Ever before exiting moratorium, rumors stating Spyker’s willingness to go rogue on the internal combustion engine in favor of all-electric powertrains were circulating in the motoring industry. But it looks like that’s the case only if we’re talking about SUVs.
Spyker won’t abandon its pure sports-car manufacturer credo in favor of greener alternatives in the coupe / roadster segments, as CEO Victor Muller stated in an interview with Autocar that the company will still go on developing internal combustion-engine, manual sports cars:
"If I take away the sensation of a V8 or a V12 from a super or sports car, I think it will be very hard to sell. [With electric cars], we’re not yet able to replicate the feeling you get when you switch the ESP off in a manual gearbox car.”
And Muller has the C8 Perliator’s sales figures to back up his claim, believing there’s still a market for engaging sports automobiles, as 86% of their customers ordered the vehicle with a manual gearbox instead of the ZF six-speed automatic option:
“Forty-three of the 50 Preliator orders have been for a stick, showing that the manual gearbox is back with a vengeance. It shows that it’s impossible to predict where the market is going to go.”
The C8 Preliator uses an all-aluminum space frame with suspension tuned by Lotus. A supercharged, Audi-sourced 4.2-litre V8 is in charge for delivering no less than 525 HP to the rear wheels.
However, don’t think Spiker will stay away from electric powertrains, as Muller believes these are suitable in the SUV niche – a segment which Spyker will allegedly tackle next year: “If I drive an SUV, I don’t mind having a quiet engine. Electric power is therefore sell-able here.”