Spyker’s Founder Wins Long Legal Battle to Reclaim the Brand
After years entangled in bankruptcy disputes, Victor Muller has regained full control of Spyker. The Dutch maker of exquisitely crafted sports cars is once again in the hands of its creator, ending a long and turbulent chapter that nearly consigned one of Europe’s most fascinating niche marques to history.
The name Spyker resonates with anyone who has followed Europe’s small but dramatic world of boutique supercar builders. In the early 2000s, entrepreneur Victor R. Muller revived the storied Dutch brand, which had once produced both aircraft engines and opulent cars in the early twentieth century. His ambition was bold: to create sports cars built entirely by hand, with craftsmanship and design that could rival the finest work of Aston Martin and Pagani.
From that dream emerged the extravagant C8 and C12, cars of remarkable aviation-inspired design, finished with polished aluminum, quilted leather, and gold-trimmed switches. They were admired for their artistry but produced in very small numbers. Muller’s grand ambitions—from a brief and ill-fated purchase of Saab in 2010 to an attempt at creating a Formula One team and collaborations with Russian investors—eventually pushed Spyker into repeated financial crises. The company declared bankruptcy more than once but lived up to its Latin motto Nulla Tenaci Invia Est Via: for the tenacious, no road is impassable.
Now, in 2025, Muller is once again at the helm. The company confirmed that a final settlement has been reached with the administrators of two former subsidiaries, and all mutual claims have been cancelled. This means Spyker’s trademarks and intellectual property are once more fully under Muller’s control.
According to the firm, the long legal battle did not halt the parent company’s operations, although production and visibility have been minimal in recent years. The community has survived thanks to devoted enthusiasts, especially Jasper den Dopper, who maintains and restores more than 250 Spyker cars worldwide through his company Spyker Enthusiast.
Muller stated that the brand can now refocus on its original goal: producing small-series, handcrafted supercars. Whether new Spykers will appear in the coming years remains uncertain. The last known production runs date back to the 2010s, and no new models have yet been revealed to the public.
Even so, Spyker’s latest return may prove to be another captivating chapter in the story of Europe’s rarest and most romantic carmakers, brands that continue to live more as legend than as business.
