Vector W8 crash test

H/t Alan.

Road & Track Vector

From Brendan.

2011 retrospective

Car-wise, this has been an exceptional year for yours truly.  Here is a synopsis, and it was a pleasure to share all the experiences with you.

April
I visit the only yellow Vector W8 in the world.

I see a Bitter SC for the first time.

I accidentally end up at Thunderhill.

May
I almost end up buying a Merkur.

June
At the Canada GP, I see Vettel mess up, my favorite driver Heidfeld, and Jacques Villeneuve in line in front of me at the airport.

July
I visit the Shelby Museum.

I ride in a NASCAR at the infamous Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

September
I spot the coolest car on the street, an Isuzu Trooper conversion.

I get a peek at an extraordinary Maserati warehouse.

October
I drive the Loneliest Road In America.

November
I pick up my dream car.

Vector W8 super-gallery

Jan. 6, 1990: A teenage boy (me) goes to the Los Angeles Auto Show, gawks at a Vector on display, and takes a picture of it.

1992: Some guy invents the internet.

Oct. 30, 2010: I post the 1990 picture on this blog.

Nov. 1, 2010: J, a German Vector fanatic, tells me that there is a yellow Vector near me.  He puts me in touch with the owner.

Today: I visit that yellow Vector.

I heard the Vector before I saw it.  The low V8 rumble does not sound like anything I've heard before.  The scissor door opens and Tony, the proud owner, jumps out and greets me.

The first thing I notice is the unusual three wiper configuration.

 Only 19 W8s were made.  This is No. 12.  This is the only yellow W8.  Gerald Wiegert, the genius behind Vector, only wanted dark colors on his babies-- he likened the car to the stealth fighter.  He refused to paint them in bold colors like yellow.  The original owner (Tony is the third) wanted his car yellow so he ordered it during the week that Wiegert was out of the office.  As Wiegert was not present to veto the request, we ended up with this yellow W8.

  The buttons and information monitor are out of this world.

Jump to 1:50 to see the electo-luminescent display in action.

Tony tells me that a few Vectors' screens have completely gone kaput.  His screen, for the most part, works just fine.

 Yep.  That's ostrich.

 The top of the dash is covered with suede.

 Over the years, Tony has been able to identify the source of 80% of the parts on the car.  The third brake light is from an old Toyota.

This example has around 7,000 miles.  Tony believes this and another W8 in Japan get driven the most by their owners.

 This beast is WIIIDE.

 315/40ZR16s are in the back.  You can't buy these anymore.  Tony has another set in his garage, which he will use when absolutely necessary.  The only other alternative is racing slicks.

Man, this brings back fond memories.  I did a Google search on this model CD changer and the first result is a post from another Vector owner looking for a replacement to put in his car.

Reader Alan wanted to know how the car handles.  Tony says it's obviously a fast car-- it'll do over 200. "But it's got an automatic...let's just say I'd rather take the curves in my Testarossa."  Well said.

Does that answer your question, Alan?

 Tony is more proud of the aesthetics of his engine than anything else about the car.

Thanks again, Tony, for sharing your beautiful and rare machine!

*Fingers crossed*

Vector W8.  Check back this weekend.

Original Vector W2

Last weekend, I posted a picture of a Vector I saw at the 1990 LA Auto Show.  Well, Jurgen is the authority on Vectors.  He has been a fan of Vectors since 1982 and he has tracked down 18 of the 19 Vectors ever made.  He is in the process of scanning every brochure, poster, and magazine article about the car.  So I asked him the story behind the car in the picture.

It's the original W2 prototype.  Over the years, creator Gerald "Jerry" Wiegert painted it different colors and modified its exterior components.  Underneath the skin of that car in the 1990 photo is the original 1979 chassis.  This particular car ended up with over 100,000 miles on the clock, more than any other concept car.

In 1993, the same Indonesian firm that bought Lamborghini bought Vector in a hostile takeover.  It was then that the car's engine and dash were torn out (and never replaced).

Now, Wiegart has the company and this W2 back.  It's stored in Wilmington, California.

Wow.  Who knew?

In 2003, Jurgen was able to get five Vector W8s to appear at the Concorso Italiano together:

If you have old Vector pictures, brochures, or magazine articles to contribute, you can contact Jurgen at vectorfiles at googlemail dot com.

1990 Los Angeles Auto Show pictures

Being from Southern California, I made annual pilgrimages to the LA Auto Show as a kid.  A Vector fan recently asked for a picture I took of the American supercar.  While searching for it, I found these four photos from my 1990 trip.

1. Mitsubishi 3000GT.  Funny story behind this.  My friend in high school was caught pilfering at a local supermarket.  Though he didn't get in trouble with the law, he got in a lot of trouble with his strict parents.  About a week after the mini-heist, his dad made him watch a video called "Temptation".  He thought it was a Vatican-sanctioned instructional video on the deadly sin of misdemeanor theft.  Well, it was actually a cheesy promo video for the 3000GT.

2. Mercedes 500SL.  With a shelf life of 17 years (1972-1989), I thought the R107 SL was going to be THE Mercedes convertible forever.  When the R129 came out, I was dumbfounded.  It was so... modern.  When I first read about it, the coolest feature was the roll bar that sprung up in the event of a roll over.

3. Bentley Turbo R.  I really do not remember digging Bentleys when I was a kid, and I certainly don't remember taking this picture.  But today, if I could have any Bentley, it would be this red Turbo R.  Maybe it dug its way into my subconscious.

4. Vector.  If there was any wedge shaped car that boys in the 1980s coveted more than the Countach, it was this Vector.

Vector W2 prototype car promo

I still have a photo of a carbon gray Vector I took as a young lad at the Los Angeles Auto Show.  This promo seems to target prospective investors and dealers rather than potential customers.  It's chockfull of 1980s goodness, guaranteed.