Lot #1346 – The Exclusively Outrageous Vector M12

January 7, 2020
Posted by Barrett-Jackson

Written by Eric Becker

This 1999 Vector M-12 (Lot #1346) is #12 of just 14 road-going examples produced.

Designing a car with styling more outrageous than a Lamborghini is an unparalleled achievement. Toss in an origin story appropriate only as the premise of a binge-worthy Netflix special and you have the Vector M12, an example of which will be crossing the auction block with No Reserve during the 2020 Scottsdale Auction as Lot #1346. A mid-engine supercar designed by the Americans, restyled by a Brit, financed by the Indonesians, built in Florida, with the V12 heart of a charging bull. A properly incredible supercar that could possibly out-Lamborghini a Lamborghini. Or, in the words of famed English motoring journalist Jeremy Clarkson, “an international hybrid – which has risen, phoenix-like, from the ashes.”

The story of Vector begins in Southern California in the early 1970s. A young engineer named Gerald “Jerry” Wiegert began working for the Big Three automakers as a technical consultant using the name Vehicle Design Force. Initially, Wiegert aspired to become a fighter pilot, but was unable due to poor eyesight and thus set forth pursuing his passion for aviation and pushing it into an advanced tactical fighter for the road. The Vector Aeromotive Company was born.

It would be a decade before Vector secured the funding to produce its first road-going model, the W8. Introduced in 1989, the W8 would serve as America’s first proper supercar. With radical styling that epitomized the 1980s, the W8 made its onscreen debut in the 1993 film “Rising Sun.” The design was heavily influenced by materials and technology from the aerospace industry, going so far as to use the very same switchgear found in the F-117 Nighthawk. Production for the W8 ended in 1993 shortly after the successor, the Avtech WX-3, made its prototype debut at the 1992 Geneva International Motor Show.

Around this time, the Indonesian-owned and Bermuda-based company MegaTech took a controlling interest in the publicly traded Vector. Due to irreconcilable differences between Wiegert and MegaTech, Wiegert was promptly fired from the very company he founded. MegaTech relocated the company’s headquarters to Florida and an ousted Wiegert successfully patented his own designs for the WX-3.

Amidst the legal kerfuffle and unable to use the design of the WX-3 to produce an all-new Vector, MegaTech made the best of the situation and tapped their previously acquired supercar manufacturer to supply a powertrain and chassis. That manufacturer was Lamborghini purchased from Chrysler for a mere $40 million dollars. The result was the Vector M12.

Debuting in 1995, the M12 utilized the 5.7-liter V12 from Lamborghini and a 5-speed ZF manual transmission. Unlike the Diablo on which the M12 was based, Vector opted to mount the engine in front of the manual gearbox. The mighty V12 produces 492hp at 5,200 rpm and 425 ft/lbs of torque at 4,900 rpm, propelling the “international hybrid” to a top speed of 190 mph and a 4.5-second sprint to 60 mph.

Unable to use the styling cues from the WX-3, MegaTech called on famed British designer Peter Stevens to pen new styling cues. Stevens, a twice-nominated UK designer of the year, was the man behind the Jaguar XJR-15, the Le Mans-winning BMW V12 LMR and the legendary McLaren F1.

The M12 began production in 1995. By the end of 1999 the M12 wrapped up its production, with only 14 road-going examples produced. This car is number 12 of the 14, and the second of four produced in ’99. According to the seller, this car was specifically designed and fabricated for the Prince of Brunei. Per his request, the M12 is finished with a black exterior and Lipstick Red interior.

The car has been with the same owner for the past 16 years and has been a staple of automotive museums, having been featured in the Marconi Automotive Museum, Riverside Raceway Museum and in the Petersen Automotive Museum’s “Supercars of the World” exhibit.

With 2,160 actual miles, this Vector is an incredibly exclusive and rare automobile, and a piece of American supercar history. The radical styling is sure to draw a crowd when it crosses the block in Scottsdale.

For up-to-date information on this vehicle, click HERE. For a look at all the vehicles headed to the 2020 Scottsdale Auction, click HERE.