Vector
Vector SRV8
Vector Motors Corporation was an American automobile manufacturer originally based in Wilmington, California. Its history can be traced to Vehicle Design Force, which was founded in 1978 by Jerry Wiegert. Vehicle production by Vector Aeromotive began in 1989 and ceased in 1993. The company was later revived as Vector Motors Corporation, and has continued to develop sports cars. When founded, Vector represented America's first attempt to compete with European performance car manufacturers such as Ferrari and Lamborghini. Altogether around 50 Vector sports car models were developed and produced during the 1980s and 1990s including some racing versions mostly built using American made components. Nearly every car produced by the company is designated the letter "W" (for Wiegert) and a number. A letter "X" after the W (e.g. WX-8) signifies a prototype unit. In August 2018 it was reported that the company was still actively developing an entirely new vehicle, the WX-8, a vehicle positioned in the colloquially named "hypercar" category, which it first announced and presented a prototype model of back in 2007. Founder, principal owner, chief executive, lead designer and engineer Jerry Wiegert died in January 2021 aged 76, leaving the fate of the company and corporate entity in question. The Wilmington facility along with the warehouse that stored materials and inventory has since been cleared out.
Text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Predecessor: Vector M12
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Origin
In 1971, Jerry Wiegert, who had just graduated from college, founded a design house called Vehicle Design Force and teamed up with Lee Brown, a well-known auto body expert in Hollywood, to create a new car called The Vector. The Vector was planned to feature various powerplant options, including a DOHC Porsche engine, and preproduction literature said that it would cost US$100,000 (at the time, a new Lamborghini Miura cost $21,000). The Vector was featured on the cover of Motor Trend magazine in April 1972, and a concept prototype was displayed at the 1976 LA Auto Show, however the car did not enter production. Lee Brown left the design team in 1977. Wiegert renamed Vehicle Design Force to "Vector Aeromotive" after the previous vehicle's research was refocused on a new car, the Vector W2. In the early 1990s, Ralph van Buuren (silent partner of Vector Aeromotive), who was in contact with Philips Car Stereo Germany, closed a deal with the Vector and Philips to arrange a Vector W8 for a promotion/marketing F1 deal which Philips ended sponsoring of the Ferrari F1 team. The Vector W2. The W2 concept appeared in 1978. Like the first car, it was immobile at the time of its show debut, but in 1979, a running prototype was constructed. The vehicle traveled over 100,000 miles (160,000 km), the most of any concept vehicle. The W2 was extensively covered by many magazines, and it was thoroughly tested by Motor Trend magazine and the British automotive television program Top Gear. However, Top Gear was ordered not to perform a top speed test on it, even though Vector claimed the car was capable of 230 mph. Vector W8. In 1989, Wiegert's company, now known as the Vector Aeromotive Corporation, began production of the W8, an evolution of the W2. Financial backing came from public stoc
Megatech
=== Vector M12 === MegaTech moved Vector from its Wiegert-owned headquarters building in Wilmington, California, to Jacksonville, Florida, where the company could share office space with fellow MegaTech-owned automaker Automobili Lamborghini. The new Vector Aeromotive Corporation created a car called the Vector M12, which was loosely based on the WX-3 but powered by a version of the Lamborghini Diablo V12 engine. Consequently, some work on the M12 was handled by Lamborghini. As such, many of the essentially American "spirit" characteristics of previous editions did not carry over to the M12. Production of the M12 began in 1995 in Florida, and the car was introduced at the 1996 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, where Vector displayed two examples. Production was shuttered late in 1996 when the $189,000 cars did not meet projected sales targets. Production resumed after MegaTech sold off Lamborghini (to Audi) and Vector (to management). By early 1999, only 14 M12s were produced. Lamborghini did not fulfill its contracted delivery of motors due primarily to Vector's inability to pay for them. Tommy Suharto, son of then-Indonesian President Suharto and a MegaTech principal, was accused of embezzling from the company for his own personal gain. After Suharto’s rule ended in 1998, his children were prosecuted, and his youngest was convicted of corruption. In 2015, the U.S. Supreme Court ordered Suharto’s family repay millions in embezzled funds to the state. However, Suharto denied this, calling the embezzlement accusation “slander and defamation.” He died in 2008 without ever standing trial. According to one story, Lamborghini took a W8 for payment for the engines, but since the W8 in question was still Wiegert's property at the time, he took the case to cou
Wiegert's return
After the remains of Vector Aeromotive were sold to American Aeromotive, Wiegert took back the assets of Vector and changed the company name from Avtech Motors to Vector Supercars, then finally to Vector Motors. Vector WX-8. Since the company's closure, rumors began to circulate about Wiegert developing a new car to bring Vector back to life with a new model called the WX8. At the Concorso Italiano on August 18, 2006, Wiegert showed up in the V-8 Avtech prototype with friend Keith Rosenberg. He confirmed that he had begun work on another car. Wiegert had the Avtech on display at the Rodeo Drive Concours d'Elegance on June 17, 2007. His business card for Vector Motors Corporation (Wilmington, CA) has him titled as "Chairman and CEO." He also announced plans to debut his new prototype at the 2008 LA Auto Show. At the LA Auto Show, Wiegert presented a prototype of the WX8. The car is powered by a supercharged 10-litre all-aluminum V8 with a projected output of 1,850 horsepower (1,380 kW), which would make it more powerful than the Bugatti Veyron and the SSC Ultimate Aero TT. Vector claims that the WX8 has a top speed of 275 mph (443 km/h) and a 0-60 time of just under three seconds.
Sections adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0); text is shortened. Read the full article for the complete history and citations.
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Sources
- Wikidata — https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q7917843CC0 1.0 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Wikipedia — https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_MotorsCC BY-SA 4.0 · Text © Wikipedia contributors; revision 1376385994 · retrieved 2026-10-01
- Car Model Index — https://models.autoculturesociety.com/Compiled record. Sources that do not permit reuse are not copied; this index is credited instead.