VECTOR cars!

He was storing it at Dave Kostka's shop, and there was talk of Kostka potentially buying the car, but I don't know if that ever happened.

 

Dejoria is one of the very few remaining W8 first owners.
I am not so sure he would ever sell the VECTOR.

In this clip he says that chassis 013 is his lucky number:
[ame]www.youtube.com/watch?v=DUz6uD747vc[/ame]

 

Holy Wiegert! There's A Brand New Vector Chassis On eBay For Just $68K

 

Even the bare frame looks great!

 

Holy hell! That is awesome! I was lucky enough to see that same chassis when I visited his shop.

Chris

 

1992 motoring tv video:
Chassis 006, 007 ready for shipping and WX3 in the works:
http://motoringtv.com/video/throwback-thursday-vector-aeromotive/

 

There are two very different chassis shown for sale there... which one is for sale?

 

Hey Vector guys.

Check out my ad in Collectables for sale - 1 vintage Vector sales brochure plus one page insert. Pm me if your interested. Best offer

 

any direct link?

 

try this

http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/other-parts-collectibles/475566-vector-sales-brochure-earl-80s.html

 

I was just looking at this on ebay, and I was wondering if it has the same article as the Road & Track issue with the same cars. I don't want to buy a magazine if it has the exact same article. Anyone have an idea?

Chris

Motor 1992 11 Corvette ZR 1 Viper RT 10 Vector W8 EB XR6 XR8 VP SS Carrera RS | eBay

Chris

 

I can double check, but I believe it is the same article...

 

My Vector documentary just hit 100,000 views!

My delivery of commentary was a bit overdone, but still came out well.

Chris

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0XgJYS0KsU[/ame]

 

Just my thoughts, but some problems with Vector were that he initially priced the cars too low & lost money. This was later adjusted to the $448 figure. Vector was finally building cars & had orders lined up. Then there was conflict with Jerry & the board. Jerry wanted to take the car upmarket with the Avtech being a $700k+ car, while others wanted a cheaper car. The Megatech investment was to be used to expand production facilities but was used as a hostile takeover. Then they built their cheaper car (the M12). People cancelled their orders & the company went under.
Hard to say if Vector would have been successful building the Avtech, as other cars like the F1 didn't sell as well as had been hoped for, although I don't think Vector ever intended to sell 300 cars.
Another issue is that after years of hearing outrageous top speed claims, the cars have never been officially verified, which tarnished its reputation...

 

Hello just saw this, no idea of timeframe or whatever. Thought you might elaborate, or it could be a repost.


Vector Motors - Development
http://www.vectormotors.com/index.html

 

Yes, Jerry is back at it, although I feel he faces the same funding challenges as before, in addition to Vector's poor reputation as a company (deserved or not). Nothing new has been reported for the last several years. I might add that although his claims are outrageous, there are cars doing what he intended (Koenigsegg)
Vector Avtech WX-8 HPV - Auto Shows - Car and Driver

 

Some additional thoughts on negative views towards Vectors, is that the 3 spd auto wasn't very accepted, as most performance cars had 5 or 6 spd manuals. Nowadays the auto might be better received with more ratios. Also, its been reported as having a Corvette 350 engine, which is false. They do not share any components at all.
There was also an instance published where the W2 had a transmission failure & another where it overheated. Then there's the Agassi car.
I think the long gestation period before producing cars is a big factor.
I'm not sure how much these affected Vector at the time, as imo they were finally producing cars & had orders coming in when Megatech entered the picture.

 

That statement is not entirely accurate as the W8 does, in fact, use the same Tuned Port Fuel Injection components which are found on a Corvette/Camaro/Firebird.

 

I could be wrong, but I believe the Vectors used larger runners etc. & are not the same parts... ?

 

I think it's important to remember too, that the W8 first went into production in the early 90s, which was not a good time for supercars. I could be wrong, but I have a feeling it would have done better if it went into production in the mid 80s.

Chris

 

Yes, '89, but I don't think the problem was selling cars...I think it was more an issue of funding & building them.

 

The Vector W8 actually celebrates its 25th birthday this year. First customer chassis was delivered in 1990.
That was right at the beginning of the economic crisis.
A launch in the mid ´80s would most likely have resulted in a larger success for VECTOR as well as for many other supercar builders.
Quite a few cars were launched at least 2-3 years late back then: XJ220, Mercedes S-class W140 among others.
After 1991 money was tight.
So sales did not meet expectations.

That economic crisis also hit ISDERA cars who did not quite make it to pass the US crash test regulalations. Isdera ran out of funds in 1993, just like VECTOR Aeromotive.
The same goes for the Bugatti 110EB which never got the NHTSA approval and thus failed to conquer the important US market.
So the hyper modern Campogalliano Bugatti factory closed doors before the launch of the EB112.
And when was the final Cizeta built?
Many other supercar projects in the line back then were even dropped: Yamaha, Spiess TC522, Lotec Sirius and quite a few more.

Had they all begun production 5 years earlier they would have hit the peak of the 80´s booming market.

 

There were definitely more small, ambitious builders back in the '80's!

 

1994 (early) for Cizeta.

Missing in your list is the McLaren F1

 

Thanks, Brian. I was thinknig whether I should add the F1 to the list. Eventually they did not build the number of cars that was intended, but yet they built quite a few dozen, took part in professional GT racing, even won a few titles. Therefore I would not necessarily add the McLaren F1 to the list of unsuccessful supercar ventures.

Compared to the number of cars built by Spyker, Pagani or Koenigsegg today, McLaren was very successful.