Spyker: It’s Dead, Jim

After a tumultuous last few years, it seems that Spyker Cars’ history is about to come to an end: on December 18, 2014, Holland’s government declared that the manufacturer was insolvent, and that it finally filed for bankruptcy.

A few years ago, the brand was flourishing: after building the beautiful C8, they had an international reputation. Plans were afoot to launch an SUV, they bought the Midland Formula 1 team, and they were even starting to build a V12 engine.

• Also: Spyker B6 Venator Spyder Concept Unveiled at Pebble Beach
• Also: Spyker Expanding Under Saab Banner?

In 2010, Spyker decided to start selling more mundane vehicles. To do this, they bought Saab from the hands of GM.

As we saw in the last few years, things didn’t go so well after that: Saab ran out of money, their lenders became aggressive, Spyker had to sell stuff to cover their losses, many business partners decided to opt out, and Saab finally went under.

Spyker never really recovered: even if they had their next car, the Venator, in the works, it never saw the light of day.

This is yet another small automaker that dies… And sadly, it brings down the entire Dutch automotive industry with it.