On January 15, 2021, Jerry Wiegert passed away. If you struggle to recall that name or its significance in the world of supercars, it’s no surprise. But his car, the Vector W8 was not only an important part of the rise of supercars and eventually hypercars, the Vector is very likely to go down in history as the only independently designed, constructed and produced American supercar of the 20th century. Long before Tesla and decades before the SSC Tautara, the Vector did it all, admittedly on a slow burn, all while founder and designer Jerry Wiegert chipped away at the impossible odds, patiently building his lifelong dream.
1972 Vector Concept.
To understand the context of the Vector in both design and automobile manufacturing perspective, we need to journey back in time to one of the darkest periods of American automobile manufacturing, 1974–1984. During this decade, regulations were choking horsepower from our cars, giant bumpers were violating designs, and platform engineering allowed for such marvels of branding like the Cadillac Cimarron. If this wasn’t enough, you could find equal oddity in the Neoclassical revival of grand ’30s cars by purchasing a white polyester suit, an ascot, and of course, a Clenet. So, it must have been all the more astonishing to the public when the April 1972 issue of Motor Trend featured Wiegert’s first prototype Vector on their cover, challenging dominant Italian design houses with this new all-American sports car.
