Spyker is known for a few things: a minimalist, driver-first approach; bold styling; and fast cars. The company's newest model, the C8 Aileron, was off somewhere else. Instead, we slid open the gull-wing doors and jumped in the C8 Spyder SWB -- a car Van Dijk promised me would be more "essential" to the Spyker brand.

Van Dijk got behind the wheel first to let me get a feel for it. During his drive, he explained some of the inspiration behind Spyker vehicles. Aircraft are a major source of design details, from the rows of toggle switches to the brushed-aluminum interior to the propeller blade details on the air vents. The brand is notoriously allergic to man-made materials, preferring an all-natural approach; this means that the curb weight of 2,750 pounds is kept low without the help of materials such as carbon fiber. Also, Spyker is purposely minimalist; instead of a radio in the C8 Spyder, there's simply an iPod jack -- an iPod being something that, Van Dijk promised, "you won't be able to hear, anyway."

Advanced electronics are used to make the engine all it can be, but don't expect any crutches: Any mistake, Van Dijk said, is a driver mistake instead of the result of the car trying to correct the driver -- something the brand absolutely doesn't believe in. As he said this, we turned too hard while accelerating through a corner and, for a fraction of a second that seemed much longer, it looked like we would test Spyker's aviation connections and fly off the embankment. But Van Dijk quickly corrected, then looked at me and laughed. "That's what I mean about driver error." Then it was my turn behind the wheel.

Van Dijk had warned me about the brakes; namely, they were purposely unresponsive without a serious amount of pressure, like what you'd find in a race car. Despite his early heads-up, it's a difficult thing to adjust to if you're not driving high-performance cars regularly; the brakes felt like they had no give until you were practically stomping on them. Of course, once you applied the requisite pressure, they jumped in and brought the 400 horses to a quick halt.

Taking the winding turns through the back streets behind Pebble Beach wasn't the best way to test the 187 mph top speed, but it was a great way to put the car's acceleration capabilities to the test -- it does zero to 60 in 4.5 seconds -- and to feel how the low-slung car was push-your-face-back fast on the straights and glued to the ground into the corners. The signature exposed shifter looks cumbersome before you get your hand around the shifter knob, which is as heavy and polished as a cue ball. At that point, you realize that the movement, although it requires some getting used to, has its own pleasing rhythm. As I was taking it up from first on a small stretch of flat-and-straight after an aggressive corner, I heard Van Dijk say, "Smile for the camera." I looked up in time to see another driver in the opposite lane snap a flash picture in my general direction.

The newest model, the Aileron, makes some concessions to a luxury market that's taken some hits, such as an automatic transmission (albeit with steering-wheel-mounted paddle shifters) to appeal to a wider audience. Even with those compromises, Van Dijk noted, you still have a much more stripped-down driving machine than the average supercar.

And just like that, I was pulling into the pavilion parking lot. The trip had been everything Spyker: forgoing the bells and whistles while still being flashy and attention-grabbing and, most of all, fast.