Car Style - The Spyker C8 Laviolette SWB

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The car (series): Spyker C8

Spyker has made a very exciting car in looks and in performance called the C8. Since the C8's debut in 2000, many more Spyker C8 models followed. I realize there are a lot of Spyker C8 models. So what I've done was focus solely on the C8 Laviolette, as you'd find in Gran Turismo 4.



--- Car Style: The Spyker C8 Laviolette SWB ---

Exterior.
All the Spyker C8 models are sharp and with distinctive style. But when you look at the Spyker C8, it's a car guaranteed to intimidate others. The grill is big and wide, kind of like recent Aston Martins. There's a thin grill under the big front grill. Above the grill is the bold Spyker emblem. The headlights are very clean in style. Big fog lights below the headlights are there as well as a little spoiler at the bottom. The front of this mid-engined car has a deep front scoop.

The sides of the car has the most character than all of the rest of the car. A nice set of side-view mirrors are bathed in shiny metal. Part of the front bumper features three little gills on the side near the fog lights. The fenders don't have much aggression to them. However, the most aggressive elements of the car are all the openings. There are two sets of openings towards the rear quarter panel and on the roof. The car looks like it has two side cannons accented in metallic accents. Almost as if this car was mounted with laser guns or machine gun mounts, ready to shoot any car that comes its way. The roof features an extra roof scoop as bold as the other scoops on the side. Or if you want to stick with guns, the roof scoop is like its own rocket launcher. This car is sharper than a razor from your favorite razor maker. There is somewhat of a T-top design with two glass roof portions for both passengers to see the sunny skies or starry nights.

The rear features a pair of tail lights and signal lights in equal circumference. Each side has one circular tail light and one circular turn signal light. Metallic accents outline the mufflers. Three more gills accentuate the back half of the rear quarter panels. Metallic accents also occupy most of the rear of the rear valance of this car.


Interior.
The car is aggressive, mean, mad at the world up on the outside. But what about on the inside? Considering Spyker's history as an aircraft maker (before the former Spyker went bankrupt in 1922), the inside of the C8 Laviolette SWB is very old-time. The Spyker C8 Laviolette that I remember from Gran Turismo 4 had an unusual four-spoke steering wheel, all spokes in perfect right angles. This car's steering wheel is rather plain, but not boring. The C8 Laviolette SWB has an old-style set of gauges. There are plenty of them for this car. You almost feel like you're flying a plane rather than driving a car that costs just below $225,000 USD. The center console is all metallic with a few touches of plastic. Even the steering wheel is bathed in metallic. Again- flying a plane or driving a car? The one thing I'd fear is that on hot days (like here in Houston in the Summer), that the steering wheel would be extremely hot even on hot days here in Houston. There's lots of quilted leather to accentuate other parts of the car that aren't in the form of gauges. Even the comfortable pair of seats gets a little quilting. A few roll hoops can be found inside the car as well.





So what you have style-wise is a car that doesn't have an identity crisis, but rather a car that's like a shark with four wheels and a mid-mounted engine, but has the interior of an old-style plane and with LOTS of metallic accents. Pardon my choice of words... but this is the damndest weird car style-wise I've ever seen. How do you merge extremely sharp styling on the outside with an old-style interior? Still, I've always loved the Spyker C8 series. I think the car looks best in black. The metallic accents on the outside makes this car's aggression come to life. Approach with caution. She's a killer whale that'll bite you in half with sharp styling.