Nick Hall

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Evo

Dutch Courage

Renault may have attempted to buy the Monaco Grand Prix, in advertising terms at least, but tiny Dutch company Spyker managed to steal the show with a budget that wouldn’t have covered the Regie’s prawn sandwich bill.

Spyker boss Victor Mueller, who revived the long dead name of the Dutch aeroplane and automotive manufacturer with his own money in 2000 swiftly realised that Bernie held no control over the Principality when the F1 cars weren’t out on track, and that a private deal could be done.

So, with a pre-booked €210 per head lunch at the Café de Paris and an undisclosed fee, Spyker accessed the entire Monaco Grand Prix crowd, assembled corporate guests, celebrities and television coverage.

Renault and Wiesmann got in on the act this year, the first time Spyker has had to share the track, but both were drowned out, swallowed up and spat out the rear of the C8’s overtly aggressive rear tailpipes on the few occasions when full-bore acceleration was allowed through the building site of a circuit.

And the deep throaty noise that greeted the car’s blast through the tunnel at speeds of approximately 140mph, only achievable on Sunday thanks to the Gendarme with a radar gun decamped at the kink for the remainder of the week, could have parted any rich car nut from the money on the spot. Hardly anybody orders a stereo, incidentally.

Marketing director Hans van Rennes, who previously ran Gerry Forsythe’s CART team, invited potential customers to the event and chauffeured them round the most famous circuit on Earth in the €215,000, 4.2-litre Audi-engined C8. Considering Renault spent £30,000 just to rent an apartment on the start-finish straight, it was a masterclass in guerrilla marketing.

What Bernie Ecclestone would charge for demo runs between qualifying and the race doesn’t bear tangible thought, but it’s fair to say a Dutch low volume manufacturer with annual sales just nudging three figures wouldn’t pay it.

And this approach sums up Spyker, which has made a living from appearing far bigger than it really is. At the start it hauled non-running cars round the shows, building up the pre-publicity and launching an entire range on the public well before they could provide the cars.

The Spyker C8 Double 12 road car made its show debut in 2002 and has been racing since 2001, fully sponsored of course, but the first customer car won’t be delivered until late next year.

That hasn’t stopped them launching two new cars, the 6-litre, 500bhp Audi W12-powered C8 Laturbie and a “Super Sports Utility Vehicle” that will use the same engine, mid-mounted, to create what could be the ultimate SUV, will be on the stand at Geneva in 2006 under the moniker C12 Peking to Paris.

We’re the first magazine to present the details, but we don’t yet have access to the only sketch in existence just yet. It’s with a Middle Eastern Sheikh who tends to buy a “bunch of cars”, at one time. The price has yet to be set, but reckon on spending more on this car than the average UK house.

Compare the C8’s sticker price with those offered by Ferrari and Lamborghini and the sums don’t add up. Yes it’s a beautiful car, yes it weighs just 1100kg, yes it’s tailored to the individual and no you won’t see one parts bin switch or plastic in the leather-clad cabin, but it’s still a 400bhp sportscar and those come off the rack for far less money.

But that’s the point, make something beautiful, ludicrously expensive and exclusive and someone will buy it. Spyker has accessed the money-no-object crowd that buy a car not because it’s worth it, but because it’s wild and they want it. Hans swears Spyker will never go the Bentley route and build a cheaper car than the C8 Spyder, too, the only way is up from that expensive baseline.

Spyker also had the nerve to go full-bore at the US federalisation process, while much bigger manufacturers poked and prodded the regulations. North America is now Spyker’s biggest market by far and it’s mined a rich seam in the entertainment industry, which comes with it’s own cost.

When Victor finally got his dream C8 Spyder, in aubergine, Busta Rhymes commandeered, wrote the cheque and took it right off him. The replacement was at Monaco, but could have been sold by the end of the day.

North America is the marque’s biggest market and that is set to increase, as the closed-top Laviolette will also transport Catherine Tramell in Basic Instinct 2. Looks as ostentatious as Liberace’s boudoir have dragged in the Hollywood set and Spyker can now write its own ticket on the West Coast of America.

This approach has helped Spyker progress from a dream and a drain on victor’s pocket to a fully public company after it listed last year. He could now make a £1,000,000 dream machine, and could be about to, and he will find a market.

“I can’t wait to get my hands on the engine from the Veyron,” said the eccentric company boss. He wasn’t joking either. You just have to love Dutch courage.

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