The late Jerry Wiegert’s decades-long quest to build the great American supercar is one hell of a tale. Weigert wanted to beat the likes of Ferrari and Lamborghini at their own game, using good old fashioned American know-how.

You can read our rundown on the Vector saga here and we encourage you to do so.

But in short, Wiegert was a former drag racer and pro auto designer who turned down a full-time gig with GM to build his own cars. His first running car was the Vector W2, a twin-turbo Chev V8-powered wedge that earned Weigert stacks of publicity and became a fixture on bedroom walls the world over.

Next was the W8, Vector’s first production car. 21 were built, at a price tag of US$400,000. For that, buyer’s got a car that far more technologically advanced that its Italian rivals and a claimed top speed of 242mph.

The W8s successors were to be the Avtech WX-3 coupe and WX-3R roadster. The one-and-only WX-3 packed a 1200hp, 7.0-litre Rodeck-block twin-turbo mill and cost US$765K!

Hot stuff, but in 1993, Wiegert allowed the Indonesian company Megatech to buy into Vector. This did not end well, with Weiger losing control of his company until 1999.

Wiegert regained control in 1999 and ploughed ahead with another new design, the W8, which he continued to promote until as late as 2018.

Wiegert held onto the WX-3 protoype until 2019. It was then sold to a private collector and treated to a US$300,000 restoration. The car is now on offer at the Monterey Jet Centre Auction, with a guiding range of US$1.5-2 million (that’s up to AU$3,069,266).

The auctioneers are careful to emphasise that while the WX-3 has had significant mechanical work done to it, that the vehicle is not a production car and that potential buyer’s should “be mindful of the car’s limitations in modern traffic conditions.”

They also note that the vehicle cannot be sold to a Californian resident – an irony Weigert may have perhaps enjoyed.

Even so, the WX-3 was audacious as hell, boasting a body made of carbon fiber and Kevlar construction.

Design-wise, it was even more agressive than the W8, with pop-up headlights, a more aerodynamically curved front profile, and a seemingly impossibly raked, almost flat windshield.

Inside the interior was updated to a three-abreast bench configuration that was trimmed in black leather with teal green inserts. The aeromotive influence continued with a cockpit-style layout of interior gauges and switchgear. Plus the same fighter jet-sourced display from the W8 on the dash.

The WX-3 is a fascinating slice of American motoring history. Here’s hoping that the new owner will have the balls to use it as the maker intended and blow the minds of a new generation.