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Spyker Cars is a Dutch company which specializes in high-end sports car manufacturing, using first-grade materials and handcrafting processes.
Well-known coachbuilders Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker decided to focus entirely on car production starting in 1898. Their very first creation, called 60/80 HP, was launched in 1903. It was an extremely-advanced vehicle – the first to feature a six-cylinder engine, full-time four-wheel drive and four-wheel brakes.
In 1907, the 14/18HP Tourer participated in the Beijing-Paris rally and earned second place. At the time, the automaker enjoyed great popularity in Dutch India and Britain as the "continental Rolls-Royce".
During World War I, the luxury car market took a nosedive and Spyker began to manufacture fighter aircraft.
After the war, the company returned to its roots with a single goal mind: breaking records. The most famous Spyker back then was unquestionably the C4.
The brand disappeared in 1925, but its name was resurrected three quarters of a century later with the introduction of the C8 Spyder at the Birmingham Motor Show. Critics immediately praised the car, which won a design award from the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE).
The C8 Laviolette and C8 Double12 R, an endurance race car that took part in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, made their debut in 2001. A road-going version of the latter, called C8 Double12, followed two years later.
In 2005, Spyker got the green light from the U.S. government to sell the C8. It also unveiled the C12 LaTurbie, powered by Audi's 6.0-litre W12. That same engine later wound up in the D12 (2006), a premium SUV with all-wheel drive and seating for four.
Finally, the Dutch manufacturer came to the 2007 Geneva Auto Show to present the C12 Zagato, a sport-oriented, rear-wheel-drive model heavily inspired from Formula 1.