BEAUTIFULLY COMPLICATED

 

There is a certain pleasure in owning something that refuses to make life easier. A mechanical watch that requires winding. A fountain pen that demands a practiced hand. A sports car with a proper gearshift, where the driver is expected to participate rather than simply supervise. For those who appreciate such things, convenience was never the point.

The Spyker C8 Preliator XXV Coupé belongs to that increasingly rare school of thought. With only 25 examples planned, the Dutch marque's latest creation celebrates everything that makes an automobile worth collecting, from its hand-shaped aluminum body to the gloriously exposed manual gear linkage. Its 800-horsepower twin-turbo V8 delivers modern performance, but the experience remains wonderfully old-fashioned.

The craftsmanship is almost obsessive. Approximately 2,100 hours go into building each car, with a steering wheel stitched by a single craftsman using two needles simultaneously. Even the screw heads inside the cabin are individually aligned. The Quail Green exterior, accented in rose gold, opens to a rich Tuscan Saddle leather interior filled with polished aluminum, aviation-inspired instruments, and intricate metalwork worthy of a fine mechanical watch.

For the 25 collectors fortunate enough to commission one, the Spyker offers a pleasure increasingly difficult to find. In a world determined to make every experience effortless, here is something beautifully complicated, gloriously mechanical, and entirely worth the trouble.

Discover more at www.spykerautomobiles.com

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