Spyker has had a rocky few years, to say the very least. Case in point: In January 2015 we got wind the brand was planning a comeback just over a year after we reported it was bankrupt. And now the Geneva auto show has provided proof that the Dutch concern lives on and is once again building rolling sculptures. Meet the C8 Preliator.
None of us are likely to ever see a Preliator in the wild, a car whose name is derived from the Latin word for “fighter” and which serves as an homage to the brand’s fighter-plane manufacturing history. The plan calls for just 50 of these to ever leave the Coventry, U.K., factory. The design has been peppered with jet-age aircraft themes, so no more propeller steering wheel. Still, those lucky enough to get one will luxuriate in an interior stuffed full of brushed aluminum, leather, and the all-important toggle switches. And a Spyker wouldn’t be complete without an exposed shift linkage or floor-mounted pedals that look as if they were swiped from a race car.
Power for the new C8 comes from an Audi-supplied, mid-mounted 4.2-liter V-8 force-fed by a supercharger. It generates 518 horsepower at 6800 rpm. The engine’s peak torque of 443 lb-ft at 3500 pm routes first through a Getrag six-speed manual or an optional ZF six-speed automatic, and then to a Drexler limited-slip differential on its way to the rear wheels. Lotus, another embattled brand, supplies the front and rear suspensions, which consist of forged-aluminum control arms, steel coil springs wrapping monotube dampers, and anti-roll bars. Michelin Pilot Super Sport radials are mounted on 19-inch wheels that do their best impression of a turbine fan (continuing with the aeronautical theme). The wheels’ 24 spokes provide a numerical taunt to the 20-spoke Alpina wheels we love so much.
The Preliator’s aluminum space frame is the result of a thorough redesign of the outgoing C8 Aileron’s, which apparently still has a few serial numbers left in its production run. Spyker claims a 10-percent improvement in torsional stiffness. A standard head-up display is yet another nod to fighter planes. Now, allow us to provide a head’s up of our own to Spyker: How about you send us a Preliator to test?
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