Dutch sports car manufacturer Spyker NV is slated to debut two cars in 2021, but now it looks like. the company is all out of money, with CEO Victor Muller filling for bankruptcy… again. And somehow he still thinks things are going to turn out okay. Maybe that’s because it’s been holding on for dear life for the last six years.
Back in August of 2020, Spyker announced that it was getting a nice half-million dollar cash investment from two Russian businessmen, SMP Racing owner Boris Rotenberg and his business partner, Michail Pessis. But according to Dutch site RTL News, nothing ever actually came from it. The deal fell through, and no one really talked about it.
It shouldn’t be super surprising, though—Spyker NV is just one arm of the Spyker brand, which has been slowly collapsing. Both Willem Jan van Andel of Spyker Events and Dennis Steffens of Spyker Services filed for bankruptcy, leaving Spyker NV to fight the good fight on its own. That… hasn’t happened.
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Somehow, Muller is optimistic—if a bit punchy regarding his former colleaguese—in referring to his company as an “empty shell.” From RTL News (translated):
I had hoped to be able to avert this. It is the very last thing I wanted. But curator Van Andel had no more patience. I can imagine that. On the other hand, he has already waited two years. So I see. not sure why he couldn’t wait an extra week.
[…]
I’m not going to let this put me off. I think the chance that there will be an investment in Spyker is very high. It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.
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Despite coming out with some genuinely beautiful designs over the years—the C8 Spyder, the C8 Double 12, The C8 Preliator—Spyker has always kind of been a disaster. It’s one of those car companies that exists on paper but doesn’t do much else. It kinda-sorta went bankrupt in 2014 during a period where it was auctioning off all its assets to pay debts and trying to get people to buy bonds so it could build one of its cars. It’s not exactly one of those companies you look to when deciding on a successful business model.
Despite Muller’s hopes, though, this one is an actual bankruptcy, and it may actually be the final nail in the coffin for the Spyker brand.