Spyker began as a coachbuilder and built the Golden State Coach for Queen Wilhelmina. Later it built aircraft too, which is why its badge crosses a propeller with a wheel.
- Country
-
Netherlands - Active
- 1880
- Founded by
- Hendrik Jan and Jacobus Spijker
- Website
- Official website ↗
Two blacksmiths and a golden coach
Spyker made its name with horses, not horsepower. In 1898 the company delivered the Golden State Coach for Queen Wilhelmina, and according to Spyker it is still in service, rolling out every year on Prinsjesdag.
The story starts in 1880 with two brothers, Hendrik Jan and Jacobus Spijker. They were blacksmiths, and their trade led them to Hilversum and into coachbuilding. Their carriages drew clients from across Europe, and they also built horse-drawn trams for Amsterdam.
Then came the engine. Spyker dates its first motorcar to 1898. It used a one-cylinder Benz engine, and Spyker says it was the hand-shaped bodywork, not the mechanics, that people talked about.
How Spijker became Spyker
The family name is spelled Spijker, with the Dutch ij. According to the Revs Institute, the company switched to Spyker in 1903 to appeal to a more international clientele. That same year it built the 60HP, a racer that Spyker and the Revs Institute both describe as the world’s first car with a six-cylinder engine and four-wheel drive, and with braking on all four wheels.
In 1914 Spyker merged with the Dutch Aircraft Factory N.V. During the First World War it built fighter aircraft and their engines. Car production ended in 1925, and the Revs Institute records that the company went bankrupt in 1926 and its assets were auctioned.
A propeller across a spoked wheel
The Spyker emblem is easy to read once you know the backstory. It shows an aircraft propeller crossing a spoked wheel. Spyker says the emblem was born from its aviation period, which began with the 1914 merger, and that it still marks every Spyker made today. In the company’s own words, it is a reminder that the marque has always measured itself by more than one kind of horizon.
So the two halves are simple: the wheel for the cars, the propeller for the planes. Spyker doesn’t give a designer’s name or an exact launch date for the badge, so we won’t either.
Six Latin words on the exhaust
The merger brought something else too: a motto. Nulla tenaci invia est via. Spyker translates it as “For the tenacious, no road is impassable”, and says it has used it since 1914. It isn’t just for brochures. On the modern cars the motto is engraved on both exhaust tips, and on the C8 Preliator XXV Coupé it sits at the centre of the wheels.
Tenacity turned out to be the right word. The original company disappeared in the 1920s. A new company, Spyker Cars, was founded in 1999, and Dutch entrepreneur and car collector Victor R. Muller brought the name, the motto and the propeller badge back to the road.
Aircraft for the road
Spyker likes to describe its cars as aircraft for the road. The first modern models had aviation-style air intakes, wheel rims inspired by propellers and an aircraft-style dashboard. The C8 Aileron of 2009 pushed the idea closer to a fighter jet, with turbine wheels and intakes.
Landmark Spykers, from brass era to hypercar
- 1903: 60HP. Shown in Paris and London, it combined a six-cylinder engine, four-wheel drive and brakes acting on all four wheels.
- 1907: 14/18 HP. Finished second in the Peking to Paris raid, roughly 15,000 kilometres, with French driver Charles Goddard at the wheel.
- 1919: C1 Aerocoque. A two-seater with a hand-shaped aluminium fuselage taken straight from Spyker’s aircraft designs.
- 1922: C4. Selwyn Edge used a streamlined C4 to average 120 km/h over two consecutive twelve-hour periods.
- 2000: C8 Spyder. The car that brought Spyker back, presented on 17 October 2000 at the British International Motor Show in Birmingham.
- 2006: D12 Peking-to-Paris. Shown at Geneva, and called by Spyker the world’s first Super Sports Utility Vehicle.
- 2026: C8 Preliator XXV Coupé. Unveiled on 14 August 2026 at The Quail in California, with a true manual gearbox and production limited to 25 cars.
The modern era has had its twists. Spyker even ran its own Formula One team, later sold and renamed Force India. In 2010 the tiny Dutch company bought Saab from General Motors, after Koenigsegg had pulled out of a deal. Spyker went bankrupt in early 2021, but the brand returned in 2026 with Volodymyr Nosov and his W Group as co-owner. Spyker also worked with Zagato on the C12 Zagato concept of 2007. For more on how badges like this one come together, see how car logos are designed.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Spyker logo mean?
The emblem is an aircraft propeller crossing a spoked wheel. Spyker says it comes from the period when the company merged with the Dutch Aircraft Factory in 1914 and built aircraft alongside cars.
What does “Nulla tenaci invia est via” mean?
Spyker translates its Latin motto as “For the tenacious, no road is impassable”. The company has used it since 1914, and it is engraved on the exhaust tips of its modern cars.
Why is it Spyker and not Spijker?
The founding brothers were called Spijker. According to the Revs Institute, the company changed the spelling to Spyker in 1903 to attract a more international clientele.
Is Spyker still making cars?
Yes. After a bankruptcy in 2021, Spyker returned in 2026 and unveiled the C8 Preliator XXV Coupé, a hand-built car limited to 25 examples.
No road impassable: the Spyker logbook
- Founded
- 1880
- Founder
- Hendrik Jan and Jacobus Spijker
- Country
- Netherlands
- Headquarters
- Lijnden, Netherlands
- Current emblem
- An aircraft propeller crossing a spoked wheel, dating from the aviation era that began in 1914
- Known for
- Hand-built, aviation-inspired sports cars
- Status
- Revived
- Website
- Official website ↗
