Spyker 7HP Two-Seater
In the Dutch children’s comics ‘The Tom Puss Tales’, Sir Oliver B. Bumble (Ollie B. Bommel in Dutch) and his good friend Tom Puss (Tom Poes) drive around in a car which was inspired by this Spyker.
The Dutch author and cartoonist Marten Toonder used this red two-seater as an example for the vehicle of his famous characters.
In reality, this Spyker was a prototype, built to satisfy the demand, just before the First World War, for smaller, more economical cars. It is a 7 hp twin-cylinder, designed by the Belgian engineer Joseph Laviolette.
The car was equipped with a ‘Stepney’ spare wheel. In the case of a flat tyre, the spare wheel could be bolted onto the faulty one and the car could then be driven to the nearest garage. The oldest Vredestein tyre, made in the former factory in Loosduinen, Holland, is fitted to the spare wheel of this Spyker.
Bienfait, one of Spyker’s directors, believed that at least one hundred of these cars could be sold; however, the rest of the board disagreed and the project never went further than this prototype, making the car unique.