The story of Gerry Wiegart’s Vector is swathed in lawsuits, but there can be little doubt that the cars – mid-engined wedges, mainly with Chevrolet power – are crap. Wiegart was a frustrated fighter pilot with more ambition than talent who saw his cars as the all-American answer to Italian exotica. He was courted by the American press for a while but others saw through the project, which always struggled for funding; Wiegart sued AutoWeek when it called him ‘Peter Pan’ and his Californian headquarters ‘Neverland’. The 1980 W2 Twin Turbo, with its claimed 500bhp and 200mph potential, was allegedly repainted several times to give the impression there was more than one in existence. Some kind of critical mass was reached with the W8, of which 17 were built.
