1993 Vector Avtech WX-3R Roadster Prototype

Vector Aeromotive was the most ambitious of the audacious supercar marques that emerged in the 1990s, hoping to challenge Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Porsche. Founder Jerry Wiegert set out to build “a fighter jet on four wheels,” applying aerospace materials, construction techniques, and quality standards to a hand-built supercar with a character of its own: part West Coast individualism, part Detroit muscle, part European finesse.

Working from a small Venice, California workshop, Wiegert developed the W2 prototype through the late 1970s, showing a non-running mock-up in 1976 before a functioning car followed in 1979. That groundwork led to the production W8, of which fewer than two dozen were built and sold to clientele that included American former professional tennis player Andre Agassi. Powered by a twin-turbo 350 cubic inch V-8 producing 625 hp, the W8 reached 60 mph in just over four seconds and covered the quarter mile in around 12 seconds, outrunning contemporaries such as the Ferrari Testarossa, Lamborghini Countach, and Jaguar XJ220.

Encouraged by the W8, Vector began work on a successor in 1991. A static display model of the Avtech WX-3 Coupe appeared at Geneva in 1992, followed a year later by the completed coupe, finished in Aquamarine, alongside an entirely new companion: this Amethyst purple WX-3R Roadster. Both cars used scissor doors and a Rodeck twinturbo V-8 mounted behind the cabin. At the time, Vector’s director of manufacturing, Markus Rufer, and chief engineer Dave Kostka spoke to the American press about the aerospace grade materials, construction methods, and quality control, all carried over from Wiegert’s earlier work on the W8.

The Roadster departed from the coupe in several respects. Its windshield carried a steeper rake into slender side glass, divided by a Kevlar composite door panel, and it ran a lower rear spoiler for a cleaner profile. Inside, individual Recaro buckets replaced the coupe’s three-across bench. Power came from a 6.0-liter all-aluminum Rodeck twin-turbo V-8, paired with a heavily reworked General Motors Turbo-Hydramatic 425 transmission, said to be capable of pushing the WX-3R beyond 200 mph.

Vector quoted a price of $765,000 for the WX-3R at Geneva in 1993, but neither it nor the coupe reached series production. Megatech, backed by Indonesian government interests, mounted a hostile takeover of the company, and only after a lengthy legal dispute did Wiegert retain ownership of the WX-3 design and its two prototypes. Megatech went on to launch the Diablo-based M12, which echoed the WX-3’s styling but found little success of its own.

Wiegert kept both prototypes for more than 25 years, driving them sparingly. Both prototypes went directly from Wiegert to a private American collector in 2019, and under this ownership, the WX-3R underwent a $116,000 program of mechanically focused work carried out by Miller Motorcars of Greenwich, Connecticut, with cosmetic attention applied where needed.

A genuine artifact of early 1990s American supercar ambition, the 1993 Vector Avtech WX-3R Roadster Prototype offers a rare opportunity to acquire one of just two WX-3 prototypes built, a tangible record of Jerry Wiegert’s pioneering work from his small California workshop and a testament to what can be achieved with passion and a vision. In a world of one-off commissions, this car is certainly an unrepeatable and standout example.