Spyker Evictor
Is the Spyker Evictor….
- A new electric concept car named after the modern founder of the company, or
- The landlord, who’s just taken the company to court over rent arrears?
Sadly, it’s #2.
Spyker has been ordered out of its premises within the next week after a Dutch court supported the landlord seeking rent owed to him by the company. Victor didn’t sound too worried in an email response to Jalopnik about the issue:
That process has taken quite some time. This creditor, the landlord, was unwilling to wait any longer so he went to court. We expect funding in a matter of days and then we will pay him. We then either stay in the building or move to the adjacent building which we own.
Either way we are fine.
Either way, it’s not a good look.
I hope they’re fine. I really do. I love Vic and I desperately want to see him building Spykers again soon.
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Koenigsegg vs Volvo
First, Volvo had Jean-Claude Van Damme doing the splits between a pair of trucks. Now they’re taking their trucks to the track – against Koenigsegg.
This is just a teaser.
Who knows what format the race will take, but Tiff Needell will be helming the Volvo against someone in a Koenigsegg One:1
I like the teaming up of these Swedish icons. The full video will be released next week.
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Datsun Stop!
It was so exciting when Nissan announced they were breathing life into the Datsun name again. Words flowed about reviving the classic Datsuns of the past – the old Z’s, the 510, the Fairlady.
Well, for a moment at least.
The reality is a little less exciting and whole lot less safe.
The new Datsun Go! just scored 0 out of 5 stars in an NCAP crash test. Ouch.
Rumours that every car sold will come with a protective chub suit are yet to be confirmed.
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Japan’s Car Culture in 4K
Car Culture exists everywhere and car culture in Japan is as nuts as you can get.
GoPro took their new Hero4 cameras to Japan to document it and the result is a great little film, ten minutes in length. If you’ve got the right hardware and sufficient bandwidth, crank this one up to 4K and enjoy the super hi-res experience.
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Car Guys
Hemmings has a fun self-reflection piece today – What kind of car guy are you?
I think it’s OK if girls read it, too.
I would put myself as:
.
How about you?
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Citroen Market Car
And also via Hemmings, the perfect car for our PJ Paintings stall at Salamanca Market. Or any market stall holder. Or any business person looking to get noticed. Or anyone, really.
It’s a late ’70s Citroen HY utility and it looks absolutely perfect in all its surface-rustiness etc.
If I had local access to one of these at this price, I’d be all over it.
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The Friday Fulvia will be posted tonight.
Have a great weekend, all!
Victor Mullers cavalier attitude to paying bills must be starting to wear thin. He emails basically ‘don’t worry, we are OK, we will pay him in a few days, (having stiffed the guy all year,) and if that doesn’t work, we will just move next door’ ?
Wonderful. And what about the guy who has had to wait all year for his rent? Doesn’t he have bills to pay? Mouths to feed?
At this stage you would have to be a total retard of a company to extend Spyker any credit whatsoever.
And Spyker, Yes, recently they have made nice looking non running concept cars. Lots of people can do that. There is a huge difference between creating that and creating a commercially viable production version.
Who knows how far along that path they are, or whether that bond issue actually had any takers, but every bit of news that has come out in recent months about Spykers fortunes has pretty much been 100 percent dire.
I’m not sure that mouths to feed would be a real problem. People who own such properties tend to be doing OK.
But you’re right. It’s crappy behaviour from Spyker and I’m sure Victor would rather avoid it. No excuses at all.
Its one thing to be ‘tenacious’ and do whatever to keep your business alive – but if that is only possible by using other businesses or entities you interact with as an unwitting banks, maybe putting them into their own financial hardship, then in my opinion, that is just wrong.
If you have run out of capital, then you should call it a day and close the door.
Zombie companies do no one any favor, and rarely get out of that economic situation.
Have to get me some Magic Sword…
Victor… What can you say? His candle is (speaking metaphorically) burning from both ends and there is always the next big thing that he thinks will be successful. He usually manages to convince 2nd tier investors about his projects, but he never gets enough funds to secure their future. While he by no means ruins himself in the process of failed projects and capsized companies, he is not one of those full-blown confidence tricksters that are only in for the money. I think that he somewhere deep inside really do believe in what he tries to do, and are willing to take the blame in public for the mistakes. Kudos for that. But I guess he is stuck where he is. He leaves a never-ending string of broken promises and unpaid bills behind him while he tries to get the next project up and running. And that will sadly hunt him forever…
BTW, ttea.se have some pictures and a test drive of the 9-3 EV for those interested:
http://ttela.se/ekonomi/naringsliv/1.3554884-bildalbum-vad-tyst-den-ar-
Love that Citroen. The van version is even cooler, I think, but then again weather protection is a big deal where I live.
There is absolutely no excuse for the Nissan crash test results. I suspect that, as with the Nano, Indian buyers will avoid this car. Nobody wants to appear to be cheap – at the expense of life itself.
Making a good inexpensive car isn’t easy. You can’t just cost-cut a more expensive design.
Victor, I do hope you will be able to build the cars. And if you are ok either way, why rent a place if you got your own?
Bad for reputation, good for staying in the headlines! 😀
What car guy:
90% driver (this is what it is all about for me. Do not care if it is petrol, diesel or electric as long as it is good fun and usfull as a daily driver)
0% cruiser-nighter (my car is for me, and me only)
5% tuner (also got an old car that needs some love)
5% restorer (the old car once again)
I really can’t understand why you keep defending Victor Muellers behaviour. Didn’t he show the world what a big mouth and incompetent leader during the Saab bankruptcy? I don’t trust him at all. In my humble opinion he is just a big, empty, box with sociopathic tendensies.