Vector M12. From eBay Glory To Flooded Nightmare

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Every now and then, a piece of automotive history finds its way onto eBay and the world’s automotive blogs (here and here) and forums get a little excited about the car, then the listing ends and nothing else is heard of it.

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Well, this time around we have the follow up to a certain Vector M12 that was advertised back in 2009 as the “finest, lowest mile Vector in the World”. As you can see, the Vector is in quite a sorry state now, but first let’s take a quick look at the car’s back story.

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The car company Vector started life in 1971 as Vehicle Design Force by a Mr Gerald A. Wiegert. Its first car, the Vector, never actually saw production reality – a buck was shown at the LA motor show but nothing more came of it. After the original designer left the company, Wiegert renamed the brand to Vector and started work on the W2.

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This car actually existed, and the prototype racked up over 160,000km in trials and reviews in automotive press. The American buff books lauded it as the next big thing to take on Ferrari et al.

The years passed and Vector had moved onto the W8 model, one example of which was owned briefly by tennis pro Andre Agassi before being bought back by the company due to some serious issues with the car.

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The next car to come from Vector was the WX-3 which even got a showing at the Geneva Motor Show in 1993. It was at this point that things went a little sour and the Wiegart was asked to leave the company.

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In 1993 Vector was bought by the Indonesian company Megatech, who at the time, were also the owners of Lamborghini. The WX-3 turned into production reality as the M12. It was based on the underpinnings of a Diablo – with chassis work courtesy of Lotus – and the Diablo’s 5.7-litre V12 engine.

The M12 It was even featured on TopGear back in the day when Clarkson did proper car reviews and took it around Road Atlanta in America.

Just 14 production versions of the M12 were built between 1995 and 1999, and the Vector you see here is apparently the last car ever built.

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The car was bought by a Saudi Arabian businessman and shipped to the Kingdom. Unfortunately, that’s where things went for a turn for the worse as the car was caught up in massive flooding that took place during one of the region’s heavy rain storms.

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After suffering rather significant water damage, the decision was made to get the car back to its former glory. It’s now sitting outside a specialist workshop in Dubai awaiting some much-needed love and attention.

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Though parts for the engine and gearbox should be reasonably straight forward to source, a replacement for the broken side window and wing mirror could prove to be tricky. One slight glimmer of hope is that the doors still open very smoothly on their hydraulics and the car is complete, if a little mouldy in places.

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And what of Vector now? Well, according to its official website, the original founder and chairman of the company is currently building ‘the next generation Vector’, the Vector Avtech WX8.

With a big block 10-litre V8 engine capable of over 2000bhp, Wiegart is pinning his hopes on making a credible alternative to the SSC Ultimate Aero and the Bugatti Veyron Supersport. No small feat for a fledging company with a pretty chequered past.