Spyker Thread

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SuperShouden

(Banned)
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SuperShouden
I'm not sure if this goes here or in auto news. But...anyway. So, in 2000, Spyker returned with the release of the C8 Laviolette. And slowly but surely they have made a name for themselves with subsequent releases like the C8 Spyder, C12 Zagato, D8 Peking-to-Paris and finally the C8 Aileron and Aileron Spyder.

They grew to fame for their crazy exteriors, yes, but the air-plane-inspired interiors are also very eye-catching with quilted leather and aluminum with the center piece being the trademarked exposed gear-linkage.

Now...that exposed gear-linkage has been in every Spyker since 2000. It's a cool idea, and I suspect that it wouldn't take that much getting used to. The exposed-gear linkage in a Spyker is like the remote for a TV. It's hard to imagine one without the other. And while the Aileron hasn't done away with the exposed gear-linkage, Spyker has done something which I do not agree with: They now offer a flappy paddle gearbox for it. My question is..."Why?" Why would you offer a flappy paddle gearbox when you have that glorious exposed gear linkage.

What's more....the paddle shifters come with the automatic...again...why? So you can pretend you're a Ferrari owner? But, if you wanted a Ferrari, you could've gotten one instead of the Dutch Spyker.

Maybe Jeremy Clarkson calling the Laviolette a car "you wear" hit a nerve. But, I think that's a great compliment, personally. In a world full of super-highspeed flappy paddle insanity, Spyker managed become Dr. Jekyll in a world of Hydes. And now...it's like Jekyll is trying to pretend to be the evil Hyde.

What's the point of an automatic paddle shifter? Why have the exposed gear-linkage AND paddles? What's worse, all the reviews I've seen have been using the automatic gearbox......ugh...


Anyway....I am a big fan of Spykers and the C8 Aileron Spyder is my dream car...except...I wouldn't get the stupid flappy paddle gear box and I'd get the manual...because it is a tux...If I want to be a little crazy, I'll get it in pink or something...actually, I like it in red.

Spyker-C8_Aileron_mp211_pic_66423.jpg


[Youtube]yjZc6q2wYF4[/media]
 
I once went to a Spyker dealership. It was in the same building as a Porsche dealership, so there were only two, and they were both C8 Spyders. Still, they were (and still are) amazing cars. The interiors are far more dramatic than anything from Ferrari or Lamborghini, with the exposed shift linkage, toggle switches, and engine turned aluminium dashboard.
 
Sorry if this is a stoopid question but have any models other than the C8 ever been delivered to buyers? Did the C12 and D8 ever reach any level of production beyond the concept stage? And is that C8 Aileron owned privately? I love Spykers too but it often seems the C8 Laviolette was and is the only model which was produced in any kind of quantity. I'm hoping I am wrong!
 
SuperShouden
Spyker has done something which I do not agree with: They now offer a flappy paddle gearbox for it. My question is..."Why?" Why would you offer a flappy paddle gearbox when you have that glorious exposed gear linkage.
Click to expand...

Because profits.
More or less, the same reason everyone else is putting autos into everything.

This sounds like it should be in the "save the manuals" thread.
 
Ever since I heard about Spyker, I've been very interested in them. I really like the design, as its not what you tend to see everyday. I was very thrilled when I finally got to see one last April at an exotic car show in Hershey, Pa.
P4290086.jpg
 
Tyger
Sorry if this is a stoopid question but have any models other than the C8 ever been delivered to buyers? Did the C12 and D8 ever reach any level of production beyond the concept stage? And is that C8 Aileron owned privately? I love Spykers too but it often seems the C8 Laviolette was and is the only model which was produced in any kind of quantity. I'm hoping I am wrong!
Click to expand...

The D8, isn't quite ready for production yet. They're hoping with SAAB's help, it will be available soon.

As for the C12 Zagato WAS buyable. Spyker produced 25-50 (Not sure which. The wikis are confusing. There was two models, the Zagato and the LaTurbie. The LaTurbie was produced in 2006 and the Zagato in 2008) of them at $740,000 each, and all of them sold.

Also, there's going to be a new E8/E12:

spyker-e8-ft.jpg


The E-series will be a four-dour sport saloon designed to rival the Porsche Panamara and Maserati Quattroporte. And if it has the over-powered Audi V8 or W12, I think it will definitely be in that category.
 
Maybe for ugliest car. The only reason the D8 hasn't been produced yet was 'cause Spyker first wanted to use Audi's W12 (which is why it started out as the D12) but there was some sourcing issues with the engine, and so they're going to use the Audi V8 instead.

In case you're wondering the 4.2L V8 in the Aileron comes from the RS4 and A8 Audis. The D8 will be using a Cadillac sourced V8.

I don't know why Audi wouldn't let Spyker use the W12s anymore. Perhaps it's simply a matter of Spyker's now a much bigger company then in was when it built the 2006 and 2008 C12s. Of course, it could also have something to do with the fact that Spyker is looking to mass produce the D8 from the sounds of it.

I think that's what Spyker is going to gain out of the purchase of SAAB: mass production factories. They can mass produce the E-series and D-series but keep the C-series hand-built. It's quite genius really. Then you're appealing to the crazed, gasoline sniffing petrol head who want to go fast with the E8/E12, the gangsters who want to drive something big that can't actually go offroad (although, I doubt it's called the Peking-to-Paris for nothing), and the millioniares who want to be a little different and drive something that's not a Rolls-Royce or Maybach. Now, all they need is a more sensible, affordable car, and they've got all their bases covered.
 
No. Spyker bought SAAB. Spyker tried to secure funding to restart the company, and that's when everything kinda exploded. However, Spyker would still own the SAAB factories, and, one would think that if it had money to buy another car company, that money might be better put to use creating their own cars.

But who knows. I wouldn't be surprised if Spyker did end up using the Trollhattan factory, at least, though.
 
There is one small(okay huge) flaw in your "theory".

Swedish Automobile, who started Spyker and bought SAAB, sold Spyker last year.
 
The Aileron and C8 are drop dead gorgeous, especially in orange. I sat in an Aileron Coupe at a car meet in Florida a few years ago and it was awesome, it was surrounded countless Ferraris and just happened to be parked beside a Murcielago LP640, Carrera GT, Heffner Gallardo, Viper ACR, Corvette ZR1, and an Audi R8, and it made all them look average..
 
Justin
There is one small(okay huge) flaw in your "theory".

Swedish Automobile, who started Spyker and bought SAAB, sold Spyker last year.
Click to expand...

You're right. Spyker is now owned by American company North Street Capital. I remember that.
 
2009-Spyker-C8-Aileron-car-picture.jpg

If had one of these, I'd never drive it. I'll just pull up a chair outside my house and just look at it all day long.
 
So, I commented on Spyker's FB page about them being hoping they'd be in more video games...and..well, here's the whole conversation:

32zi54i.png


I think that's pretty sweet. Maybe Forza 4 will get at least one of the new Spykers.
 
SuperShouden
So, I commented on Spyker's FB page about them being hoping they'd be in more video games...and..well, here's the whole conversation:

32zi54i.png


I think that's pretty sweet. Maybe Forza 4 will get at least one of the new Spykers.
Click to expand...

Or GT5? Sounds great.
 
The D8 in TDU2 is awesome fun too.

I hope whatever Spyker do, that they can keep on doing it. I worry about these very specialist smaller sports car companies.We've seen the likes of Jensen and Marcos vanish, TVR and Bristol all but vanish, Noble AFAIK still haven't delivered any M600s and the Top Gear thing where the steel brake discs were destroyed can't have done them a lot of good. We need these crazy, passionate smaller companies. Vive le difference!
 
Top Gear has been known for pulling dirty tricks to make one car look better than another. Like with the Tesla, when it powered down on the first lap, that was AFTER it they had spent all day tossing it around and the presenters pretty much destroyed the Tesla.

And to be fair, I liked the Spyker on Top Gear. It posted a decent time and I like how it was described. "It's a car you wear." And it is. You don't buy a Spyker to drive across the state or really even for a track day. You buy a Spyker because it looks good and you will look good in it. So that when you pull up to you're date's house, you look like you're trying to sleep with her...which you are if you're picking her up in a Spyker. It is an attention getter. It has a sexy look and a throaty V8...it's designed to be driven around town and parked at car shows so people can gawk and you can tell them that the cars themselves are all hand-built like Rolls Royces. Just don't mention that they were the last people to own Saab.
 

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