Spyker was a Dutch car manufacturer, started in 1880 by coachbuilders Jacobus and Hendrik-Jan Spijker, but to be able to market the brand better in foreign countries, in 1903 the ‘ij’ was changed into ‘y’. They were originally based in Hilversum but in 1898 moved to Trompenburg, Amsterdam.
In 1898 Spyker manufactured the “Golden Carriage”, still in use by the Dutch Queen today.
In 1899 they started building automobiles and in 1900 put their first models on display, two-cylinder 3 hp and 5 hp similar to the Benz. Four-cylinder models were introduced in 1903, along with the six-cylinder Spyker 60 HP, a racer with the world’s first ever four-wheel drive car with a single engine and four-wheel brakes. An engine with six cylinders was also a world’s first.
