Vector Motors Selling WX-3 Prototype to Fund New Hypercar Development
Vector Motors still exists, and is selling its ultra-90s WX-3 supercar prototypes to fund development of its WX-8 hypercar.
Vector Motors is selling off the 1993 prototypes of its never-produced WX-3 supercar, apparently to fund development of its planned WX-8 hypercar.
For those not in the know, Vector Motors is an obscure, though intriguing footnote in the history of the supercar. Its best-known vehicle was the edgy, wedge-y, and quirky W8, and with 22 examples ever built, is also Vector's most-produced model. The polygonal supercar was propelled a General Motors-based 6.0-liter, twin-turbo (rare at the time) V8 which made a reported 625 horsepower and 631 pound-feet of torque, and dished this power out to the rear wheels through a three-speed automatic transmission.
Top speed was estimated in period by Road & Track to be 218 mph, though rumors claim the car was tested up to 242 at the Bonneville Salt Flats, as recorded by a magazine named Top Wheels, though documentation of said publication's existence is sparse.
The W8 was supposed to receive a successor, of which the WX-3 was intended to be a prototype. WX-3 bodies were reportedly first shown at the 1992 Geneva Motor Show, and the car's 7.0-liter, twin-turbo V8 the following year. It would have been an astonishing oddity among supercars by virtue of its three-wide bench seating alone, had it ever made production.
Plans to build the WX-3 were interrupted after the company was the subject of a hostile takeover by Indonesian company Megatech, which also owned Lamborghini for a time in the 1990s. This resulted in an unlawful ejection of founder Gerald Wiegert (from whom the 'W' model prefix is derived), though Wiegert fought back in court, and eventually regained control of the Vector assets, presenting a WX-8 concept car at the 2008 Los Angeles Auto Show.
As for the WX-8, it eventually went the way of the SSC Tuatara, becoming another vaporware American hypercar.
Until both WX-3 prototypes surfaced for sale by Wiegert on duPont Registry, that is, with a promise listed in their respective ads that the money Wiegert receives from selling the cars will be used to fund further development of the WX-8. Investigation of the Vector Motors website reveals an updated concept rendering of the WX-8, one which ditches the definitely-Toyota Supra headlights.
The duPont listing promises the buyer of the WX-3s a buyback for double the car's purchase price with a repayment in New Vector Motors Corporation stock. Value of the WX-3s together is estimated in the listing to be $3.5 million, which may say more about the cars' values to Wiegert than what they will sell for—though a W8 did command $275,000 at auction in 2014.
Wiegert enjoys—and is clearly proud of—his creation; the WX-3 Roadster prototype has accumulated 8,908 miles according to its own listing. Regardless of whether potential buyers see the WX-3's sale as a chance to own one of the craziest, most obscure supercars ever designed, or a foot in the door with the new Vector Motors, it's clear the prototype WX-3s work well enough to tally up thousands of miles.
Here's to hoping the new WX-8 and its promised 10.0-liter, twin-supercharged, big-block V8 can one day come to fruition.
The Drive has reached out to Vector Motors and Gerald Wiegert for additional information on the WX-3 prototypes, the WX-8's development, and the history of the company. We will update when we receive a response.
