New cars: 2010 Spyker C8 Aileron

Automobile

Spyker’s all-new C8 Aileron shares some traits with its C8 Spyder, including an aluminum chassis and an Audi 4.2-liter V-8 engine, mounted amidships. But while its predecessor “might be best described as the Netherlands’ answer to the Shelby Cobra and Dodge Viper,” this second generation is “more comfortable cruising briskly along a two-lane highway than storming around a circuit.”

Car and Driver

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Sure, the Dutch import has all the “wattage” you’d expect from a $220,000 handmade sports car. But even Spyker—now in the process of buying Saab from General Motors—admits that buyers may be less interested in the dream car’s ability to go from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds than in its ability to turn heads. “The aerocentric Aileron is one of the very few rides capable of displacing a Ferrari from a restaurant valet’s front row.”

Road & Track

With 354 pound-feet of torque and top speeds approaching 187 mph, this car is more than just a pretty face. “One of the true joys of driving the new Spyker is listening to the rumble of the engine at full-throttle.” For a “nominal” $26,000 extra, you can opt for a five-piece custom Louis Vuitton luggage set—and thanks to slightly roomier dimensions, it may actually fit.