Spyker Refuses To Die

Spyker, the long-troubled Dutch sports car company, has been saved from bankruptcy. Again. The company’s founder, Victor Muller, has secured the brand’s intellectual property rights and will now “focus on producing hand-built super sports cars,” according to a social media post.   

Spyker was originally revived in 1999 by Muller, but a botched Saab acquisition over a decade later would force the company to financially restructure in late 2014. Operations would resume by the end of 2015, with the C8 Preliator revealed a year later at the Geneva Motor Show.   

But things wouldn’t last. By 2021, investment from investors failed to materialize, and Muller was forced to file for bankruptcy again. This resulted in a lengthy legal battle between Muller and the creditors that’s now been resolved. According to the social media post, all of Spyker’s intellectual property rights and trademarks have been fully released. Muller said:   

Spyker will announce more detailed plans regarding its revival shortly. It’s unclear what role Muller will play in the company’s future. The company was originally founded in 1880, building an assortment of transportation products, but the company ceased operations in 1926.   

Spyker built everything from cars to airplanes, the latter of which heavily influenced the new Spyker that Muller created at the turn of the century. Spyker was never hugely successful and struggled quite a bit before the Saab deal. We also don’t know if the world is ready for another bespoke automaker.   

There’s no shortage of high-priced, high-performance low-volume cars available from automotive kings like Koenigsegg and Rimac. The C8 Preliator is a decade-old idea, and if Spyker wants to stand out and attract buyers, it’ll require a fresh product lineup.