VECTOR cars!

There is no chassis #004 and no #010.
(the 010 contract for instance was sold to Warren Person of Person Ford dealerships.
When the VECTOR company found out that Person was offering the car that was not even built yet for 600.000$ in the DuPontRegistry the contract was cancelled. I am not sure why 004 was never made but I know there were irregularities with other contracts and chassis numbers as well, such as the white 008 which was ordered as car #010 as well. I have seen the original contract.)

Instead we find a 1990 #008 (1991 Geneva Show car) and a 1992 #008 (1992 Geneva Show car), as well as a 1990 #013 and a 1992 #013.
The early 008 (black) and 013 (graphite grey, Japanese first owner) were among the first five cars made.
So it is believed that for PR purposes VECTOR was pretending a higher production of cars than were actually made, just like the W2 that had been rebodied and repainted so many times in order to pretend a full production run although there was only one single prototype during all these years putting on 250.000+ miles.

The 005 was internally renamed 014A after Agassi returned it.
But it still carries the original 005 VIN today even though the body was redone from the early style sharp front end to the later style front and side vents, just as well as the 003 car which was redone for the movie.
001 also received a new front end and the new style mirrors with air ducts after the Saudis returned the car from Switzerland. But 001 kept the original 1990 front grille and side vents. In that sense it became a hybrid design of early and later styling cues.

Two W8s had to be rebuilt after major accidents.

 

Good article, but has some inaccuracies...

 

Ok, I think I'm even more confused now, lol...there are a total of 17 production cars, correct?
Juggling chassis #'s seems like a very odd PR thing to do. I think there must be another reason other than how it would look to the general public.
Also, I don't believe that the W2 was painted different colors to give the impression of production. It was wrecked a few times after all. Plus, it was a development car, so trying different colors would be natural. I also have it in a couple articles that state its the only car built & not for sale.
I find all this interesting. I'd like to build a timeline for the different changes the W2 went through

 

Possible it is two different events. I know David drove the heck out of the W2 as well.

I wouldn't say painting the car different colors gives the impression of production... more along the lines of aesthetic appreciation of how well different colors go with the shape of the car. 10 years is a long time in development with just one car... Not unlike Koenigsegg.

 

The very first mockup of the W2 appeared

in 1976: a white body shell.

Then we find a reddish/orange mockup at the LA Auto Show
in 1977

in 1978: white car, fully operating

1980: cover of Car and Driver, Dec 1980: metallic greyish/green without tail wing

1983/1984 red W2, big tail wing, with alternating red or black front grille and headlight louvers

1985/86 silver W2 with big tail wing, W8 style rear end.

around 1988/89: final version of W2 (90% of the W8 design, small W8 style tail wing, side skirts, but no exterior mirrors yet, front same as on silver 1986/86 car ) as seen in multiple magazines and still in the same design today.

I heard about other paint jobs but have not seen any other than the above listed styles in any video, brochure or magazine.

I would believe that all the listed versions are available on google images:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&client=opera&hs=vy8&rls=de&channel=suggest&q=vector%20w2&um=1&ie=UTF-8&tbm=isch&source=og&sa=N&tab=wi&ei=VRLQT_DmNqii4gSOuYmLDA&biw=991&bih=632&sei=WBLQT9fdJcnj4QTO0pm-DA

 

There really is a great deal of controversy over this car. I, too, heard the story that the W2 was repainted many times to get people saying, "I saw the red one." "Oh really? I saw the gray one!" It was actually in a video somewhere, Jurgen probably has it. It's really hard to tell what is fact or fiction over the Vector, it's a shame on how much bad press and false accusations are being made.

Chris

 

Excellent!! Thank you! Do you know if there are certain differences in the two white versions? I notice one has red striping on it. I'd like to organize my pictures by year if possible...

 

I think this would be a case of people simply being mistaken. If Vector were deliberately trying to mislead people, they probably would have repainted the car between magazine tests. Even then, I wouldn't hold it against them. Shelby did the same, just to get the ball rolling
Now I need to find out which changes in the body were merely cosmetic, & which were functional. I don't think the car underwent a whole lot of development during the '80's due to lack of funds. There were changes in the engine, brakes, steering tho. Plenty more for me to learn
BTW, do the W8's have the inboard brakes, or were these moved outboard?

 

There used to be a paint shop just a few blocks away from the VECTOR workshop that offered Jerry free paint jobs for the W2.
They were proud to get the ultimate space craft on 4 wheels into their shop and VECTOR Cars gladly took the offer.
So both sides were happy.

 

The white car had undergone minor changes as well:


mockup:
http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m4syv1E59W1r2dcdfo1_1280.png
http://vectorclub.free.fr/fo_vf/download/file.php?id=12&mode=view
http://img165.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=81111_vectordiv87av_122_528lo.jpg
http://img21.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=82548_vect5na_122_581lo.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/176/1979w2reargd1.jpg/
http://img154.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=74252_Vector_1976_122_363lo.jpg
http://img151.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=64713_vector_w2_1_122_302lo.JPG
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21/vector2i.jpg/

1976 San Francisco Auto Show:
http://i332.photobucket.com/albums/m353/Jason456_photos/Vector-76.jpg

running prototype:
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/160/vw21979cb5.jpg/
http://up.autotitre.com/e8285dc98c.jpg

W2: 1980/81:
http://www.diseno-art.com/images/vector_w8.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/294/ab1vfbwt2.jpg/
http://img150.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=52152_V12_Vector_W2_girl_122_250lo.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/187/autochromesn734aame9.jpg/
http://vectorclub.free.fr/fo_vf/download/file.php?id=4&mode=view
http://vectorclub.free.fr/fo_vf/download/file.php?id=3&mode=view

W2: 1983 Frankfurt Auto Show IAA
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/220/iaa832vfwz6.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/182/iaa835vffb2.jpg/

W2 1985/86 version:
http://img134.imagevenue.com/img.php?image=30010_DOSSIER_EBAY_1_122_235lo.jpg
( I am just realizing the silver W2 first came with the early rear and as well)

W2 final version:
http://www.brucegray.com/images/car17.jpg
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/76/v35w2qr3.jpg/
http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/21/21desert.jpg/


I have many more photos on my hard drive.
A lot of more details can be discovered I bet.

 

Excellent pictures! The mockup looks very Bertone-esque. I didn't know there was a time that the W2 had no rear spoiler.

Chris

 

Thanks for sharing! It's like a trip back in time

 

Great pics! Thanks!

 

I found this interesting...

http://aeroseminars.com/racing_backgrounder.html

 

Yes, I contacted him not long ago.
You will find more former VECTOR staff with google.

 

Did he have anything interesting to say? I've found a few others, but this guy has an impressive history...

 

Thanks to all for sharing.

I enjoy learning the history of the Vector.

 

As a car that is based largely on a fighter jet, I think Vector fans will appreciate this car. It was on the most recent episode of Chasing Classic Cars. Inspired by the P-51 Mustang, and all aluminum body, and twin supercharged!

See more of the car here: http://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2012/02/eric-zausners-aerosport-roadster-based.html



Chris
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In Croatian EVO magazine we are preparing a big theme for summer issue, called A-Z of supercars. For that I'd like to do short articles on Vector. I have some literature about these cars and this thread is very helpful as well but there is a problem, the reason why I'm posting it here.

Basically I am looking for high resolution pictures of Vector cars available for free publishing. Unfortunately, our budget for photos is non-existant so we can only rely on our own photos or manufacturer's press sites. I would appreciate if anyone could point me to a source of free Vector photos, so that I can see whether I'm going to pursue with proposing the Vector article or not.

Thank you in advance.

 

Vectorfiles is certainly your man for this. I can attempt to contact Mr Wiegert, he might be interested in getting a little buzz for this next car...

 

Thank you if you could. I'm not sure whether my country is big enough market for him. But certainly here are one or two collectors that might be interested in adding a Vector to their stables...

 

The 2012 European VECTOR Reunion will be taking place in Germany on August 24-26.
If you can make it to the www.classicgala.de 60 miles south of Frankfurt on August 24-26 you get an opportunity to take hundreds of photos of four VECTOR W8s plus a lot of other super exotics from the 70´s, 80´s and 90´s:

LOTEC Sirius, Kodiak F1, Isdera and many more.
150 vintage and classic cars will also be attending:

2006
http://www.madle.org/dmonteverdi.htm

2009
http://www.madle.org/dog09k.htm

http://www.madle.org/daevent.htm

The programm for the event:
http://www.oldtimergala.de/programm.html

Location will be the Schwetzingen Palace gardens:
http://geschichte.iivs.de/koenigreich_bayern/bilder/Max_I_Joseph/schloss%20schwetzingen.jpg


Send me a PM for more info or photos.

 

Did Lamborghini ever really do anything with the W8 "payment" car, or did they just sit on it? Legal issues with Jerry back then?

 

The car was kept in Jacksonville, FL at the former ALUSA/VECTOR HQ for a couple of years until AUDI bought out Lamborghini and brought the car to Germany.

 

I was just thinking of how much they tore into the cheetah & made the LM002...they didn't really tear the W8 apart at all tho?