Considerable? Unthinkable, really. Compared to it’s European contemporaries where they could barely muster more than 450HP. Mind you, it was with forced induction, but still, that kind of power with pump gas in that era was insane.
As for the Isdera, I really loved it’s futuristic, spaceship looks and the Gullwing doors added to the cool factor. So aero that it had a single periscope-like mirror on top of the door! Probably worked way better and offered more rear
view than the Countach’s version (although kudos to them for coming up with that idea).
Another product they offered was a shortened version of the Mercedes W201 called the “Compakt”. Again, only a handful were built. Basically, a Mercedes version of the VW Golf...
Lots of other neat stuff they created back then.
Peter
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The first Isdera was amazing!!
I really like the v8 rumble from the MB engines also.
I know Hans mentioned the “Chevy V8” in the Vector but the actual production engine was a truly top shelf Rodeck unit with no production car components.
625hp in the mid 80s was considerable.
On Jan 27, 2021, at 23:52, Peter Rychel <dino308gt4 [at] hotmail.com> wrote:
Good to hear that and thanks for sharing your experiences with these cars. Other than seeing only a handful of them on display, I’ve never gotten a chance to even ride in them.
Another esoteric ‘80s/’90s supercar I was always fascinated with is the Isdera Imperator 108i. An evolution model is coming up for sale at RM’s Paris auction next month. I always preferred the earlier one’s clean lines. The car was inspired
by Mercedes prototype test car, the C-111. Just like the Vector, only a handful were ever built and it seems most never left Germany.
Peter
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Unfortunately, never got above 90mph in the situation I was in.
Maybe on my next trip we can get further out.
They did a lot of testing up to 190mph (GPS verified).
There are some positive track impressions from the media.
A recent TV show ran one at Thunderhill and it was not far off the lap record.
On Jan 26, 2021, at 23:32, Peter Rychel <dino308gt4 [at] hotmail.com> wrote:
So, the handling was great, but what about aero? Did you ever get fast enough to evaluate any stability issues?
Peter
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I will ask David about the purple car and why it was so bad.
When I first met him in 2005, I asked all of the nerdy questions and he answered with live demonstrations at his shop.
They guaranteed every single customer car produced 625 hp and did 125mph in the 1/4 mile.
It certainly felt it too...
Chassis was superb also. Very composed and well tuned. They got the spring rate/ride balance down.
I have been very lucky to have experienced a lot of the great 70s/80s exotics over many, many hours at high speed.
Countach
Diablo
TR
BB
Pantera GT5
Esprit Turbo
930
959
F40
The W8 ranks up there with the most impressive of the group.
> On Jan 26, 2021, at 12:10, Hans E. Hansen <FList [at] hanshansen.org> wrote:
>
> No, don't know the chassis number. At the time, he was either a
> dealer for them, or more likely considering being a dealer for them.
> I don't think the car was molested in any manor, and had few miles on
> it. But some of the employees in charge of the car collection most
> definitely didn't speak highly of the driving experience - like the
> windshield wanting to remove itself at highway speeds.
>
> Hans.
>
>> On 1/25/21, Lashdeep Singh <lashdeep [at] yahoo.com> wrote:
>> Hans, a few of the W8s have been butchered by shops who don’t know the car.
>>
>> Taken apart and reassembled incorrectly with inferior parts.
>>
>> Do you remember the chassis number of that car at Tonkin?
>>
>> A friend of mine was one of the first Vector employees and he showed me two
>> cars that he has serviced since new.
>>
>> Very, very impressive machines in person.
>>
>> I would rate the build and materials at or higher than its contemporaries.
>>
>> Everything was hand built on that car.
>>
>> The driving experience was in my top 3 of “Wait, journalists insisted that
>> this thing was supposed to be XXX and it’s really NOT anything close to
>> that.”
>>
>>
>>
>>>> On Jan 20, 2021, at 13:43, Hans E. Hansen <FList [at] hanshansen.org> wrote:
>>>
>>> Ron Tonkin (Portland Ferrari dealer) had one. I thought the build
>>> quality was appalling. They said at anything above highway speeds, the
>>> windshield was wanting to come out. Thought it was odd that what was
>>> promoted as the ultimate supercar had a small block Chevy in it. And
>>> a three speed auto, which was likely a TH400.
>>>
>>> Curious feature was the bench seats. Wiegert apparently wanted the
>>> car to be usable for "romantic encounters". Wouldn't be too terribly
>>> romantic if the driver ended up in the passenger's lap on fast left
>>> hand corners......
>>>
>>> Hans.
>>>
>>>> On 1/20/21, Lashdeep Singh via Ferrari <ferrari [at] ferrarilist.com> wrote:
>>>> Amazing story...
>>>>
>>>>
https://www.hagerty.com/media/news/vector-supercar-creator-jerry-wiegert-still-looking-for-a-second-chance-dies-at-76/
>>
>>
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