14 DAY TRIAL // The name is Spyker D12 Paris-to-Pekin. There's no typo here, that's the real name of the car. One point for weirdness.
She's a strange looking car, the design looking more like a combination between a coupe, a muscle-car and a taller station-wagon.
Probably not many of you have heard of the name Spyker. Its history mixes with that of the aviation industry in 1914 and it's probably the most individualistic car maker in the world.
The car is just like an illusion. You try to say her name, and you can't believe what comes out. You try to classify it, but none of the current car classifications does her justice.
Another weird thing about this car is that the future owner, after having fulfilled all the purchasing formalities, has to wait a few months for the car to actually be built. To increase the future pleasure of owning and driving the car, the manufacturer installed a system called The Spycam, an absolute first in the auto industry, that allows the future owner to permanently watch the building progress of his jewel.
The super luxury SUV has been unveiled at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show, exactly 100 years after the famous race that linked Paris to Pekin and at which the French pilot Goddard took part in a Spyker 18/22 HP model.
This beauty has four individual seats and four-wheel traction and she's equipped with a W12, 6 liter and 500 hp engine.
She really has off-road capabilities, beyond those of a conventional SUV, and in the mean time, the passengers can relax in an interior so elegant that will probably make you forget the bumpy ride.
Still, the 500 hp must be tamed eventually, so the manufacturer installed a brake system with ceramic disk brakes on every wheel, developed by AP Racing.
According to the owner of the company, the prototype of the ideal client is: a man who has come to a stage in life where he has a family and an age that make him need more space.
It doesn't say if he also needs Viagra, but the 500 hp should definitely bring a smile on his face.