If innovation were enough to guarantee success everybody would know the name Spyker and quite a few of us would probably be driving one, given that in 1903 Spyker launched a 60 hp racer that was the first motor car with a six cylinder engine, four wheel drive AND four wheel brakes.

The company motto “Nulla tenaci invia est via” translates as “For the tenacious, no road is impassable”, to which might be added “even if the way is blocked for 70 years”, for despite building the royal horse drawn ‘Golden’ carriage for the Dutch royal family in 1898, which is still in use today and introducing 6 cylinder powered vehicles, four wheel drive and four wheel braking systems, Spyker went under in 1929.

Between 1990 and 1996 Maarten de Bruijn hand built the Silvestris (translation ‘Woodland’) V8, seen here at Goodwood, Festival of Speed, with which he and Victor Muller would revive the Spyker brand.

Many of the design features of the Spyker C8 model which went into production in 2000 can be seen in the Silvestre which has smaller overall dimensions than the production C8.

Power for the prototype Spyker came from a 265 hp quad cam (dohc) Audi V8 attached to a similarly sourced gearbox.

The Silvestris weighing just 960 kgs 2,116 lbs is thought to be capable of 0 – 62 mph in 4.5 secs.

Builder Maarten de Bruijn still owns the Silvestris which won it’s class in the Cartier Concours at Goodwood this year.

In 2005 Maarten left Spyker to start a new venture Silvestris Aquamotive which builds aluminium space frame speed boats.

Thanks for joining me on today’s Woodland edition of ‘Gettin’ a lil’ psycho on tyres’ I hope you will join me again tomorrow. Don’t forget to come back now !