Spyker C8 Preliator gets a second life: 800 hp, twin-turbo and the old character
Spyker is making yet another comeback — this time with an updated C8 Preliator. The Dutch brand will show the supercar in August at the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance during Monterey Car Week, and the main change will be a new engine: a twin-turbo V8 with 800 hp and no hybrid help whatsoever. This was announced by Spyker boss Victor Muller, who showed the car on social media in an early stage of assembly.
For Spyker, this is an almost symbolic move. The original C8 Preliator debuted back in 2016 and used a 4.2-litre supercharged Audi V8 with 518 hp. Output has now jumped by a full 282 hp, and the top speed should exceed 217 mph, or roughly 350 km/h.
The car shown is chassis number 270. The exterior changes have not yet been revealed, and here Spyker had better not overdo it: even ten years on, the C8 Preliator remains a rare case where the design simply doesn’t need an urgent «rejuvenating» operation.
The cabin is a separate point of interest. The previous C8 Preliator had an almost aviation-like atmosphere with mechanical switches and toggles. Today, against the backdrop of touch-panel mania, that kind of interior may turn out to be not outdated but, on the contrary, the most desirable thing about the car.
Spyker’s comeback story is complicated. The company was badly hurt after buying Saab from General Motors, declared bankruptcy in 2014, then revived itself only to collapse again in 2021. Last year Muller said he had reached an agreement to recover the rights to Spyker’s intellectual property. That is precisely what cleared the path to the new C8 Preliator.
It is not yet clear whether this car will be a one-off project or the start of a full relaunch of the brand. But the direction is plain: Spyker is returning not with a crossover, not with an electric platform, and not with a promise of «new mobility», but with an 800-hp old-school supercar. For a brand like this, that is probably the most honest way to remind everyone it still exists.