VectorW8

01

Origins

After twelve years of promises the Vector W8 became real in 1989: a bonded-aluminium and carbon-Kevlar chassis, a twin-turbocharged 6-litre Chevrolet-based V8 rated around 625 horsepower through a three-speed transaxle, and a cockpit of aircraft toggles and reconfigurable digital displays. The performance claims — well past 200 mph — were plausible; the price kept climbing past 400,000 dollars, and celebrity customers included tennis's Andre Agassi, whose early car came back with complaints. Around 17 customer cars and prototypes were built before financial warfare with new investor Megatech ended Wiegert's control in 1993. The W8 remains the great American exotic of its era — obsessive, belligerent, gorgeous in its way, and exactly as uncompromising as its creator, for better and worse.