor doors and is one of the few sports cars to feature frameless windows including the windshield. The interiors are virtually all-leather, even down to the pedals and the back of the rearview mirror!
In his review of a C8, Doug DeMuro pointed out that the Spyker designers have used two broad themes in the car design — aviation and aluminum. The Spyker logo is an airplane propellor that evokes nostalgia for the 19th century company. The original steering wheel and wheel spokes have a jet turbine design and jet engine-inspired air intakes. Its chassis is constructed from extruded box sections and folded sheet metal. The cherry on top is this car’s many customization possibilities that humble those of Porsche and Ferrari.
The Spyker C8 Is Quick And Classy
With an impressive power-to-weight ratio, perfectly linear steering, and exceptional stability at any speed, the Spykers are built to be quick. But their prime motivation is not to destroy the opposition with raw speed. Instead, it is built to charm its audience with a unique combination of style, grace, pace, and exclusivity. “A lot of boutique cars don’t work out for one reason or another, but Spykers are the best,” said Matt Farah, the popular journalist and the host of The Smoking Tire podcast, in conversation with Ed Bolian, from WinWiki and the CarTrek Series. Bolian adds;
“I’ve driven 3 or 4 different Spykers, and they are so nice to drive.”
Spyker is one of only a few European small-series manufacturers that are still well-known today despite only producing less than 300 vehicles in total. They are a valuable remnant of a disappearing craft, and are not for every auto-enthusiast. It is for those who can admire the craftsmanship of aluminum artisans in the heyday of Italian and British coach-building. More than a sports car for the garage, the Spyker C8 is a piece of history mixed with automotive artistry.
