Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Monterey, California | August 15-17, 2019
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
This is one of my favorite cars. Ever. Jerry Wiegert lost control of Vector in the mid-1990s, and it was taken over by Megatech, an Indonesian company owned by the son of the country’s “president” (read: dictator). Megatech also owned Lamborghini between 1994 and 1998.
The M12 was based on the Vector WX-3 prototype and the Lamborghini Diablo, a corporate cousin. It shares the same 492 horsepower, 5.7-liter V12 as the Diablo. Top speed was 189 mph and 60 arrived in 4.8 seconds. The design is pure land shark – a 90s wedge with a big spoiler. These cars are impossibly wide at the rear, and remarkably spacious inside with a crease at the beltline surrounded by glass on the scissor doors.
The M12 went on sale in 1996, and Megatech sold Lamborghini to Audi in 1998. The financial situation of Megatech was, well, miserable at this point, and Vector couldn’t afford to pay for the V12s anymore. So Vector shut down. Only 14 road-going M12s were built, along with three pre-production prototypes. Two of them are local to me, which is completely insane (one of which is the first car built). The one offered here is number five. It is the only one finished in purple and is being sold from the Lingenfelter collection.
The 90s were a wild time for supercars, and none of the M12’s competitors quite encapsulate the time quite as the Vector did. It’s also one of the rarest modern-day supercars that actually saw production, even though but a handful were completed. It is ludicrous in the best way possible, and I love it. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 17, 2019
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
A week ago we featured the coupe version of this car, the Vector Avtech WX-3. This is the topless form, the WX-3R Roadster. Nothing says over-the-top supercar quite like a rear-engined V-12 roadster with no roof, scissor doors, and headrests that appear to be taller than the ridiculously-raked windshield.
This car debuted alongside the coupe at Geneva in 1993 and is powered by a twin-turbo 6.0-liter V8 and a GM automatic transmission that could take this thing to over 200 mph. Series production never occurred, and this remains a one-off, fantastically 90s, supercar prototype. I literally had a poster of this car on my bedroom wall as a kid.
This is the first time this car has ever been for sale publicly, as it is being sold from company founder Jerry Wiegert‘s personal collection. It should bring between $450,000-$550,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by RM Sotheby’s | Phoenix, Arizona | January 17, 2019
Photo Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s
If my schoolgirl-like giddiness for this car becomes too distracting in the text that follows, please just bear with me. I love Vectors. They are outrageous. The company traces its roots back to the 1970s when founder Gerald Wiegert showed his first prototype, the W2, in 1978. The W8 was their first production car in 1989.
The Avtech WX-3 debuted in 1992 and was to go into production with three engine options. This, the coupe version (just wait until next week), is finished in a beautiful shade of Brilliant Aquamarine, though it was originally silver.
Wiegert lost control of the company shortly after this car debuted and the new owners, while barred from using this design, more or less did anyway with the very similar-looking M12 that used Lamborghini engines. This car is powered by a twin-turbocharged 7.0-liter V8 putting out 1,000 horsepower.
This is the only car like it in the world, and Wiegert has never parted with it, until now. It’s so over-the-top in a wonderfully 90s kind of way. I just love these cars. The details are just so extreme, to wit: its shark-like appearance and the fact that the fuel cap looks like it was ripped right off of a Cessna. It is expected to bring between $450,000-$550,000. Click here for more info and here for more from this sale.
Offered by Mecum | Dallas, Texas | September 3-6, 2014
Photo – Mecum
Vector Aeromotive (which is one of my favorite company names ever) was the child of Gerald Wiegert. The company is still technically around, but they haven’t built a car in over 15 years. This was their first production car – and it was intended to be America’s first supercar – and it pretty much was. At over 20 years old, it still looks wild and has the performance to match.
The engine is a mid-mounted 6.0-liter twin-turbocharged V-8 making 625 horsepower. Although they were built between 1990 and 1993, they remain an incredibly quick car by today’s standards: top speed is estimated at 220 mph.
Vector had a rough history. It was sold to Megatech, the ill-fated then-owner of Lamborghini. Megatech imploded in the late 1990s over an embezzling scandal and the brand was more or less scuttled until Wiegert returned to the scene circa 2007 to revive it, although they have not sold any new cars since 1999.
Only 19 or 20 W8s were built. This is car #16 of 18 built for public sale (the others were prototypes), making it one of the last. It’s been in the same family since new, too. For you supercar collectors out there, 1. I envy you and 2. this is a must-have for any supercar collection. Read more here and check out more from Mecum here.
Update: Mysteriously disappeared from the auction catalog.
Okay, so it’s been about a month since the 2013 Ault Park Concours d’Elegance (I’ve been busy!) was held in Cincinnati’s beautiful Ault Park. I was at the show bright and early and it was great. The weather was perfect and the rain held off until just after the show had completed (by literally minutes). While I managed to photograph every car on the show grounds, I’ll only show you some of the highlights here. I even managed to capture some of them on video.
Best in Show went to this 1938 Steyr 220 Special Roadster. I think most people knew going into the show that this was going to be the major award winner.
If this website were to give out an award for something – it would undoubtedly have gone to this 1911 Thomas Flyer K6-70 Flyabout. I don’t know if you’ve ever had the chance to hear a starter on a 1911 Thomas Flyer, but I highly recommend trying to get the opportunity. It is a noise. Watching this thing being driven was one of my favorite points of the show. I’ll post video below!
Hands down the most popular car at this year’s show was the Goldfinger Aston Martin. This was the DB5 that was actually used in two James Bond films: Thunderball and Goldfinger. The best part? It was just sitting there so you could get up close and personal with it AND the owner was driving it around. You can see video of it here.
One of my other favorite cars was perhaps the most infamous of the show. It is a 1978 Monteverdi 375/4 High Speed Sedan. The High Speed 375/4 was built for a few years in very limited numbers. After production wrapped, the Royal Family of Qatar wanted a sedan version, so Peter Monteverdi built seven of them. This is one of those cars. It was exquisite and I took more photos of it than any other car there. Then, while lining up for awards, the owner (who brought the car here from Germany) was trying to keep the car running by revving the throttle. His foot slipped off the brake (or something) and he peeled out and smashed into the back of a McLaren MP4-12C Spider. Luckily no one was hurt and the McLaren will be fine. This thing will need slightly more repairs.
Some other cool cars included this 1908 Locomobile Model I 7-Passenger Touring, the restoration of which, concluded at something like 4 a.m. of show day.
This 1955 Cadillac Custom Viewmaster was one of seven built locally by Hess & Eisenhardt and was really cool as you rarely ever see a Cadillac wagon.
From the “you’ve got to be kidding” category: a 1996 Vector M12. This was the auto show car first displayed by the company and is painted in some hideously patriotic paint scheme. I couldn’t believe where the car was from – a small town not far from where I live and a place you definitely would not associate with supercars (more like beat-up pickup trucks and Ford Aerostars).
Two of the featured marques this year were Corvette and Porsche. There were some awesome Corvette race cars on the field but the most valuable has to be this 1957 Corvette SS Concept Car. I believe it resides at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway museum.
There were two Porsches that stood out (to me) above all others. First, this 1964 904 Carrera GTS:
And second, this 1955 550 1500RS Spyder. This car is so small but it’s worth about $3 million. And the sound! The engine is about the size of a lunchbox but it packs a punch. I couldn’t believe how loud and how enthralling the noise actually was.
Finally, I have to give a shout-out to this car. It is the best-looking MGA (it’s a 1959) I have ever seen and this color is amazing in person. I talked to the owner and he said that something like 1% (or less) of MGAs were painted this color back in the day but no one wanted them so dealers sprayed them red and they drove off the lot. Only a fraction of the cars were sold without the repaint and those who bought them must be quite proud today because the combination of this soft teal and whitewall tires is outstanding.
Be sure to check out some of our videos from the show at our YouTube channel! These cars are ever better then they are in-motion and making noise. Sorry I couldn’t capture the smells for you too! And check the show’s website here for more winners.
