My Dutch friend and local coffee house entrepeneur Ralph Steenstra is stunned when I tell him that his country once produced a fine car called Spyker and that it has been reborn after 70-some years. In 1898 coachbuilders Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijke built a Benz-engined automobile and were acclaimed for the craftsmanship of their body work; the brothers then registered their business under the name Spyker (written with a Y for easier recognition in foreign markets). The 1903 60-hp Grand Prix racer was an historical milestone, featuring the world's first six-cylinder engine and permanent four-wheel-drive. A Spyker finished second in the 1907 Peking-Paris race. During the Great War of 1914-1918 the company manufactured fighter aircraft and engines and when it resumed car production was sometimes referred to as the "continental Rolls-Royce." It went out of business in 1925 but the racing and aviation heritage has reappeared in an all-new C8 sportscar. I can verify its sensational style, having viewed the the Spyker C8 during RM Auction's Scottsdale preview in January. Thanks to ex-WW2 pilot Chris Bulmer for bringing this to my attention,