The Vector W8 is a strange beast. Part Lamborghini insanity, part aviation engineering, part NASCAR, the W8 looked and sounded like something a fourteen-year-old kid would have dreamed up in his math class in 1986. Using a Rodeck-modified Chevrolet 350 that could be re-sleeved and twin turbochargers, the W8 had power ratings as high as 1200hp at 14psi of boost. Channeled through the strongest automatic they could find, the car could run as fast as 242mph at Bonneville. Unfortunately, Vector was the victim of a hostile takeover, and the company that bought them out tried to make a different model with a Lamborghini engine before failing. A total of twenty-two Vectors were built between 1989 and 1993.
Like every road-going automobile, even Vector had to submit a car for crash testing purposes. In the video, which is narrated in German, you will see that particular W8 come to it’s end, doing better than a lot of cars much newer than itself have done. Part of the reason is that the Vector had a full aluminum monocoque chassis that could take the impact. Great performance in 2014, nearly unbelievable performance in 1989.
Click play below and watch a unicorn super car get crashed!
(Hat tip to Jalopnik/Máté Petrány for the story)
Gerald Weigart a bizarre guy, more of a promoter than builder, but he came way-closer to getting his dream into sustainable production than many others. But, what happens when you start needing other people’s money for your ideas.
Neat video, I always wondered. There would’ve been more tests to do also.
Had to go to YouTube for that.