GT4 2002 Spyker C8 Laviolette

For today's featured car here is a 2002 Spyker C8 Laviolette in my GT4 pictures.

The location is Nanzenji, Nanzenji Temple, Kyoto, which is "one of the treasures of Kyoto with a 700-year history, established in the Kamakura Era. The serene beauty of the autumn leaves in front of the Sanmon gates will take your breath away".

The Spyker name has some resonance but most of that resonance ended in 1926 when Spyker went bankrupt (the first time) having previously been a coach building company and then producing Benz-engined automobiles.

 

Spyker was "resuscitated" in 2000 by one Maarten de Bruijn who bought the rights to the defunct Spyker name and propeller logo.

See the Spyker propeller log above as rendered in GT4 and photographed by me.

The Laviolette was the first generation of the C8 limited production series Spyker and was succeeded by the C8 Aileron.

Spyker's motto is Nulla tenaci invia est via meaning "No road is blocked for those who persevere". However Spyker didn't persevere enough - it went into bankruptcy a second time some years back and is now defunct again.

When you think of handmade exotic supercars, the Netherlands isn't the first country that comes to mind. But the Spyker C8 is Dutch by birth, built mostly of aluminum, from the frame all the way to the handcrafted body panels. The name Spyker isn't entirely new to the automotive world. Back in the late 1890s, a company called Spyker began producing cars not long after the invention of the automobile. It was primarily known for its production of the world's first 4WD vehicle, but the company disappeared in 1925.
Fast forward to 1997. The name Spyker is resurrected as a low-volume specialty-car manufacturer. The company unveiled the C8 Spyder in October 2000 and the fixed-roof Laviolette coupe in February 2001. Later it released the C8 Double 12S, a street-legal racer whose platform was used as the basis for Spyker's GT racing machines. The Spyder and Laviolette featured the Audi S8's 4.2-liter V8. It came in two variations, one producing 394 HP and the other 443 HP. Mated to this mid-mounted powerplant was a 6-speed sequential gearbox. The 443 HP version of the Laviolette boasted a top speed of 190 mph and 0-62 mph time of 4.2 seconds.
Spyker also developed a racing car called the C8 Double 12R based on the Laviolette but using a 4.0-liter engine. The car raced in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2002.

This Spyker is not the best rendered car in Gran Turismo 4.