Gerald Wiegert

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Gerald Wiegert

Gerald Alden Wiegert (* 1945 in Dearborn , Michigan , USA ) is an American entrepreneur , inventor and automobile designer of German descent. He founded the company Vector Motors Corporation , with whom he had the goal of air and space technology to bring in cars and American sports cars to build. He is also known for side projects such as the Aquajet and the Wetbike.

Life

Gerald "Jerry" Wiegert was born in Dearborn ( Michigan ) in 1945. He graduated from college in Caseville. From 1964 to 1968 he attended the Center for Creative Studies in Detroit and was trained as a technical draftsman (specialty: advanced vehicle design ) at General Motors . In 1970 he received the diploma as an industrial designer after the Art College of Design in Los Angeles had graduated. He also received awards in advanced aircraft design ( postgraduate aircraft design ) from Northrop University and is a member of the Experimental Aircraft Association.

Vector

Wiegert wanted to build a purely American sports car that would be seen as a " starfighter for the street". He wanted to outdo the European competition, and not just them: as a trained technical draftsman who had completed his training at General Motors and left the company in a dispute, his car should also be faster and better than anything Detroit had to offer. Wiegert was of the opinion that it was being made too easy for foreign sports car manufacturers to win customers and that American manufacturers had nothing to offer to stop this development.

In 1978 Wiegert founded the limited partnership Vector Car . In 1987 it was renamed Vector Aeromotive Corporation and went public in 1988 . The design of the cars continued to develop in 1989 when production of the Vector W8 began.

After a battle for company management due to a hostile takeover, Wiegert regained the company's shares and rights in court. In 2008 he revived the brand as Vector Motors Corporation. Wiegert holds all shares in this.

Outside employment

As a second pillar, Wiegert has meanwhile established its Aquajet brand on the jet ski market - with an exclusive small series of the Jetbike WX-1 and WX-2 models , whose production figures are still below those of the Vector vehicles.

The design and the designation of the later by the Japanese company Kawasaki manufactured jet just goes to his account as well as the design of the wetbike , and he drew different templates for Airstream motorhomes . He was also jointly responsible for the basic design of the rocket backpack, which caused a sensation at the opening of the 1984 Olympic Games . Word of his skills in modern design quickly got around, and so he was engaged in an advisory capacity for the James Bond film Never Never Say , in which Sean Connery played the lead role. Five years earlier, in The Spy Who Loved Me , one of his design creations was shown on screen: James Bond rushes to the rescue of agent Triple X on a wet bike.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b Article " Born in the USA ", Autokraft , July 1986 edition
  2. ↑ a b c d " VMCBP " - " Vector Motors Corporation Business Plan 2004 - 2005 ", published by Vector Motors Corporation and written by Gerald Wiegert, 2004
  3. ↑ a b Article " The Vector threatens the sports car sector ", "auto welt", issue 2/1981
  4. ^ " Vector W2 ", brochure of the "Vehicle Design Force"
  5. ↑ Article " Who is the greatest? ", "Auto welt", issue 1/1985
  6. ↑ a b " Vector Perspective ", magazine of the "Vehicle Design Force", first edition May 1981
  7. ↑ Article " The Jaws", "auto motor und sport", issue 1/1980
  8. ↑ Article " Flask for 390 things ", "Hobby", issue 2/1982
  9. ↑ Article " vector_Rechnung ", "Autobild", issue 2/2005
  10. ↑ Article " The North American Challenge: The Vector W2 ", "Hobby", October 1978 edition
  11. ↑ a b c d e "Vector Aeromotive Corporation - Corporate Backgrounder", company presentation of the Vector Aeromotive Corporation, prepared by Kalmann Communications, 1990
  12. ↑ a b c Aquajet homepage http://www.aquajet.com/ , as of September 17, 2008.
  13. ↑ Press release on the premiere of the Vector WX-8, published by Vector Motors Corporation, November 14, 2007
  14. ^ "Virtual Venice" http://www.virtualvenice.info/media/vector.htm , as of September 17, 2008
  15. ↑ Article " From supercar to superstar ", "Hollywood Insider", spring 1992
  16. ↑ Article " Arab Princes buy 230-mph Bondmobiles ", Los Angeles newspaper, exact publication date to follow
  17. ↑ The most comprehensive wetbike site, http://www.wetbike.net/ , as of September 17, 2008
personal data
SURNAME Wiegert, Gerald
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wiegert, Gerald Alden (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American entrepreneur, inventor, and automotive designer
DATE OF BIRTH 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Dearborn , Michigan , USA