Dutch supercar maker Spyker returns from bankruptcy with C8 Preliator

The Spyker C8 Preliator at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show ( Newspress)

Dutch boutique supercar maker Spyker is back from bankruptcy and back at Geneva with a brand new car, the C8 Preliator.

And, according to company founder, designer and CEO Victor R. Muller, the timing couldn't be better as the demand for the most exciting and exotic automobiles money can buy has never been greater.

Spyker's journey to this year's Geneva Show almost didn't happen. Thanks to a remarkably ambitious but ultimately unsuccessful bid to buy and relaunch the Saab brand plus business partners who, in Muller's words "Didn't live up to the commitments they'd made," the company was perilously close to going completely under. Yet Spyker worked through it all, cleared its debts and by Autumn 2015 was ready to build a new car and return to Geneva.

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"We called up the motorshow and said 'we know we're too late but is there any chance of giving us enough space to present a car - even a toilet will do'," remembers Muller.

The show's organisers said that Spyker was too late but they'd see what they could do and five months later Muller's taking the wraps off the C8 Preliator on a 94m2 stand in amongst all of the other boutique carmakers, who are all very happy. "In my market sector things are very, very, very good. If you look at the propositions form Koenigsegg, Pigani Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Rolls-Royce, my peer group, they're all thriving," he says.

Demand for the most exotic of automobiles is up in Africa, the Middle East and the US, but, at this year's show, so is the choice on offer - from Alpina and Brabus, to the likes of Pigani, Koenigsegg and Zenvo.

So how will the latest generation Spkyer stand out? After all, despite a heavily jet-influenced external design and some beautiful bespoke interior touches, in terms of vital statistics at least, the car's Audi sourced supercharged 4.2-litre V8 offers up 525bhp, while on the other side of the hall, the latest Pigani boasts nearly twice the power.

"Very few of my clients have a Pigani, but they all have Ferraris, Aston Martins and Bentleys. That's what they have," explains Muller. "Our car is on average the seventh car in the collection of an owner. It's a car that they buy because it is so different."

It's also a car that is kept - almost three quarters of all Spykers are still with their original owners and as collectibles, their value has soared. "They all end up in the hands of collectors who cherish them," says Muller, pointing out that many of the 50 planned examples of the C8 Preliator are already spoken for.

But doesn't he worry that because the cars are in storage rather than on the road, the Spyker brand won't resonate with a wider audience?

"From our perspective it's not so bad because these people do show their cars, among their peers - they're our potential clients.Our owners are basically doing our marketing for us."