Spyker Cars Fulfills its Rebirth with $353,000 C8 Preliator

BOLD RIDE

Copyright © 2016 Bold Ride LLC.

 

Posted by Zach Doell 

 

                               

                                       

Everyone likes a good success story, and with Spyker… that’s exactly what you get. The Dutch boutique automaker courted Formula One racing, acquired a struggling Saab, and was beaten down by bankruptcy. But now it’s back, debt free, and it’s pulled a winner from its hat—the 2017 Spyker C8 Preliator. 

 

On display at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show, the C8 Preliator builds upon 16 years of brand cachet and development—the original C8 debuted in 2000—with sleek updates that push the brand’s styling and crucially, its performance.

While the Preliator, which means “fighter” in Latin, retains much of its predecessor’s form, it adopts new streamlined features like NACA ducting at both ends, aerodynamic winglets, as well as a grille similar to B6 Venerator concept. It’s as if it’s in perpetual “grrrr.”

 

Beneath the sweptback body lies an entirely all-aluminum space frame chassis attached to new Lotus-derived suspension, which means it ought to handle brilliantly. It’s also said to be slightly longer than its C8 Aileron sibling that came before.

A familiar engine powers the new Spyker along, an Audi 4.2-liter V8, however now it has been supercharged and it erupts forth with 525 horsepower and 443 lb.-ft. of torque, which is sent to either a six-speed Getrag manual gearbox or ZF six-speed automatic. In either scenario, the brand’s trademark exposed gear linkage remains very much present, and it complements a typically well-appointed leather and brushed aluminum interior.

So is it still a strong performer? Well, yes. The dash from zero to 60 mph takes just 3.7 seconds, and if you keep your foot in it, Spyker says you’ll cruise all the way to the C8 Preliator’s top speed of 201 mph.

Spyker says it will build just 50 of its reborn supercars, this time at a new factory in the British city of Coventry. Pricing starts at €324,900 for a manual gearbox-equipped C8 Preliator, or about $352,000 at today’s rates, while the automatic-equipped cars ask a larger €330,990 (about $358,000).