Spyker D8 SUV back in 2014 – but when did it become mid-engined?!

According to Autocar the Spyker D8 SUV will be back at Geneva in 2014 as a ‘new’ concept and that the D8 Peking-Paris will be mid-engined.

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It’s no surprise that Spyker are heading to the 2014 Geneva Motor Show with a ‘new’ version of their ‘Super SUV’ D8 Peking-Paris.

That’s because Victor Muller managed to get Youngman to invest €25 million in the D8 project last year (it’s Victor’s speciality) with the plan being to finally take the Spyker SUV closer to a market launch in time to take on the new ‘Super SUVs’ from the likes of Bentley and Lamborghini.

But what is a surprise is what Autocar claim Victor said to them about the D8.

He apparently said that “No one has put in the marketplace a mid-engined supersports vehicle with four doors and four-wheel drive”. Which makes no sense at all.

Even as the D12 the Spyker SUV was front-engined and all Victor did to turn it in to the D8 is say Spyker would be using a V8 instead of an Audi 12-pot.

Exactly where Victor will get a usable V8 from is debatable (the obvious source, GM, won’t be keen to play more games with Victor) but one thing seems certain – he’s never going to be able to build a mid-engined, 4WD, 4-door SUV.

Where is the engine supposed to go? Where the back seats are with the back seats bolted out the back as a set of ‘Dicky’ seats? It makes no sense, so we assume something got lost in the translation (let’s be charitable).

Interestingly, a bit of digging around has revealed that there are still 10 UK buyers who put a (substantial) deposit on a D12/D8 when it was first revealed seven years ago. So if Victor does manage to turn any of his plans in to a real production car at least he’ll have a handful of D8s sold to get the ball rolling.

But you can be pretty sure the engine in the D8 – if one is ever found – will be where it should be. Either that, or Victor’s pulled off an engineering miracle.