Tested: Spyker C8 Spyder

Spyker C8 Spyder
Spyker C8 Spyder; photo by PhotoJoost.com

After months of anticipation the Spyker C8 is finally here! Hand-made using the finest bespoke materials, this Audi V8-powered all-aluminum 400-hp roadster turns my ignition key, and then some. PhotoJoost.com captured my exclusive test drive of a 2005 Spyker C8 Spyder in Las Vegas, about $240,000 as tested.

Read my review of this incredibly rare car here . It ran in the the August 2006 issue of Modified Luxury & Exotics magazine.

Related:

Some b-roll text from my original draft, which I had to edit out of my review because it was way too long…

Amidst the chaos that auto buffs call SEMA, Joost and I dropped in at Lamborghini Las Vegas to speak with managing director Carl Cannefax about taking a test drive. While we only went looking for this 2005 Spyker C8 Spyder, we were mightily surprised to find a smorgasbord of luxury and exotics inside the 20,000 square-foot Lambo franchise dealership.

On display was trio of Bentley Arnage Ts and one Continental GT, a Maserati Quattroporte, Rolls Phantom, a pair of Aston Martins, including an ’03 DBAR1 convertible. Ferraris included a 575M Maranello, 360 Spyder F1, F430 as well as an ultra-rare ’63 Ferrari 250 GTO race car that was covered and tucked into the back corner away from prying eyes while two potential owners bid the price up and up.

Lamborghini was represented by a ’90 LM002 SUV, Diablo VT, three Gallardos and one Murcielago Roadster, and there was even a twin turbo Saleen S7 with the factory horsepower package installed sitting in the front window. The dealership also serves as Spyker of Las Vegas.

The Spyder was not in the showroom for our initial visit. Master techs Daryl Brown and Erik Higgonbotham were getting it ready for our test drive later that evening. Actually, a potential buyer had found out they had a car available for a test drive before buying, and made a special trip out to Vegas to do just that ahead of us. Fortunately, he didn’t buy this car (or else my drive would have been canceled), but he did special order one to his tastes, and should have taken delivery four or five weeks later….