To Be OFFERED AT AUCTION at RM Sothebys' Arizona event, 17 - 18
January 2019.
Estimate:
$450,000 - $550,000
- The 1993 Geneva Motor Show car
- The only Vector roadster produced
- Incredible twin-turbo V-8 performance
- Retained by company founder Jerry Wiegert
Fledgling supercar manufacturers run the gamut, but few get off the
ground. Jerry Wiegert's Vector Aeromotive Corporation stands apart.
Wiegert's first major foray into automobiles came after graduating
from California's Art Center College of Design. With a new company
initially dubbed Vehicle Design Force, he set off to inject a blend
of West Coast individualism, Detroit knowhow, and European
influence into his supercars.
Working out of a small warehouse in Los Angeles' Venice
neighborhood, Wiegert conceived and designed the W2 prototype in
the late 1970s. The W2's angular design channeled the era like few
other supercars with its sloping hood that flows into a steeply
raked windshield. A wide stretch between the tail of its doors and
its rear wheel wells held a twin-turbo General Motors-sourced
350-cu.-in. V-8 paired to a beefy three-speed automatic. The W2 was
shown first in non-running prototype guise at the Los Angeles auto
show in 1976, but a functional prototype bowed in 1979. Wiegert
used the W2 to show off his engineering prowess and to drum up
support for a production-intent model that would later be known as
the Vector W8.
Vector sold nearly two dozen W8s and the company counted
celebrities such as Andre Agassi among its customers. One
reportedly topped out at 242 mph on the Bonneville Salt Flats in
Utah, while others made appearances in television shows, video
games, and Hollywood movies. The W8 was built by hand in the
European coachbuilding tradition, but its 625-hp V-8 spoke with a
distinctly American accent as it rocketed to 60 mph in a hair over
four seconds. Its 12-second quarter-mile time was unheard of in an
era when the Ferrari Testarossa ambled through more than two
seconds slower.
For Wiegert, there was more on the way. Ultimately, the $455,000 W8
list price raised sufficient capital for Vector to begin work on
its replacement, which was called WX-3 in its prototype phase. A
hardtop prototype arrived in time to sit under the bright lights at
the 1992 Geneva Motor Show. Its styling was derivative of the
fighter jet-inspired W8, but with a curvier, more organic look
overall.
A year later, Vector arrived again at Geneva with the same WX-3
coupe repainted in a positively '90s teal metallic. However, the
media's attention was now drawn to a dramatic WX-3R roadster
painted a glimmering shade of Amethyst purple sitting next to the
teal hardtop, both with scissor-style doors and colors that matched
the logo of Wiegert's Aquajet jet-ski firm. Further distracting the
onlookers was the fact that this pair of show cars featured Rodeck
twin-turbo V-8s slotted behind the passenger compartment, proving
that Wiegert had indeed delivered on his earlier promise to make
functional prototypes that conveyed stunning looks and outlandish
performance.
While sharing many attributes with the prototype coupe, the
roadster had an even more streamlined appearance due to an almost
unfathomably raked windshield that wrapped into its side windows
bisected by a section of the door skin. The WX-3R roadster also
showed off a lower rear spoiler. Its interior featured highly
bolstered individual bucket seats draped in grey leather rather
than the wide, European-style three-wide seating in the coupe.
The powertrain in the roadster was the proven high-performance W8
platform, with a 6.0-liter Rodeck twin-turbo V-8 mated to a heavily
modified General Motors Turbo-Hydramatic 425 transmission. This
combination could propel the WX-3R to speeds well in excess of 200
mph, making it one of the fastest roadsters ever built!
After the successful debut of this prototype pair in Geneva, it
looked as though Vector's future was bright. But behind the scenes,
there was trouble at Vector Aeromotive�and it was not because of
the WX-3. With eyes on Vector and later Lamborghini, Indonesian
firm Megatech attempted and later succeeded in taking over
Wiegert's company. A battle between the two sides eventually landed
in the Los Angeles Superior Court and Wiegert lost control of the
company he'd worked decades to build up.
As a result, the WX-3 was never put into production and these
prototypes became the last all-American Vectors completed, with the
successor M12 being manufactured using Lamborghini components. The
two prototypes were retained by Wiegert, the legendary supercar
builder who is now working to develop a modern 2,000-hp successor.
Never before has the WX-3R prototype been offered at auction, where
its reappearance is sure to wow all of those in attendance just as
it did for show-goers and media alike at the 1993 Geneva Salon. The
WX-3R represents an unrepeatable glimpse into American supercar
design and development in the early 1990s, when Jerry Wiegert
reigned supreme from his small California facility as he built
America's first supercar. To view this car and others currently
consigned to this auction, please visit the RM website at
rmsothebys.com/en/auctions/az19.
