SPYKER C8 PRELIATOR XXV COUPÉ 146 YEARS IN THE MAKING. A NEW ERA BEGINS.

SPYKER UNVEILS THE C8 PRELIATOR XXV COUPÉ, MARKING A NEW ERA FOR THE 146-YEAR-OLD DUTCH MARQUE

AMSTERDAM and CARMEL, Calif., Aug. 14, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Spyker today unveils the Spyker C8 Preliator XXV Coupé, marking the beginning of a new era for the storied marque. The hand-built flagship hypercar, chassis number 270, pairs an 800-horsepower twin-turbo engine with a true manual gearbox and a handmade aluminum body, continuing Spyker's coachbuilding tradition as it returns to The Quail during Monterey Car Week.

Far more than the evolution of an existing model, the Spyker C8 Preliator XXV Coupé is an entirely new automobile. Conceived from a clean sheet of paper, it combines uncompromising craftsmanship, aviation-inspired engineering and modern performance while remaining faithful to the design philosophy that has defined Spyker since the beginning: creating automotive art in motion, its designs akin to an aircraft for the road.

That idea is more than a metaphor. Aviation has been part of Spyker's DNA since the company merged with the Dutch Aircraft Factory in 1914, influencing generations of its design and engineering. That lineage crystallized in 1919 with the Spyker C1 Aerocoque, the car that gave rise to an idea that still defines the company.

Spyker's story began in the Netherlands in 1880, when brothers Hendrik Jan and Jacobus Spijker founded the company as coachbuilders manufacturing their very first car in 1898. In 1903, the brothers built the world's first six-cylinder, four-wheel-drive car and showed it in London and Paris. In 1907, a Spyker raced from Peking to Paris, sponsored by Louis Vuitton, and finished second over roughly 15,000 kilometers of unchartered terrain.

These roots have taken a different shape in each generation of Spyker's modern era, which began with the company's revival in 2000. The first cars of that era, the Spyker C8 Spyder, C8 Laviolette and C8 Double12, carried aviation-style air intakes, propeller-inspired wheel rims, and an aviation dashboard. The Spyker C8 Aileron, introduced in 2009, moved the design language closer to a fighter jet, with turbine air intakes and turbine wheels. The Spyker C8 Preliator XXV Coupé has NACA ducts as air intakes, pushing the aviation concept further still and carries that evolution to its third generation: where a fin tail has so far been a subtle nod, first appearing on the 2006 Spyker D12 Peking-to-Paris, the Spyker C8 Preliator XXV Coupé brings it back in a bold way, echoing the prominent fin tail of the original 1919 Spyker C1 Aerocoque. The Spyker C8 Preliator XXV Coupé headlights carry the model's own name: XXV, and its rear lights are shaped like fighter jet afterburners.

An aerospace idea runs through the smaller details as well: an isogrid lattice of interlocking triangles, developed to make rocket structures lighter whilst making them even stronger, appears in the car's grilles, vents, pedals, exhaust mesh, and seat upholstery, engineering and design speaking the same language throughout. And then there is Spyker's unmistakable exposed gear linkage, a signature Spyker design element from day one.

The body is hand-built in aluminum, on a spaceframe engineered entirely in-house and completely redesigned for this car, continuing Spyker's long partnership with the craftsmen of Coventry Prototype Panels in England, where every exterior panel was newly shaped for the Spyker C8 Preliator XXV Coupé.

A Spyker takes roughly 2100 hours to build this way. The steering wheel is stitched with two needles at once, by one craftsman, over four hours. The dashboard in turned aluminum is a nod to the pre-1925 Spykers, milled by a workshop that has finished automotive parts since the same decade Spyker was founded in 1880. Even the screw heads inside the cabin are aligned by hand to face the same direction, a detail no owner will likely ever notice, which is precisely the point. Each chassis number is stamped by hand into the aluminum space frame, so that no two impressions are quite alike. The car on display at The Quail is chassis number 270, the last of 255 Spykers built since 2000. The car is finished in a vivid metallic Quail Green with subtle rose gold flakes, its brightwork finished in rose gold throughout, and its interior trimmed in a rich orange-brown leather the company calls Tuscan Saddle.

In an industry where carbon fiber has become the default, Spyker deliberately continues to work in aluminum. Not as a compromise, but because aluminum can be shaped, worked and polished by hand. It carries the touch of the craftsman and gives every car an individuality that cannot be replicated by an automated production process. 

Said Spyker Founder and CEO Victor Muller, "While carbon fiber is rightfully celebrated for its technical virtues, we have always preferred aluminum, a living metal that can be shaped by the hand of an experienced craftsman, polished to perfection, its beauty only deepening with age, like a fine Cabernet. For Spyker, this is what modern ultra-luxury should feel like: rare, personal, and made by human hands."

At the heart of the C8 Preliator XXV Coupé is a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 producing 800 horsepower and 1,000 Nm of torque, with a top speed exceeding 217 mph. But the C8 Preliator XXV Coupé was never conceived around numbers alone. Unlike virtually every contemporary hypercar, it is equipped with a true manual gearbox. There are no shift paddles or automated substitutes. Every gear change remains a direct, mechanical interaction between driver and car. The same philosophy carries through to the cockpit. Digital interfaces are kept to a minimum, with a head-up display as the only screen. Everything else remains deliberately analogue, tactile and designed to be operated rather than watched.

Added Muller, "We deliberately chose a real manual transmission, not an automated imitation. You decide when to shift. You feel every gear change in your hand. And if you make a mistake, well, you bear the consequences. That is what driving a sports car should be, at least according to Spyker."

Underneath, the fuel tank has been moved from the sills to a trapezoidal space behind the seats and ahead of the engine, a placement long used on Spyker's Le Mans race cars and now brought to the road. The rear boot has been moved entirely to the front. In its place, the so-called butterfly mode, the entire car opens at the push of a button, as the earliest Spykers did, which means the engine bay itself had to be designed to the same standard as the rest of the car, a detail the company has compared to the movement of a fine Swiss Watch.

That craftsmanship draws on a hundred and forty-six years of company history. The car's name, in Latin, means "warrior." The label suits a marque that has lived by the same motto since 1914: Nulla Tenaci Invia Est Via, for the tenacious, no road is impassable.

Production of the C8 Preliator XXV Coupé will be limited to just 25 hand-built hypercars. Each will be individually commissioned, making every C8 Preliator XXV Coupé not simply a collector's car, but a personal expression of its owner and a piece of Spyker history.

Looking Towards the Future

But the C8 Preliator XXV Coupé is not simply a celebration of Spyker's past. It is the starting point for what comes next. Its debut marks the beginning of a new era for Spyker following Volodymyr Nosov's investment and his becoming co-owner of the marque, and a strategic partnership with W Group, a major European fintech group specializing in blockchain technology and digital infrastructure. 

The partnership brings together two worlds: 146 years of automotive heritage, craftsmanship and engineering with technological expertise, digital capabilities, and a forward-looking approach to building global businesses.

The ambition is not simply to bring a legendary automotive marque back. It is to build the next era of Spyker. That does not mean changing what makes a Spyker a Spyker. Spyker is not becoming a digital device on wheels. The hypercars will remain analogue.

Instead, technology will strengthen the world around the car. W Group's technological capabilities and digital infrastructure will support the development of new client experiences, a broader digital ecosystem and new ways for Spyker to engage with owners and collectors around the world. 

The principle is simple: preserve what makes Spyker timeless and use technology to build what comes next. The C8 Preliator XXV Coupé is the first expression of that vision. Spyker's next chapter is expected to include the development of the Spyker D8 Peking-to-Paris SSUV, new digital and client experiences, and ambitions to return to endurance GT3 racing. 

"The launch of this new hypercar marks a new era for Spyker. The partnership with Volodymyr Nosov underlines the long-term ambitions of the brand and its shareholders. We are building on everything that has made Spyker distinctive for 146 years while creating the foundation for what comes next. Spyker's future has never looked brighter, and I am immensely proud of the employees, partners and suppliers who put their faith in us," said Muller.

Volodymyr Nosov, Co-owner of Spyker and Founder and President of W Group, said,
"We are bringing together more than a century of Spyker's automotive heritage with W Group's technological expertise, ambition and forward-looking mindset. Our goal was never simply to bring a legendary name back. We want to build the next era of Spyker, preserving everything that makes the marque iconic while opening it to new technologies, new experiences and a new generation of clients. The C8 Preliator XXV Coupé is the first statement of that ambition. And this is only the beginning."

Following its world debut at The Quail, the C8 Preliator XXV Coupé will appear on the Concept Car Lawn at the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance on August 16.

About Spyker
Founded in 1880 in the Netherlands, Spyker is one of the world's oldest ultra-luxury automotive brands, hand-building exclusive hypercars to individual commission. The brand's rich heritage includes creating the world's first four-wheel-drive car in 1903, building planes from 1914 to 1918, and participating in Formula One and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Today, the company produces vehicles exclusively in extremely limited numbers featuring aviation-inspired design elements.

About W Group
W Group is a major European fintech group specializing in blockchain technology and digital infrastructure. Its ecosystem is built to make blockchain and digital assets secure, accessible and easy to use, serving more than 40 million users across 150 countries worldwide. At the heart of W Group is WhiteBIT, the largest European cryptocurrency exchange by traffic.

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SOURCE Spyker