New Spyker C8 Aileron Set For Take-Off

Aviation inspired super GT will lead three car line-up

Spyker is forging ahead with plans to launch the long-awaited C8 Aileron this summer, under the new ownership of British company Coventry Prototype Panels.

Brendan O'Toole, owner and MD of CPP

PH met CPP's managing director and partner Brendan O'Toole on the Spyker stand at Geneva, where the latest version of the C8 Aileron took pride of place. According to the boss, deliveries will start in early summer and the Spyder version of the Aileron will follow in 2012. Brendan's longer term ambition is to add the Paris-to-Peking 'SUV' to the Spyker range, but only when production of both Aileron models is fully bedded-in.

The C8 will cost around £195,000 OTR when it goes on sale, which if measured in terms of pure 'spectacle per £' as presented by the white show car seems reasonably competitive. Performance and handling will be crucial too, of course, but with a 400hp Audi 4.2 V8 behind the seats and Lotus putting the finishing touches to the suspension settings (the car uses Evora wishbones) there's a good chance it's going to prove sufficiently entertaining on both fronts.

In terms of build quality, Brendan is convinced the Aileron will be up there with the best, and considering CPP is also responsible for creating the One-77 for Aston Martin that's probably not an idle boast. Certainly the car on the stand looked crisply detailed, an effect that's enhanced by the mechanical feel of the aluminium trim panels and switchgear.

Brendan's been intrinsically involved with the Spyker story from day one, he told us, as the very first car took shape in the CPP factory floor ten years ago.

"We've been massively involved since 2000, and since that first day I've been 150% sure the brand was going to make it, and would eventually fall into safe hands from a technical, manufacturing and design perspective," he says, adding he's got nothing but praise for Spyker founder Victor Muller who created a globally-known supercar brand from scratch in a decade. (Muller intends to concentrate all his energies on Saab in future, and will have no ongoing financial connection to Spyker when the takeover is complete.)

"I could not be more confident about how people will see Spyker by the end of this year, because CPP is definitely not a 'smoke and mirrors' company. At the end of the year we'll have produced our first 100 cars, with another 200 in 2012 when the Spyder is introduced, and every car we build we'll have a buyer for in advance."

Demand for the Aileron has been mounting in part because the car has taken more than a year longer than originally anticipated to reach production, a delay Brendan puts down to bringing production to Coventry. "But we've now got a situation where if there's a problem we can have a face to face meeting with most suppliers in about five minutes," he says.

Having now met Brendan face to face ourselves, the ongoing success of Spyker seems entirely plausible. Like his company CPP (now half owned by Russian businessman and confirmed car nut Vladimir Antonov since he bought-out Brendan's partner) Brendan appears to be quite the opposite of a 'smoke and mirrors' sort of bloke. In fact, he built the company up the hard way, and has the aluminium panel-crafting skills to prove it.

The Aileron has brought another 40 skilled jobs to CPP, with the prospect of more in the longer term. It's not a huge enterprise, but following the sad news of Bristol's downfall, there's certainly room for another bespoke British automotive success story.