재규어가 9월 3일, 클래식 레이싱카 C-TYPE의 탄생 70주년을 맞아 제작한 C-TYPE 컨티뉴에이션(Continuations)을 영국 햄튼 코트 팰리스에서 개최된 엘레강스 콩쿠르(Concour of Elegance)에서 최초 공개했습니다.
C-TYPE은 재규어에 프랑스 내구 레이스 ‘르망 24시’ 첫 우승을 안겨준 모델입니다. 이번에 제작된 C-TYPE은 두 번째 르망 레이스 우승과 함께 모터스포츠 무대에서 재규어의 성공을 위한 토대를 마련해준 1953년형 C-TYPE 사양이 적용되었습니다다.
재규어의 디자이너이며 공기역학 전문가인 말콤 세이어(Malcolm Sayer)가 디자인한 C-TYPE은 1951년 르망 24시에 처음 출전해 첫 우승을 차지했죠. 당시에는 볼 수 없었던 선구적인 유선형 디자인 덕분에 평균 시속 93.495마일의 놀라운 기록으로 우승을 거머쥐었습니다.
1952년부터 던롭(Dunlop)과 함께 개발한 디스크 브레이크, 엔진 및 서스펜션의 업그레이드 덕분에 평균 시속 105.841마일의 놀라운 속도를 기록하며 1953년 르망 24에서 1, 2위를 석권했고, 이 경기는 평균 시속 100마일 이상으로 완주한 최초의 레이스로 기록되었습니다.
재규어 클래식은 2022년 개최될 C-TYPE 고객을 위한 레이싱 테마의 기념행사를 앞두고 1953년 르망에서 우승한 C-TYPE의 사양을 반영하여 디스크 브레이크와 트리플 웨버(triple Weber) 40DCO3 카뷰레터가 탑재된 220bhp의 3.4리터 직렬 6기통 엔진을 장착한 C-TYPE 컨티뉴에이션 모델을 제작할 예정이다.
재규어 클래식 팀은 본격 개발에 앞서 C-TYPE의 역사와 정확한 사양을 파악하기 위해 약 2년간 재규어의 아카이브를 비롯한 원본 도면과 당시 사용된 부품, 문서, 사진 등 방대한 양의 자료를 검토하는 작업을 진행하고 이 모든 정보를 취합해 3D CAD (컴퓨터 지원설계) 모델을 구축했다. 재규어 클래식 컨티뉴에이션 모델은 제작 과정에 3D CAD 방식이 최초로 도입된 재규어 클래식 차량으로, 1953년 C-TYPE 모델 제작 당시와 동일한 구조와 기술, 제작 방법을 적용해 재규어의 헤리티지를 완벽하게 담아냈다.
C-TYPE 컨티뉴에이션 모델은 재규어 클래식이 제공하는 정확한 가이드로 복원한 오리지널 C-TYPE의 특징이 돋보인다. 제작에 9개월이 소요되는 3.4리터 직렬 6기통 엔진을 위한 웨버 카뷰레터는 모두 정확한 기준에 맞춰 세심하게 개조됐다. 브레이크에 유압 작동유를 주입하는 기어박스의 플래시(Plessey) 유압 펌프와 엔진 베이 등 다른 디테일 요소는 기존 C-TYPE의 사양이 반영된다.
모든 C-TYPE 컨티뉴에이션 모델에 탑재된 루카스 룸 미러, 오리지널 사양의 시계와 게이지, 이그니션 스위치 등 곳곳에서 오리지널 C-TYPE의 디자인을 정교하게 재현하기 위한 재규어 클래식 팀의 노력을 확인할 수 있다. 특히, 콕핏에는 오리지널 C-TYPE에서 볼 수 없었던 새로운 차원의 하두라(Hardura) 트림과 오리지널 C-TYPE을 연상시키는 실버 컬러 트림을 적용해 오리지널의 감성을 담아냈다.
외장 색상은 스웨이드 그린, 크림, 파스텔 블루, 브리티시 레이싱 그린 등 12가지 옵션으로 제공되며, 화이트 또는 올드 잉글리시 화이트로 마감된 도어 라운델을 통해 고객이 원하는 사양에 맞게 외관을 개선할 수 있다. 수용성 페인트를 사용해 세심하게 진행되는 도색 작업은 일주일이 소요되며 재규어 배지도 지정할 수 있다.
8가지 가죽 색상 옵션을 제공하는 시트는 브리지 오브 위어(Bridge of WeirTM)로 마감됐으며, 국제자동차연맹(FIA) 승인을 받은 하네스 고정 시스템과 전복 방지 시스템이 장착되어 트랙이나 폐쇄 도로에서 안전하게 드라이빙의 즐거움을 느낄 수 있다. 모든 C-TYPE 컨티뉴에이션 모델은 FIA 승인을 거쳐 르망, 재규어 클래식 챌린지를 비롯한 역사적인 레이스 챔피언십 참가 자격이 주어진다.
재규어 클래식 댄 핑크(Dan Pink) 디렉터는 “C-TYPE은 역사상 가장 위대한 레이싱 드라이버들이 운전했던 재규어의 위대한 레이스 역사에서 가장 상징적인 모델 중 하나”라며, “C-TYPE 컨티뉴에이션 모델은 재규어 클래식 팀이 최초로 3D CAD 도면을 사용해 말콤 세이어의 아이코닉하면서도 고급스러운 디자인을 구현했으며, 최첨단 엔지니어링 툴을 사용해 디자인과 모터스포츠 헤리티지를 함께 녹여낸 결과물이다”라고 말했다.
메르세데스의 초력셔리 브랜드 마이바흐가 새로운 디자인 컨셉트 모델을 공개했다. 최근 미국 캘리포니아에서 첫 선을 보인 마이바흐 6 카브리올레 컨셉트(Mercedes-Maybach 6 Cabriolet concept)의 자태를 보고 있노라면 우아함과 최신 감각이 자연스레 느껴진다.
자연스런 블루 메탈릭 페인팅에 초대형 그릴과 날카로운 헤드램프를 대비시키며 독특한 매력을 뿜는다. 클래식한 멋을 자아내는 보닛은 극단적으로 길며 윈드스크린을 짧게 잘라 오픈 드라이빙의 즐거움을 배가했다.뒷모습은 럭셔리 요트에서 영감을 얻었다.
고급스러움은 실내에도 그대로 이어졌다. 나파 가죽을 꼼꼼히 쌌고 로즈 고르 트림과 알루미늄으로 포인트를 주었다. 계기판은 클래식한 분위기가 물씬하고 소프트톱은 한땀한땀 장인의 손으로 완성했다.
대배기량의 V8 기통 엔진이 어울릴 듯한 클래식한 디자인이지만 파워트레인은 미래지향적이다. 모터 4개로 각각의 바퀴를 전담하도록 설계했고 이들을 합하면 750마력까지 낼 수 있다. 0-100km/h 가속시간은 채 4초도 되질 않고 최고속은 250km/h에서 제한된다.
최신기술로 개발한 배터리를 차체 바닥에 깔아 공간활용성을 높이면서 무게 중심을 낮췄고 한번 충전으로 최대 500km를 달릴 수 있다. 충전시간도 대폭 줄여 전용 퀵-차저 시스템을 이용하면 단 5분 만에 100km 주행이 가능한 전기를 충전할 수 있다.
헛간에서 50년 이상 잠자고 있다가 복원된 모델로 엘비스 프레슬리의 여성팬들이 립스틱으로 낙서하는 바람에 화이트에서 레드로 칠했다가 이번에 다시 원래 모습인 화이트로 돌아왔네요.
BMW가 만든 로드스터 중 가장 아름다운 명작이죠.
BMW Group Classic presents the completely restored roadster of the “King of Rock’n’Roll” for the first time in public at the popular classic car show in California.
Munich. The glittering comeback is now following one of the most spectacular classic-car discoveries of recent times. The BMW 507 was driven by US musician Elvis Presley, famous already at that time as the “King of Rock’n’Roll”, while he was doing his military service in Germany. After that it disappeared for nearly 50 years and was believed to have been lost before returning to the limelight. After almost two years of exacting restoration work, BMW Group Classic is presenting the roadster for the first time in a public arena. Restored to its original condition, it will be exhibited on 21 August 2016 at the Concours d’Elegance in Pebble Beach, California. The BMW 507 with chassis number 70079 will be on view for visitors to the popular classic car show exactly as it was when soldier Elvis Presley took delivery of the car on 20 December 1958: with paintwork finished in Feather White, the 150 hp V8 aluminium engine under the bonnet, centre-lock rims, black-and-white interior and a Becker Mexico radio.
“The opportunity to bring back the BMW 507 owned by the King of Rock’n’Roll to us here in Munich for purposes of restoration in accordance with the wishes of the previous owner, Jack Castor, was a dream come true for all those involved,” commented Ulrich Knieps, Head of BMW Group Classic. “This was an exceptionally fascinating project. The outcome is not simply a source of great pride to us. Jack would undoubtedly have been delighted by the outcome.” In the summer of 2014, the exhibition of the unrestored discovery at the BMW Museum generated a great deal of excitement among classic car enthusiasts, but it also threw up questions: Was this really once Elvis’ BMW 507? And will it even be possible to transform this roadster back into a jewel of the 1950s?
From “Return to Sender” into “It’s Now or Never”.
The condition of the two-seater really was a cause for concern. Although the original body parts and other components were virtually all present and intact, the roadster had lost its engine and gearbox. The rear axle was a “replacement part” of unknown origin, rust was eating away the floor assembly, the seats were worn and there was no instrument panel. However, the fascination of a rare and beguilingly beautiful automobile outweighed all the inadequacies and deficiencies, augmented by the memory of Elvis Presley and his greatest hits. While the roadster came back to Munich under the slogan of “Return to Sender”, the solution was undoubtedly “It’s Now or Never”. A project managed by BMW Group Classic succeeded in restoring the automobile. In-house experts and external specialists joined forces to carry out the work and the result defined new benchmarks for the restoration of a BMW 507.
Looking back on the process, the story of Elvis’ BMW 507 and its restoration is pure Rock’n’Roll: as captivating as the swinging hips of the “King”, energy sapping, an emotional roller-coaster, and full of surprising twists and turns. This is not simply a tale about the young GI Elvis Presley. It is also about the experienced “hillclimb champion” Hans Stuck, kissable lips daubed on white paint, a retired space engineer and a warehouse for pumpkins, a Chevy engine that was much too big, rubberised coconut mats and door handles printed in a 3D process. And the story already began three years before the “King” started military service with the US Army stationed in Hesse, Southern Germany.
Myth among rarities: The BMW 507 of the “King”.
The BMW 507 has always been one of the most exclusive and sought-after rarities in the model history of the brand with just 254 automobiles being produced between 1955 and 1959. Right after its world premiere at the Frankfurt International Motor Show in 1955, the two-seater penned by designer Albrecht Graf Goertz was hailed in the press as the “Dream from the Isar”. Celebrity owners like Alain Delon, Ursula Andress and John Surtees contributed to the image of the roadster as a status symbol. However, no other automobile of this model is shrouded in mythology like the BMW 507 once owned by Elvis Presley. This particular roadster was believed to have been lost for almost five decades. In fact, there was not even certainty about the chassis number of the car driven by the “King”. There were also doubts about whether Elvis Presley had ever transported the car back to the USA after he finished his military service in Germany, and nobody knew anything about the subsequent ownership of the car.
All these puzzles have now been solved thanks to the experts at the BMW Group Classic Archives and American journalist Jackie Jouret, who works for “Bimmer” magazine in California. In 2006, she was already searching through contemporary reports for Elvis’ BMW 507 and relevant literature going into the history of this model. During the course of her work, she uncovered an essential detail. Various sources highlighted the fact that the BMW 507 delivered to Elvis Presley in Germany was not a brand new automobile but had previously been used by racing driver Hans Stuck. Between May and August 1958, the racing driver known as the “Hillclimb Champion” won a number of hillclimbs in Germany, Austria and Switzerland – in a white BMW 507 with chassis number 70079 and registration plate M–JX 800. It is also a known fact verified by photographs that this roadster rolled off the assembly line on 13 September 1957. A few days later, it was exhibited at the Frankfurt International Motor Show and repeatedly used for test drives by the press. As early as October 1957, Hans Stuck presented the car at the London Motor Show and then drove the roadster through Belgium, where he presented it to King Baudouin, before motoring down to the Turin Motor Show. And as if that were not enough, in the summer of 1958, Stuck’s BMW 507 won the automobile beauty competition in Wiesbaden and then played a role in the Bavaria film studio for the feature film “Hula-Hopp Conny” with Cornelia Froboess and Rudolf Vogel.
This vehicle had been carefully serviced at BMW after every race, the engine had been upgraded and a new gearbox fitted when it ended up with a dealer in Frankfurt in the autumn of 1958. The young US soldier Presley was 23 at the time, and he came along and took it out on a test drive for a spin. The “King” was immediately impressed by it and decided to buy the car. Photos taken at the time show that export licence plates had already been fitted to the BMW 507. Later on it was given a registration from the US military that changed every year. This was part of the reason why subsequent identification of the vehicle proved to be complicated later on. The experts from the BMW Group Classic Archives were only absolutely certain about its provenance when they came across the insurance proposal from December 1958 which contained the chassis number 70079 alongside registration of the keeper of the vehicle as Elvis Aaron Presley.
Pampered in Germany, radically modified in the USA.
Elvis Presley used the BMW 507 to drive between his home in Bad Nauheim and the US Army Base in Friedberg. His female fans always kept a close eye on him and he was often mobbed by them. The paintwork of the roadster was frequently daubed with messages of love painted in lipstick. These signs of adoration were by no means unusual for a rock star but they were an embarrassment to Presley as a young US soldier. A new livery in Red for the vehicle solved the problem.
In March 1960, Elvis Presley ended his military service in Germany. Back on American highways, he must have abandoned sheer driving pleasure in an open-top BMW since a few months later he traded in the red roadster bearing chassis number 70079 with a Chrysler dealer in New York. The dealer in turn sold the car for the ridiculously low price from today’s perspective of 4 500 dollars to radio moderator Tommy Charles. Charles took the automobile to his home town of Birmingham in the state of Alabama where a very successful racing career began, although this move was very questionable when it came to the issue of authenticity. The BMW 507 was fitted with a Chevrolet engine in preparation for action on the race track. This took up so much space that parts of the front frame carrier had to be cut out. The gearbox and the rear axle, and the instruments in the cockpit were replaced. Charles won a race in Daytona Beach/Florida with the radically modified roadster and he lined up on the starting grid in several more competitions before selling the vehicle in the course of 1963.
Two more changes of ownership followed and the BMW 507 then went to California. Space engineer Jack Castor acquired the car in 1968 and he used it occasionally as a runabout for everyday use before deciding to put the car into storage for a subsequent restoration. Castor was a passionate collector of historic bicycles and over the years he also amassed an impressive collection of classic automobiles in Half Moon Bay to the south of San Francisco. He got involved with several classic car clubs and delved into the history of the vehicles he had acquired.
The “Holy Grail” in the pumpkin warehouse.
Castor also put together a comprehensive dossier on his BMW 507. Meanwhile, the engineer had gone into retirement and one day he happened to see the article in “Bimmer” magazine. Castor wrote to the author, told her about the BMW 507 with chassis number 70079 that he owned and invited her over to look at the vehicle. He was aware that he was the owner of the racing car driven by “hillclimb champion” Hans Stuck, but up to then he had only been able to speculate about a potential connection with Elvis. However, Jackie Jouret was absolutely certain about this issue. She accompanied Jack Castor to a warehouse for pumpkins where the red BMW 507 was stored alongside other venerable vehicles. “Jack had tied down its engine bonnet with ropes,” recalled the journalist when she looked back on the moment of discovery. “It took some time until we actually got the engine compartment open and identified the stamped chassis number: 70079, the Holy Grail among BMW numbers.”
Jack Castor had already collected a large number of parts carefully stowed in boxes for the planned restoration of the roadster to its original condition. What he lacked was an appropriate engine and the necessary time to see the project through. However, things then started to happen. Jackie Jouret set up the contact with BMW Group Classic where new information about the identity of the BMW 507 used by Elvis Presley in Germany was being gathered. This allowed the facts that had been researched in the USA to be confirmed.
Jack Castor was not interested in making a fast buck out of the unexpected additional fame of his BMW 507. However, the contact with BMW Group Classic was strengthened. After several years and a number of discussions with the experts for restoring classic cars at BMW Group Classic, Klaus Kutscher and Axel Klinger-Köhnlein, an agreement was reached. Alongside the purchase of the vehicle by BMW Group Classic, it also included the authentic restoration of the car along the lines envisaged by Castor.
By container to the museum – and from there into the workshop.
The time had come in the spring of 2014. The BMW 507 was shipped to Germany in a container, together with the spare parts collected by Castor. The first stop in Munich was the BMW Museum where the roadster was presented to an admiring audience in the special exhibition “Elvis’ BMW 507 – lost and found”. Work then began on restoration in the workshop of BMW Group Classic.
As was usual for projects of this nature, phase one was primarily destructive in nature. The vehicle was completely dismantled, a process which in this special case took an entire week, rather than the two days that had been originally planned. Initially, the aluminium body was separated from the floor assembly made of sheet steel. This was the only way of retaining as much of the original material as possible. The paint was then removed from the floor assembly in an acid bath and from the body in an alkaline bath. The engine had already been removed and the remnants of the interior that remained had been set aside.
A lot of components had to be remanufactured from scratch because the stocks of original parts for the BMW 507 are limited even at BMW Group Classic. Traditional craftsmanship in the style of the 1950s was melded with high-tech production procedures of the modern world. The instrument panel was newly cast on the basis of the original. The leather upholstery was created to precisely match the pattern shown in old photographs and catalogues. When the seats were reconstructed, it proved possible to use the original steel subframe for the seats after all the rust had carefully been removed. A rubberised coconut mat was then drawn over the steel springs. This natural material was already being used in the 1950s for series production of the BMW 507, alongside the overlaid felt and linen layers to make the seats as comfortable as possible. Window winders and door handles were remanufactured in an advanced, modern 3D printing process based on the original dimensions. After producing a digital data set by three-dimensional scan of the original part, a facsimile was generated with the help of additive manufacturing and mirror finished afterwards. By contrast, the rubber seal for the tank cover was reproduced in a conventional manufacturing procedure. Since this component like many others in the BMW 507 had fallen prey to the ravages of time, a small series was produced. This means that roadster users are now able to source this spare part in the parts shop of BMW Group Classic.
The BMW 507 makes a comeback – it’s just like the car Hans Stuck drove, the one Elvis purchased, and this is the way Jack Castor wanted it.
The engine for Elvis’ BMW 507 was completely rebuilt from spare parts. The 3.2 litre V8 engine was reconditioned precisely in conformity with the original specifications of the BMW 507, but it was not given an engine number on account of the unavoidable but otherwise unusual use of old and new components. The front frame carrier, which had been cut down at an early stage, also had to be reproduced in its original geometry and integrated in the floor assembly. The wooden nailing strip for fixing the soft top in place was also reproduced using materials and processing methods in keeping with the 1950s.
Maximum authenticity was also the objective in painting the vehicle. The BMW 507 is now resplendent once again in Feather White. The primer coat, the filler and the top coat were not applied by the methods that are commonplace today. Rather, they were implemented in a procedure that corresponds to the technology in use some 60 years ago. This enabled the excessive colour brilliance to be avoided which is considered desirable nowadays but is inappropriate for classic cars.
Similar to the reconstruction of the V8 engine and the use of true-to-original parts and production procedures, the selection of paintwork also corresponds precisely to the conditions defined by Jack Castor. Right from the start, he wanted to restore the roadster to the original condition it was supplied in back in 1958. However, his aspiration to be able to see the BMW 507 through the eyes of the “King” remained unfulfilled. Jack Castor passed away at the age of 77 in November 2014. We will therefore remember him at Pebble Beach. The BMW 507 will be presented there for the first time not simply as the automobile of the “King”, but also as the legacy of Jack Castor and a masterpiece of BMW Group Classic.
The Spyker company is founded by two Dutch brothers, Hendrik Jan and Jacobus Spijker, who are blacksmiths by profession. At first, the ambitious brothers concentrate on building and maintaining carriages in Hilversum, The Netherlands.
1898
The Spijker brothers build their first Benz-engined motorcar with which they win immediate acclaim for the craftsmanship of its bodywork.
1901
Spyker regularly competes in reliability and time trials. In 1901 Spyker enters a car in the „Toer door Nederland‟. Instead of starting with the rest of the field in this four-day, 556 km long race, they start 2 days later and win the race in just 23 hours.
Spyker experiences its first major highlight when the opulent “Golden State Coach” is delivered to Queen Wilhelmina of The Netherlands. It is still used for ceremonial Dutch events in the 21st century.
1903
The company introduces the Spyker 60HP Grand Prix racer, the world‟s first six-cylinder four-wheel drive car.
1904
The Spyker 60 HP Grand Prix racer competes in the Blackpool speed trials and finishes third.
1904 - 1905
The second generation Spykers compete well in the English trials and are awarded for their ability to climb hills and for their attention to detail.
1905
The latest cars feature a new round signature grille and four-wheel drive is available on the four-cylinder cars.
1906
Spyker competes with a customer‟s 28 PK in the „Scottish Reliability Trials‟. The company announces: “Our cars are so good that we do not have to prove that in competition.”
1907
In February, Frenchman M. Goddard enters a Spyker 14/18 PK into the most gruelling race of all time: the Peking to Paris Raid. Six months later, in August, the Spyker finishes second in the 15,000 km monster race.
1910
Spyker introduces a new type of engine, a mono-bloc four-cylinder unit with remarkable transverse camshafts, designed by engineer Joseph Laviolette. The 12hp engine has one camshaft placed between the two pairs of cylinders; bigger engines of the era have two, each servicing two cylinders.
1914
Spyker merges with Dutch Aircraft Factory N.V. and the company motto becomes: “Nulla Tenaci invia est via”: for the tenacious no road is impassable. During the First World War, 100 Spyker fighter planes and 200 aircraft engines are produced.
1919
After the First World War a two-seater car, the C1 “Aerocoque”, is shown for the
first time. It is intended as a show car but is also produced on a very limited scale. It features extrovert streamlined bodywork inspired by aircraft design.
1920
On 27 November, the first „Spyker 30/40 PK‟ leaves the factory. The so called „Tenax‟ or C4 breaks the Rolls Royce endurance record by 6,000 km. The C4 completes 30,360 km in the Dutch winter weather in just over a month. Over the following years, the standard C4 - not exactly a race car - claims many iconic victories including the La Turbie (Monte Carlo) hill climb.
1922
Renowned racing driver Selwyn Edge believes that technology has progressed enough to attempt to break the average speed record set in 1907. He chooses a Spyker C4 fitted with streamlined racing bodywork for the challenge, succeeding by driving at an average of 120kph (74.5 mph) during two 12-hour periods.
1925
45 years after it was first formed, the original Spyker Company ceases to exist.
Spyker reborn
2000
Seventy-five years after the original company disappeared, the brand is resurrected.
On 17 October, the new Spyker Cars N.V. unveils the Spyker C8 Spyder at the Birmingham Motor Show.
2001
The Spyker C8 Laviolette is launched at the Amsterdam Motor Show.
The Spyker C8 Double 12 R is launched at the Frankfurt Motor Show.
2002
A street-legal version of the C8 Double 12 R is introduced: the C8 Double 12 S.
2004
Spyker makes an initial public offering (IPO) and the company is listed on the Amsterdam Stock Exchange on 27 May.
2006
The Spyker C8 Spyder is chosen by the luxury lifestyle magazine, Robb Report, as one of its ultimate gift recommendations.
The Spyker D12 (since renamed the D8) Peking-to-Paris, a Super-SUV concept, makes its worldwide debut at the 75th Geneva International Motor Show.
Spyker acquires the Midland Formula One team and competes for a season in the pinnacle of motorsport: FIA Formula One.
2008
Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker Cars, and Andrea Zagato, CEO of Zagato, unveil the Spyker C12 Zagato concept at the 77th Geneva International Motor Show.
The C8 Laviolette LM85 makes its debut at the Los Angeles Motor Show in November.
2009
The production version of the Spyker C8 Aileron, the second generation Spyker supercar featuring a longer wheelbase than its predecessors, makes its debut at 78th Geneva International Motor Show.
In August, the Spyker C8 Aileron Spyder concept is unveiled at the globally celebrated Pebble Beach Concours D‟Elegance in Monterey, California.
2010
Manufacture of pre-production models of the Aileron starts at CPP in Coventry, UK, signalling the beginning of the transfer of all production and assembly of Spyker models to the UK.
On 23 February, Spyker Cars N.V. completes the acquisition of Saab Automobile AB from General Motors, just three months after announcing its interest in the Swedish brand.
2011
The CPP production facility ramps up series production of the Spyker C8 Aileron.
On 25 February, CPP Global Holdings Ltd signs a Memorandum of Understanding with Spyker Cars N.V. to acquire the Spyker sportscar business.