Anyone old enough to remember the Vector?

I have a good bit of experience with the Vector cars... First with the W8, when I had my first Countach. The yellow W8 with ostrich skin interior was serviced at same place Id bring my Countach. Fit and finish on the car was excruciatingly bad, made my Countach seem like a Toyota. Inside I fit comfortably in my CT, while in the Vector could not fit unless my head was smashed to the side and against the roof. The 3 speed transmission was terrible, lag for days. I raced the owner of Auto Panache back in the day with his black W8 in my approx 375hp 4 spd 930 and blew him away several times, he also lost to my friend from a roll in his Buick Grand National which from memory ran high 12s at 110mph. The yellow W8 was broken weekly, never ran right, left the owner stranded on the side of the road repeatedly, while my Countach just ran and ran...

 

The W12, is basicly a Diablo, with a new body. Its horribly disproportioned, and the fit and finish is terrible. It looks as if built in your own garage.

I saw an image of it at some Finnish game magazine around early 90s at their CES report.

It stuck to my head immediately.

 

Whole drivetrain is from some american front wheel drive car turned backwards.

 

It still has an air of mystic around it but even if I had all the money in the world and biggest supercar shopping acid trip, seeing that Flinstones interior would immediately snap me sober and back to reality. Cool and piece of 80/90s wallpaper pipedreams, but still, no thanks.

 

 

This is the car I drove.. horrendous

I have a good bit of experience with the Vector cars... First with the W8, when I had my first Countach. The yellow W8 with ostrich skin interior was serviced at same place Id bring my Countach. Fit and finish on the car was excruciatingly bad, made my Countach seem like a Toyota. Inside I fit comfortably in my CT, while in the Vector could not fit unless my head was smashed to the side and against the roof. The 3 speed transmission was terrible, lag for days. I raced the owner of Auto Panache back in the day with his black W8 in my approx 375hp 4 spd 930 and blew him away several times, he also lost to my friend from a roll in his Buick Grand National which from memory ran high 12s at 110mph. The yellow W8 was broken weekly, never ran right, left the owner stranded on the side of the road repeatedly, while my Countach just ran and ran...

 

The W12, is basicly a Diablo, with a new body. Its horribly disproportioned, and the fit and finish is terrible. It looks as if built in your own garage.

 

Allan,

you mentioned the poor build quality of the yellow W8 before.

But we all know that that yellow W8 had been taken fully apart by that Porsche place in Ft. L. and never been reassembled properly.

 

A Vector W8 that is maintained properly will outrun any Countach at any day.

Come on, 650+ hp versus less than 455hp?

You never really experienced a true W8.

 

In the meantime this yellow has been with two new owners who spent an incredible effort, time and money to get that yellow W8 back to its original state and performance.

The car is currently residing in Spain and the owner is happyly enjoying it.

It´s his favorite car in his collection.

No Countach will outrun this yellow W8 any more.

Allan,

you mentioned the poor build quality of the yellow W8 before.

But we all know that that yellow W8 had been taken fully apart by that Porsche place in Ft. L. and never been reassembled properly.

 

A Vector W8 that is maintained properly will outrun any Countach at any day.

Come on, 650+ hp versus less than 455hp?

You never really experienced a true W8.

 

In the meantime this yellow has been with two new owners who spent an incredible effort, time and money to get that yellow W8 back to its original state and performance.

The car is currently residing in Spain and the owner is happyly enjoying it.

It´s his favorite car in his collection.

No Countach will outrun this yellow W8 any more.

 

 

Again, reread what I said.... Build quality, as in fit and finish, panel gap, interior quality etc etc is absolutely horrendous... I never experienced a W8, I experienced 2 of them... Andre Agassi even returned his for being the biggest POS he ever bought. 650hp CLAIMED... big difference from reality... And the fact is that any car, with a 3 spd automatic geared to do 200mph ( again claimed) is a turtle.. I also experienced the car before and after Protomotive put the final nails in the yellow W8s coffin. The shop that was working on my cars refused to work on the car at some point. Additionaly, I never said the Countach was faster, I said it was better built and more reliable, but from memory my old CT with aftermarket fuel injection and distributorless ignition felt quicker than the W8 at the speeds I drove the W8 at. Truthfully in all my years of exotics, the Vector cars have to rank at the top of the biggest POS Ive experienced.

I agree....W8 looks the best. Not so sure about the new prototype rendering. Front reminds me of a camaro. Still remember Andre Agassi with his Vector back in the days.

 

 

All I see is a 90s-00s Camaro front end. I can't look past it to see the rest.

Again, reread what I said.... Build quality, as in fit and finish, panel gap, interior quality etc etc is absolutely horrendous... I never experienced a W8, I experienced 2 of them... Andre Agassi even returned his for being the biggest POS he ever bought. 650hp CLAIMED... big difference from reality... And the fact is that any car, with a 3 spd automatic geared to do 200mph ( again claimed) is a turtle.. I also experienced the car before and after Protomotive put the final nails in the yellow W8s coffin. The shop that was working on my cars refused to work on the car at some point. Additionaly, I never said the Countach was faster, I said it was better built and more reliable, but from memory my old CT with aftermarket fuel injection and distributorless ignition felt quicker than the W8 at the speeds I drove the W8 at. Truthfully in all my years of exotics, the Vector cars have to rank at the top of the biggest POS Ive experienced.

 

 

Allan would you say that the vector is crappier than the saleen s7?

Allan would you say that the vector is crappier than the saleen s7?

Makes the Saleen seem like a Lexus

Allan would you say that the vector is crappier than the saleen s7?

 

Is the S7 really that crappy? Always been enamored with that car for some reason back in my college days. Just thought it looked so cool.

S7 is a pos! It fills up with water like a fish bowl when it rains. Tranny and engines blowing more then are very own Transgender! Nothing electrical ever worked on the one in our group. Stay far away!!!

Again, reread what I said.... Build quality, as in fit and finish, panel gap, interior quality etc etc is absolutely horrendous... I never experienced a W8, I experienced 2 of them... Andre Agassi even returned his for being the biggest POS he ever bought. 650hp CLAIMED... big difference from reality... And the fact is that any car, with a 3 spd automatic geared to do 200mph ( again claimed) is a turtle.. I also experienced the car before and after Protomotive put the final nails in the yellow W8s coffin. The shop that was working on my cars refused to work on the car at some point. Additionaly, I never said the Countach was faster, I said it was better built and more reliable, but from memory my old CT with aftermarket fuel injection and distributorless ignition felt quicker than the W8 at the speeds I drove the W8 at. Truthfully in all my years of exotics, the Vector cars have to rank at the top of the biggest POS Ive experienced.

Allan,

 

reread what I said. The yellow W8 had been fully torn apart by a non qualified garage that did not even get all the original parts back together.

And again, you have not experienced a W8 with its full performance.

The Auto Panache W8 was just another case of unqualified mechanics working on the car.

 

That Agassi story is nonsense. He was not even supposed to get the car before it was fully assembled by the manufaturer. Then he showed up at the facility with two lawyers insiting that he gets the car delivered for his birthday. He agreed in a written statement that the car would be delivered to his home for show and display only and NOT be driven. The car would have been picked up the next day and returned to the factory for final assembly.

Well, the next thing we hear from 20. year old Agassis, is that he took the car for a spin in the Nevada desert and tells the press, of course, that it was not his fault the car broke down and overheated.

 

This is a case where a 20 year old kid destroyed the reputation of America´s finest supercar manufacturer because the Vector PR machine was not well enough funded to counter Agassi´s worldwide press coverage.

 

Again, a properlly maintained W8 will outrun any Countach any day. And you show me one exotic car built in those days that has better panel gaps and build quality than a VECTOR.

Have you ever seen an F40 from close? They should have taggedl it FIAT F40.

 

And the 650hp figure is even exceded by quite a few W8s. Tested on the dyno, a few W8s have more than 750hp.

Again, no other exotic car from the early 1990´s showed any similar performance.

Allan,

 

reread what I said. The yellow W8 had been fully torn apart by a non qualified garage that did not even get all the original parts back together.

And again, you have not experienced a W8 with its full performance.

The Auto Panache W8 was just another case of unqualified mechanics working on the car.

 

That Agassi story is nonsense. He was not even supposed to get the car before it was fully assembled by the manufaturer. Then he showed up at the facility with two lawyers insiting that he gets the car delivered for his birthday. He agreed in a written statement that the car would be delivered to his home for show and display only and NOT be driven. The car would have been picked up the next day and returned to the factory for final assembly.

Well, the next thing we hear from 20. year old Agassis, is that he took the car for a spin in the Nevada desert and tells the press, of course, that it was not his fault the car broke down and overheated.

 

This is a case where a 20 year old kid destroyed the reputation of America´s finest supercar manufacturer because the Vector PR machine was not well enough funded to counter Agassi´s worldwide press coverage.

 

Again, a properlly maintained W8 will outrun any Countach any day. And you show me one exotic car built in those days that has better panel gaps and build quality than a VECTOR.

Have you ever seen an F40 from close? They should have taggedl it FIAT F40.

 

And the 650hp figure is even exceded by quite a few W8s. Tested on the dyno, a few W8s have more than 750hp.

Again, no other exotic car from the early 1990´s showed any similar performance.

Its obvious from your statements that you have no experience with these cars. Terrible underdeveloped overhyped kitcars at best.

I remember seeing one in miami in front of a club called Shadow Lounge back in the late 90's. It was def a cool looking car back then, I guess that was all it was good for..to look at lol.

I remember seeing one in miami in front of a club called Shadow Lounge back in the late 90's. It was def a cool looking car back then, I guess that was all it was good for..to look at lol.

 

Was it yellow....

 

 

You can see the electromotive coil packs the shop that worked on my car installed.. From the video the car sure sounds and looks amazingly fast... lol

 

To be honest, I dont remember but yellow was the first color that came to my mind when I saw this thread and was about to comment.

To be honest, I dont remember but yellow was the first color that came to my mind when I saw this thread and was about to comment.

Then its the one I drove..

Did that leather to steeringwheel came from the guy who just got his 50kg testicles removed. Patterns seem to match.

For some clarity (not taking sides, just stating facts):

 

- The Yellow W8 is known as the "black sheep car" since aside from the ostrich interior (which was a non-factory custom job) the car was taken apart and patched together by an independent shop that had no experience with the cars. It's like the Cizeta V-16T at the Marconi Museum in Tustin...That car was taken apart by an un-knowledgeable shop and that car now has a Ferrari V8 inside since they destroyed the factory V-16 engine. But I digress, as in any case the Yellow W8 is not a properly functional example to judge the company by. I've seen the a few W8's up close in the flesh, and they we solidly built, but the funniest thing is that the owners referred to the yellow W8 as "that junker."

 

- The Agassi story is an interesting one, in that Vector had a production delay of 3 months but Agassi did in fact insist (with a few lawyers) that he have his car delivered before it was completed. He was told he could have it for show and display purposes but not to drive it, which he ignored. His car over heated and he blamed the car, despite being told it wasn't finished and explicitly not to drive it.

 

- Having discussed these cars with several owners and former engineers, they've said these cars work and run fine, though admittedly Mr Wiegert was prone to some "wild exaggerations" about what the cars can do. The W8 have 3 speed auto which was chosen because the cars have high torque.

 

- The M12 had the Diablo Engine and Transmission, everything else was taken from left overs at the Vector factory when Mega Tech took over. Top Gear did review it and call it the "worst car ever built." Having met an M12 owner and seen the car up close, I personally do feel that the interior on the M-12 is possibly on of the worst interiors of all time (and the owner agrees as well). From a running stand point it runs about the same as early model year Diablos, the main difference being the car is a bit less balanced because the Diablo was built around it's engine where as the M12 was a bit more hashed together from left over Lamborghini and Vector parts. The build quality of the Diablos is a lot better as Lamborghini applied many lessons from the Countach and improved on them. But there are 14 M12 still out there and running, so someone loves them.

 

- The main issues with Vectors mainly surround the creator rather than the cars. Mr Weigert made a lot of bold claims about the cars, yet he refused to let any press fully test any vehicles, leaving only the company claims to be the "facts." Even with the Agassi incident which fueled the bad PR fires, no cars were allowed to be tested so in all reality, no one truly knows what these cars can do except for the owners. It would be interesting to see a full test review done on them now, to see if they really are the amazing machines dream machines of the 80s or just victims of over-hyping. Compared to a Countach or something of the area, the general sense I've gotten about these cars is that they have great build quality, comparable power, and similar speed, but in a slightly less refined package (by refined I mean "Italian"). Again, this is my opinion after having spent a lot of time with these cars. I still like the fact that someone attempted to take on the big guys (much like Mr Pagani did) and Vector represents a cooky chapter in the history of cars.

 

On a side note, I'd still take a Vector over an S7, that car broke my heart with how terrible it was. To quote me friend that briefly owned one "It's the fastest thing I've had...but also the biggest piece of sh*t I've ever owned." It looks cool, but it's flaws become very apparent very quickly, and it was built in an era when manufacturers knew better.

 

 

 

 

 

After all my bashing I have to say that shape of original W3 is good, it's still good on W8 but mirrors ruin it. (No mirrors on W3)

 

 

And you show me one exotic car built in those days that has better panel gaps and build quality than a VECTOR.

 

 

 

 

Ehhhhh ? Every single other mainstream factory exotic being built at the same time as the Vector ?

 

Was that a trick question ?

Also, if memory serves isn't this a deju vu and we had this exact same thread discussion with Vectorfile praising these cars as the best on the planet about 6 or 7 years ago ??

Ehhhhh ? Every single other mainstream factory exotic being built at the same time as the Vector ?

 

Was that a trick question ?

 

 

Exactly, they are all total shit. only way you can see fit and finish as being good is if you are blind in one eye and someone poked you in the other.

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-1...ll-time-feature

http://www.caranddriver.com/features/the-1...ll-time-feature

 

...but the SLR

old Top Gear:

 

...but the SLR

 

 

 

Lol, I own 2 duds, the XJ220 made the list too. I have terrible taste.