The car was designed by Michiel van den Brink and introduced at the 2006 Geneva Motor Show as the D12.

The name Peking-to-Paris refers to the Peking to Paris endurance rally held in 1907 from Peking (now called Beijing) in China to Paris in France, in which an almost standard Spyker car participated, driven by Frenchman Ch.

Although the D8 is a crossover SUV, it shares many design features found on Spyker's other sports cars such as the C8.

Designed with a 500 bhp (373 kW; 507 PS) VW Group Volkswagen W12 engine, Spyker aims for a weight of 1,850 kg (4,079 lb) and an acceleration from 0–100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 5.0 seconds.

[citation needed] At a press conference held at the Geneva motor show on March 2, 2010, Spyker's CEO Victor Muller indicated that the development of the car could now be assisted by Saab,[2] which Spyker briefly owned.