Love me some Monteverde! jm2; any chance you have some shots of the Ghia-bodied blue Chrysler in the far background?
Friend owns a Bitter. He did the design work for Mr. Bitter while he was assigned to Opel. The Bitter uses an Opel drivetrain. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Specifically, it's the Vector W8. I really wanted one of these when I was a kid. Vector made more W8s than any other model, but they delivered less than 20 customer cars and made less than 25 of them in total. The cars they did deliver were unreliable as they were sent out largely before development had been finished. Andre Agassi had one delivered under the condition that he refrain from driving it until Vector had finished developing exhaust shielding, but he drove it anyway and scorched some of the interior with the heat transfer - he returned the car for a refund. Furthermore, Vector sent 3 press cars out to generate publicity and sales, but all three broke down for different reasons and the magazine at the time (can't remember which one) was unable to review the driving characteristics much beyond stating that the cars weren't yet ready. The company was around for less than 5 years and the designer/founder/CEO, Gerald Wiegert (where the W comes from in W8), was fired during a hostile takeover - after which he successfully sued to retain copyright to the designs to the W8's successor, ensuring the company would collapse without him. The W8 looked pretty quirky (1980s futuristic aesthetics made in the 1990s) and the dashboard resembled a 1990s fighter jet cockpit for all the buttons and screens. I would think that if an enthusiast sorted some of the car's engineering/quality issues by continuing the development with a few discreet reliability upgrades, it'd be a very cool car to drive - at least, I imagine so. All in all, the tale of Vector is a bit of a sad one. Cool car vision that was never quite realized due to poor business planning. Wiegert didn't even get to keep any of the cars he made, prototype or production vehicle. The big "what if" is that if better managed from a business perspective it could have been a great niche manufacturer using a big engine, light chassis, wedge aero, and techy interiors... it'd have been great to have seen Vector succeed. All the best, Andrew.
Excellent and informative, Andrew. Mr. Wiegert was quite a character. I thought his car was very cool. But he never was able to do the proper development of his ideas/concept. A shame.
This last weekend there was a display of the design evolution of the mid-engine Corvette. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
From Hagerty; Plymouth Belmont. Definitely belongs here; there's even an tangential link to John! https://www.hagerty.com/media/automotive-history/plymouth-could-have-taken-on-the-corvette-with-the-belmont/?utm_source=SFMC&utm_medium=email&utm_content=MED_UN_NA_EML_UN_DailyDriver_Wednesday&hashed_email=9098eb71dbb5872ceda0b64fcb6d9d9fde5cc7cf13e4a1a5eb543a3e1db70b5c
You've got to give them props for working on those xenon high intensity discharge headlamps waaay early!
Putting the design into it's proper context, that car was way ahead of it's time. Thinking of the cars on the road at that time, this thing was a Saturn V missile. The chrome headlamp bezels however......... Still very cool!
And I was thinking more along the lines of the Belmont Stakes.... The Belmont Stakes is an American Grade I stakes race for three-year-old Thoroughbreds run at Belmont Park in Elmont, New York. Colts and geldings carry a weight of 126 pounds; fillies carry 121 pounds.
And whaddaya think of this design for the Purosangue? https://hottiresblogg.blogspot.com/2021/09/why-ferrari-needs-to-make-suv-now-and.html?fbclid=IwAR1F8jzH-Pjd8tKb7lz9UpQc9C3am4mkM4dmiGzgtCIgSk8W9ody2ntuydU Why Ferrari Needs To Make An SUV Now (And The Reason Enthusiasts Oppose It) Image Unavailable, Please Login The Ferrari Purosangue looks poised to take on the high-performance Lamborghini Urus in the years to come. All top luxury and supercar brands are shifting focus from small high-performance cars to SUVs—apart from Ferrari. Lamborghini, Porsche, Aston Martin, and Bentley are all currently producing SUVs. The high-performance SUV market is hot. Is Ferrari jumping on that train? Well, Mat Watson of Carwow uploaded a YouTube video of what they think the new Ferrari SUV could look like. “In this video, I’ll tell you why Ferrari has to start building an SUV now. And I will show you exclusive renderings of what this new car could look like,” Watson said. The world is shifting to green energy, and with it, the automotive industry. In the future, motor enthusiasts will have to give up their thunderous big engines for silent electric options. The change to green has slowly begun, and thankfully, Ferrari is prepared and is already developing amazing hybrid supercars like the SF90 Stradale looking more and more like a change Ferrari fans will have to accept. Ferrari Need An SUV To Compete In The Current Car Market Ferrari is famous for one thing: They build super-fast cars, and their success list is endless, from the Ferrari Enzo, LaFerrari, and the 812 Superfast among other iconic models. “Cars with naturally aspirated V12 engines will never pass strict emissions tests in the future. Now Ferrari knows this, which is why it’s put a load of effort and a load of cash into developing some new hybrid supercars, and there could be a new hybrid SUV on the horizon too,” Watson said. Lamborghini just like Ferrari made its name out of building bonkers mid-engine monsters. Currently, its most popular car is the Lamborghini Urus SUV. In 2020, Lamborghini sold more than 7,000 units, over 4,000 of which were Lamborghini Urus models. “Ferrari doesn’t really have a choice. If it wants to compete with these brands, then it has to make an SUV of some kind. But what would a Ferrari SUV look like?” Watson said. According to Carwow, Ferrari is already testing a prototype. And even though the prototype SUV doesn’t have any Ferrari parts yet, when done, it will carry the tag name Ferrari Purosangue. Image Unavailable, Please Login “It could take inspiration from the latest Ferrari Roma, or the all-new 296 GTB. So, I reckon it’ll look simpler and less angular than a Lamborghini Urus. But it will still be even more imposing than most modern Ferraris,” Watson revealed. Ferrari Has Four Engine Options For New SUV Variant So, what kind of engine would the Ferrari SUV have to compete in the market? Carwow speculates the automaker could go with four options. The first option would use the 6.5-liter V12 engine from an 812 Superfast to make 800 hp. What’s best, Ferrari already has a four-wheel-drive system to go with this option. Ferrari could also use the 3.9-liter twin-turbo engine from the Roma making 620 hp. They could also fit it with a hybrid system and electric motors from the new 296 GTB. But there’s a problem using the engines from the Roma or the GTB is they are rear-wheel drive, and will need a new four-wheel-drive system re-design. Lastly, Carwow, thinks Ferrari could get some parts from the SF90 that comes with a 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8, and three electric motors, all making 1,000 hp. New Ferrari Purosangue SUV design Image Unavailable, Please Login These exclusive renders of the Ferrari Purosangue give you a look at how the production car may turn out. Upfront, you’ll spot thin headlights with daytime running lights cutting through in a similar fashion to those on the Ferrari Roma, and flanking a trapezoidal grille. Dramatic curves are set into the bonnet, with the roofline of the Purosangue taking on a sleek approach rather than falling into a boxy rear end. Image Unavailable, Please Login The rear of the car gets a large black panel with the prancing horse logo taking centre stage, and thin LED rear lights similar to the Ferrari 296 GTB. Ferrari Purosangue Interrior In the front, you can expect the Purosangue to be crammed with leather, brushed metal and carbon-fibre trims, as well as a new version of Ferrari’s infotainment system. The new Ferrari Purosangue is expected to be the first modern Ferrari to come with five seats, although it’s likely you’ll be able to get a set of two individual rear seats if you’d prefer – like those on the GTC4 Lusso. Image Unavailable, Please Login Ferrari Purosangue SUV price and release date Ferrari’s first SUV isn’t expected to make its public debut until 2022. It’s possible that it could go on sale later that year, although (as with most Ferraris) you can bet that plenty of wealthy petrolheads have already posted blank cheques to the Ferrari factory to make sure their names are first on the list for this new SUV. If you’d rather wait for this new car to appear in showrooms, get ready to hand over at least £200,000 to park one on your driveway. So what do you think about the new Ferrari? Are you a fan of it?
