UPDATE: 2026/08/16 09:30 EST BY SEAN MCMANUS
More Big Reveals At Monterey Car Week
We added a section to highlight a few more announcements from big-name automakers this week.
Dutch supercar builder Spyker — which has been referred to as the ‘Dutch Pagani’ — is back, and at this year’s Monterey Car Week, the specialist automaker has launched its first new product in a decade. After a troubled period of failed product launches — the Koenigsegg-engined models never really materialized — and multiple changes in ownership, there’s finally something to show, and what a something it is, including V8 power, hand-wrought detailing, and no hint of an automatic gearbox in sight.
A Twin-Turbo, Manual V8 Celebration Of Coachbuilding Excellence
Titled the Spyker C8 Preliator XXV, the car on show is the 270th chassis built in the company’s history (only 255 production cars have left the factory since 2000, though). The C8 Preliator name might be confusing, since that was the name of the ill-fated Koenigsegg-powered model from a decade ago, but Spyker affirms that this is no evolution. Instead, it’s entirely new, a full clean-sheet design blending the brand’s penchant for aviation-inspired styling with its history of engineering excellence. It’s also the third generation of the C8 family.
Spyker, in case you’re unfamiliar, dates back to 1880 as a coachbuilder, credited with building the world’s first six-cylinder, all-wheel drive car in 1903. The C8 Preliator XXV is neither of those things.
Spyker C8 Preliator XXV debuts at Monterey Car WeekSpyker
Instead, it’s powered by a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 delivering 789 horsepower and 738 lb-ft of torque while revving to 7,600 rpm. Spyker didn’t confirm the supplier of the engine, but it has a long-standing relationship with Audi, and the 86.0 x 86.0 mm bore and stroke and 3,996cc displacement correlate with the Audi V8 used in models like the RS6 and RS Q8, albeit with a few hundred extra horsepower. All of that power and torque is delivered to the rear axle via a Graziano six-speed manual gearbox and limited-slip differential.
Spyker C8 Preliator XXV debuts at Monterey Car WeekSpyker
Zero to 62 mph takes 2.9 seconds, according to the automaker, and it’ll reach a top speed of 217 mph. When it comes time to stop, Brembo brakes clamp down on cross-drilled carbon discs measuring 380 mm in front and 356 mm at the rear. The calipers are four-piston items all around. And helping the C8 Preliator XXV stay planted, double-wishbone suspension is equipped front and rear with active traction management and dynamic dampers.
Hand-Built, Aviation-Inspired, With No Carbon Fiber In Sight
Spyker C8 Preliator XXV debuts at Monterey Car WeekSpyker
Carbon fiber was once a novelty in the automotive space, an exotic material that signified something was special. Nowadays, everyone is building cars out of carbon fiber, which is why Spyker is sticking with its tradition of aluminum bodywork over an aluminum spaceframe structure. Despite not being carbon fiber, it still weighs only 3,417 lbs. The bodywork is manufactured by the craftspeople of Coventry Prototype Panels in England, and represents a commitment to artisans and their work over mass-produced nonsense. As such, each Spyker takes 2,100 hours to build. The steering wheel alone takes four hours to upholster.
Back to the bodywork though. This is absolutely a Spyker in design, right down to the mesh lattice of the front grille, which has evolved into an intricate pattern made of tesselated triangles, a pattern prevalent in the manufacturing of rockets. This same pattern appears throughout, from the pedals, vents, and seat upholstery to the front grille and exhaust mesh. A new aviation-inspired design element has been included, though, in the form of the dual NACA duct air intakes, while the taillights emulate jet afterburners in much the same way the new Hennessey Blackbird’s do.
A Striking Monterey Debut Spec
The car shown here, and on display at The Quail during this year’s Monterey Car Week celebrations, has been finished in metallic Quail Green with rose gold flakes, offset by rose gold brightwork inside and out and orange-brown leather in a hue officially titled Tuscan Saddle. Rose gold can even be specified for the staggered 20- and 21-inch wheels, a $67,000 option
Spyker C8 Preliator XXV debuts at Monterey Car WeekSpyker
The interior is special, fashioned to accentuate the classic aviation theme and highlight mechanical connection, from physical toggle switches to glorious green backlighting of the half a dozen gauges present ahead of the occupants. And as has been the case with previous Spyker models, the manual gearshift linkage is left exposed.
However, there’s also contemporary digitalization, with a head-up display in place of a traditional screen. The steering wheel has also been modernized, and features a more conventional tri-spoke layout with a sextet of rotary dials and physical switchgear.
Spyker C8 Preliator XXV debuts at Monterey Car WeekSpyker
More Big Reveals At Monterey Car Week
GMSV S1 LM front 3/4 angle in silver while parkedGordon Murray Special Vehicles
Spyker isn’t the only automaker with grand reveals and a big future ahead of it. Monterey Car Week is a celebration of automotive history where enthusiasts and collectors bid on rare classics, supercars, and more, in addition to a place where automakers announce and reveal their next big projects. Spyker had a big day when it showed off its newest C8, and so did Gordon Murray, Lamborghini, Cadillac, and more.
For an ever-growing list of announcements and news from the event, we have a blog page here. On that note, here are some highlights: Gordon Murray Special Vehicles revealed its newest S1 (pictured above), which is essentially a McLaren F1 that you’d actually want to drive. While the first S1 was limited to five examples, this new variant will get 64 units.
Other highlights include Lamborghini’s most powerful model to date. The Revuelto SV used a 6.5-liter V12 hybrid system that produces 1,065 horsepower and 1,051 lb-ft of torque, resulting in a 2.4-second 0-60 mph sprint and top speeds of over 214 mph. Just before Lamborghini’s reveal, Cadillac had big news with the V-One concept. It’s basically the LMDh race car that competes in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the US and Canada, and FIA World Endurance Championship overseas.
CarBuzz Insights — Why This Matters
The world hardly needs more boutique automakers selling seven-figure pieces of automotive exotica, but Spyker isn’t new. With a name tracing its roots to 1880 and a modern history dating back to its establishment in 1999, this is a legacy nameplate. Its troubled history — which includes acquiring Saab from General Motors in 2010 and being unable to do anything with it — and frequent flirtation with bankruptcy has often led to it being seen in the same light at TVR, but it seems like the current ownership and investment are working, resulting in a new era for the brand with a car that, although brash in reveal spec, looks every bit at home at The Quail as the dozens of other successful hypercars around it.
Priced from €1.595 million (~$1.84 million at current exchange rates), this is an expensive piece of kit, but it’s one that might, with any luck, keep a century-old automaker in business rather than relegated to the history books once more.
