Spyker

Netherlands, 1900 – 1925

(1) De Industrieele Maatschappij Trompenburg, Amsterdam, 1899 – 1916

(2) Nederlandsche Automobiel- en Vliegtuigenfabriek Trompenburg, Amsterdam, 1916 – 1925

The Spijkers (the simpler spelling Spyker cars was used for the cars) set up in business as coachmakers at Hilversum in 1880, taking a Benz agency in 1895, and modifying the German cars to their own ideas. The first true Spyker car appeared in 1900, a 5hp Spyker car with front-mounted air-cooled flat-twin engine, 2-speed and reverse gear, and shaft drive (Spyker cars never used chains). This Spyker car was not a commercial success; more promising were a 1.9-litre twin and a companion four Spyker car introduced in 1902, with separately cast cylinders, side valves in a T-head, coil ignition, and armoured frames. This bigger 20hp Spyker car had a 5-bearing crankshaft, full-elliptic front suspension was used; there was also a petrol brougham version. The close fit of the bonnet was the first step towards the dust sealing that became a strong Spyker selling point, accentuated by the full undershielding of later Spyker cars.

In 1904 Jacobus Spijker tried a ‘circular’ 4-cylinder engine, its curious shape the result of comprehensive but ineffectual water-jacketing. This Spyker car was available in 12/16hp, 20/24hp and 30/36hp sizes, along with a huge 8.7-litre 6-cylinder 4x4 race Spyker car, with brakes on all wheels. This Spyker car never reached production though three or four 32/40hp fours were made with the 4x4 configuration, and these 4x4 Spyker cars were sold at a price of £960. Conventional pair-cast engines and semi-elliptic front springs came on Spyker cars in 1905, and during the same year round radiators were adopted. The 1906 Spyker cars had ball-bearing crankshafts; the biggest of a range of four 4-cylinder Spyker cars was the 7.9-litre 25/38. Pressed-steel frames arrived on the 1907 Spyker cars, smallest of which was a short-stroke (80x90mm) four Spyker car with high-tension magneto ignition intended for taxicab service. The next major departure came in 1909, when the Spyker car company adopted Valentin Laviolette’s ingenious T-head, transverse-camshaft layout, a feature of all Spyker cars up to 1917, and offered in a wide diversity of Spyker cars. A 2-cylinder light Spyker car did not progress beyond the prototype stage, but the fours extended from a 1.7-litre 12hp up to a 7.2-litre 40, all with thermos-syphon cooling; at first only the larger Spyker cars had four forward speeds, and all but the smallest now wore three-quarter elliptic springs at the rear. The 12hp Spyker car had a 3-speed transaxle, and some Spyker cars were available with Allen-Liversidge 4-wheel brakes as an optional extra in 1911, though these (like a 4.2-litre Monobloc 6-cylinder) were apparently not a success. Electric lighting was available on Spyker cars in 1913 and standard by 1915. V-radiators appeared during 1914, when the Spyker car company introduced a sports version of the 3.4-litre 20 with light steel pistons, this Spyker car was capable of 68mph.

A shortage of raw materials reduced production of Spyker cars to a trickle by 1916, and the first new post-World War 1 Spyker car, the 3.3-litre 13/30, reverted to an L-head layout, as well as making liberal use of American components (Delco coil ignition, Stewart vacuum feed, Stromberg carburetto). The Spyker car had a 3-speed unit box with central change, and was noteworthy only for the peculiar aerocoque sports coachwork with aerofoil wings and tail fin fitted to some examples. In 1920 the Spyker car company tried importing Mathis light car from France and selling them with Spyker badges, but the last real Spyker car was the Frits Koolhoven-designed 6-cylinder 30/40. The Spyker car featured a 5.6-litre sv Maybach engine, dual ignition and a 2-speed fan, and there were four forward speeds. Front-wheel brakes came on the Spyker car in 1923, but though Queen Wilhelmina of the Netherlands purchased two Spyker landaulettes in 1921, and S.F. Edge used a two-seater Spyker car for a successful attack on his Double-12-Hour record at Brooklands in 1922, there was little future for such a car at £1.950. The last of 150 examples Spyker cars left the Spyker works in 1925.

Source: Georgano, encyclopedia of motorcar; MCS

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