Spyker Aileron Coupe 2011
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Pebble Beach, California, August 2010
AllCarCentral.com's Test Drive
Spyker is an old car name which has been resurrected, and a car Company which has been in the headlines as the company that has just purchased ownership rights to Saab Car Company.
Thursday at Monterey Bay is generally a setup day for all the car events, so ACC's plan is to pick up our Pebble Beach Concours d' Elgance media passes and shoot the cars which are available on the upper Peter Hay field. The entrance to the upper field was covered with activity by the Spyker Automobielen display and the noisy going and coming of their cars as people engaged in test drives. The question of the moment was do we shoot cars sitting on the green or do a fast drive in a high performance sport car? Dumb question. I got in line.
My choice was the hot white 2011 Aileron coupe. I loved the little styling details. My host and guide/driver was Hans Van Rennes, Vice-President of Marketing and Communications, and past race car driver. The tour started with an explanation of the Aileron. The Spyker company resurrected an older manufactures name to build their new dreams around. Their goal is to bring out cars which have no equal on the road. The styling takes its queues, such as the toggle switches on the dash, from aircraft. Fit and finish is excellent and all the shinny bits reminds me of the 1950's US cars. The 2011 Aileron coupe is a new car with an extended wheel base to make room for the automatic transmission. All previous models were manual shifting. This Aileron coupe had the paddle shifting and pre-select, auto/manual, which is the big thing on the road now.
Hans did not give me the wheel right off, and we moved out of the parking lot into the wooded road ways which, in the 1950's, were used as the S.C.C.A. Road Course. It was the racing on these tree lined narrow roads which started all the car-crazyness which is now the worlds greatest gathering of cars, centered here at the California Monterey Peninsula.
It was fitting on this day that I was flying at speed, down the narrow track
in this high performance Spyker.
Back in the 1950's the cars which slammed around these corners and used the tree trunks as their apex were the XK 120 Jaguars, MG TDs, Ferrari 212, and Ferrari 166 MM cars. While the Ferraris and Jaguars were fast in the beginning, the cars became even faster, each year brought out new and larger engines. Even with some track improvements, fate dealt the end to racing in the trees. The road race was moved to a new purposeful built track which has become the world famous Laguna Seca Raceway.
With the 2-way traffic and Hans pushing the yellow line, for one brief moment I actually thought that this must be a taste of the thrill that journalist Dennis Jenkinson must have had as navigator for Stirling Moss on their run in the Mille Miglia.
The Spyker is not a docile car. The Aileron features an all-aluminum V8 engine giving out 400 bhp and 354 lbs of torque at 3,400 rpm from an Audi 4.2 litre engine . The Aileron tops out at 300km/h (187 mph) and will go from 0 to 60 mph in a 4.5 seconds. Hans did not try for the 187 MPH but we did explore the 0 to 60 acceleration in several ways.
The heavy rumble of the V8 gives a "Hot-Rod" sound to the car both from the inside and out. I though of a early Cobra sound and personality, that is if one over looks all the chrome and extravagant trimmings.
This car stayed planted on the road with little drama other than the V8 roar. It was very flat through the corners, though a bit heavy on the ruff spots on the road. This was a brut in high fashion chrome and sparkle. It would not be a "sleeper" moving down the roadway. The Spyker announced that it was in town!
Hans reached a wide spot and made the trade-off. I got to feel the steering and brakes along with trying out the right-most pedal for short distances. Given my short time with the car I would not refer to it as nimble but it is not heavy at 3,142 Lbs. It feels stuck to the road in the corners but has light steering. This is all good stuff in my thinking.
The "world of cars" is turning out the same-look-cars from year to year with over-quiet motors and interiors. Step out and try some V8 in BRIGHT ORANGE!
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Spyker Aileron 2011
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Hans Van Rennes, Vice-President of Marketing and Communications
Spyker Automobielen
Spyker Aileron 2011
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Clara Cunningham Photo 2010
Spyker Aileron 2011
Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance®
Information Sheet For This Car - PDF file
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