The Car Nerd with Jason Hassett

In 1990, a Norfolk factory took a brand-new Vauxhall family sedan off the production line, drove a plasma cutter through its wheel arches, threw the engine in a skip, and bolted in a twin-turbo straight-six built by the same engineers designing the Corvette ZR-1's V8.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━📚 ORDER MY NEW BOOK "History Written by Losers" — out now. The true story of global power has been whitewashed by the victors and the fixers. This book tells the side of history they tried to bury. 👉 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GP9TKPBH━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🏎️ IN THIS EPISODEThe Hubris. January 1986. General Motors writes a £22.7 million check and buys 91% of a nearly bankrupt British sports car company. The plan was for Lotus to sprinkle magic dust on Vauxhalls and Opels. Lotus CEO Mike Kimberley had a different plan. We tell the story of how he convinced Bob Eaton, head of GM Europe, to green-light a project so absurd that Opel's German engineers refused to participate — and why the team picked the boring Carlton over the fast Senator.The Frankenstein. At Factory 3 in Hethel, brand-new fully-assembled Vauxhalls were ferried in from Germany and systematically destroyed. Engines ripped out and shipped back. Wheel arches plasma-cut wider. 130 man-hours of labor per car. We break down the C36GET — bored to 3.6 liters, twin Garrett T25 turbos, forged Mahle pistons, 377 horsepower, 419 pound-feet of torque, and 75% of that torque available at just 2,000 RPM. The transmission was a Corvette ZR-1 unit. The differential was Australian. The chassis was German. Nobody at GM stopped to ask if any of this made sense.The Numbers That Broke Ferrari. 0-60 in 5.1 seconds. Top speed 176 mph — Lotus engineers regularly recorded 180+ at the Nardò ring in Italy. We compare the Carlton head-to-head with the 1990 Ferrari Testarossa and Porsche 911 Turbo. The result is uncomfortable: a four-door, five-passenger family sedan with a boot big enough for a golden retriever was, on real-world roads, the fastest production car on Earth.The Public Panic. The Daily Mail launched a sustained campaign demanding the car be banned. Autocar magazine called it "ours-is-better-than-yours immaturity." On November 16th, 1990, the House of Commons debated whether Vauxhall should be allowed to sell it. ACPO went on the record condemning it. We trace how a single car became Britain's moral panic — and why GM, Vauxhall, and Lotus refused to fit a speed limiter despite political pressure that should have killed the project.40 RA. November 26th, 1993. An Imperial Green Lotus Carlton is stolen from a driveway in Pershore. For the next six weeks, an organized gang uses it to ram-raid off-licences across the West Midlands. They hit Bromsgrove, Redditch, Wythall, Belbroughton, Earlswood — and at one point, a newsagent thirty yards from a police station. The West Midlands Police fleet was Austin Metros and Ford Fiestas. Trying to catch a 377-horsepower twin-turbocharged supercar in a 70-horsepower commuter hatchback was, in PC David Oliver's own words, hopeless. Then command issued a formal order: stop chasing it. Then it outran a police helicopter on the M6. Then, in January 1994, it vanished into a canal — and the gang was never caught.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━🔗 LINKS & SUPPORT📚 The book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GP9TKPBH📺 Documentary channel: https://youtube.com/@thatjasonhassett🔔 Subscribe for weekly post-mortems on the cars, companies, and engineering decisions that shaped modern motoring.━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━#LotusCarlton #VauxhallLotus #OpelLotusOmega #SleeperCar #BritishCars #CarHistory #AutomotiveHistory #FerrariTestarossa #Porsche911Turbo #ColdWarCars #1990s #40RA #RamRaiders #TheCarNerd #CarEnthusiast #ClassicCars #SuperSaloon #Hethel

THE GREATEST FAKE FORD: THE ESCORT RS COSWORTH STORYMy New Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GP9TKPBH (History Written by Losers)Video Description:By the early 1990s, the golden age of unrestricted Group B rallying was dead, replaced by tamer Group A regulations that forced manufacturers to race mass-produced road cars. Ford’s only viable weapon was the Sierra RS Cosworth, a car that dominated smooth circuits but was simply too massive for the mud and tight hairpins of rally stages. The Sierra was a D-segment executive saloon, nearly two feet longer than the nimble Lancia Delta Integrale. Ford needed the compact size of their new Mk V Escort, but the standard Escort was a front-wheel-drive economy car with absolutely no room for a longitudinal engine or a complex all-wheel-drive system.To solve this, Ford's Special Vehicle Engineering team committed to one of the most audacious Frankenstein projects in automotive history. They took the Sierra Sapphire 4x4, literally cut it apart with a saw, shortened the floorpan, and dressed it up in a bespoke Escort costume. What followed was a beautifully orchestrated heartbreak: a purpose-built rally weapon that failed to win the championship it was designed for, but accidentally became an immortal street legend.In this deep dive, we explore The Cosworth Illusion:The Structural Surgery: How SVE engineers and German coachbuilder Karmann mated a shortened Sierra floorpan to modified Escort bulkheads. Discover the beautiful irony that this fake "Escort" actually had a longer wheelbase than the real mass-produced Escort.The Accountant's Wing: Designer Frank Stephenson originally penned a radical triple-decker "whale tail" wing inspired by the Red Baron's Fokker Dr.I triplane. Learn how Ford's financial controllers killed the middle blade to save manufacturing costs, leaving 25 pounds of crucial downforce on the table.The Championship Heartbreak: The tragic WRC campaigns of the mid-90s. From François Delecour's devastating off-stage road accident in a friend's Ferrari to a crushing wheel bearing failure on the penultimate stage of the Tour de Corse that handed victory to Lancia.The Working Man's Supercar: While the rally program stumbled, the road-going RS Cosworth could hit 100 km/h in 5.7 seconds, rivaling the contemporary Ferrari 348 for a fraction of the price.The Escort RS Cosworth was a monument to a specific era when manufacturers would literally saw a chassis in half just to win a trophy. Was this Frankenstein creation the greatest rally homologation car ever built? Let’s settle it in the comments.Subscribe for more deep dives into automotive history and future tech.Follow me: http://x.com/jayhassett#FordEscort #Cosworth #AutomotiveHistory #TheCarNerd #WRC #Rally

HE SPORTS CAR THAT GM BUILT TO FAIL: THE PONTIAC FIERO STORYMy New Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GP9TKPBH (History Written by Losers)Video Description:By 1978, Pontiac—GM’s famed "excitement division"—was in free fall, building uninspiring compliance cars while Japanese imports ate their lunch. They desperately wanted to build a mid-engine sports car, but an ironclad, unwritten GM law stood in the way: no division was ever permitted to build a car that challenged the Corvette. To get the car built, a brilliant engineer named Hulki Aldikacti had to do something extraordinarily reckless. He lied to every executive in the building.Operating a skunkworks project on a heavily slashed $300 million budget, Aldikacti pitched the Fiero not as a sports car, but as a 50-mile-per-gallon, post-oil-crisis commuter vehicle to slip past the Corvette team's radar. What followed was the tragic saga of a car born from deception, crippled by corporate greed, redeemed by engineering brilliance, and ultimately murdered by the very company that built it.In this deep dive, we explore The Fiero Tragedy:The Commuter Deception: How Pontiac bypassed the Corvette team's veto by pretending their mid-engine performance layout was just for aerodynamic packaging and fuel economy.Space Age vs. Stone Age: The Fiero featured a revolutionary, NASCAR-inspired 600-pound steel spaceframe and dent-resistant plastic panels that were decades ahead of their time. Yet, a strangled budget forced Pontiac to shove a 92-horsepower Iron Duke economy engine into the middle, paired with backwards suspension parts borrowed from a Chevy Citation.The 1984 Inferno: How a perfect storm of a chopped oil pan, a miscalibrated dipstick, and defective connecting rods led to "ventilated blocks". Oil sprayed directly onto glowing-hot exhaust components, turning a fraction of first-year models into spectacular highway fireballs.Redemption and Assassination: By 1988, Pontiac finally spent $30 million on a clean-sheet suspension redesign and added a V6, creating a car that could genuinely beat a Corvette on the test track. Facing an existential threat from an even faster 1990 prototype, Corvette executives used corporate politics to kill the Fiero project and literally demolish the factory to prevent anyone else from building it.The Fiero didn’t fail because it was a bad car; it failed because it was built inside a company that was terrified of its own potential. Was the 1988 Fiero the greatest "what if" in American automotive history? Let’s settle it in the comments.Subscribe for more deep dives into automotive history and future tech.Follow me: http://x.com/jayhassett#PontiacFiero #GeneralMotors #AutomotiveHistory #TheCarNerd #Corvette #CarTech

THE PLAYBOYS WHO BEAT FERRARIWhen Lord Thomas Alexander Fermor-Hesketh arrived in the Formula 1 paddock, the establishment laughed. He brought a luxury yacht, a personal helicopter, copious amounts of champagne, and a charismatic driver who frequently threw up before races—a young James Hunt. They were universally dismissed by purists and legendary team bosses as spoiled aristocrats treating the pinnacle of motorsport like a weekend bender.But here is the secret: Hesketh Racing wasn't just a rolling cocktail party. Behind the playboy image was a band of radical innovators who built a custom chassis capable of humiliating the grid's biggest corporate giants.In this deep dive, we explore The Playboys Who Beat Ferrari:The Aristocrat’s Joke: Why a 22-year-old Lord decided to bypass the traditional racing ladder, buy a customer March chassis, and throw a wildly unproven James Hunt straight into the deep end.The 308 Revelation:How a brilliant, eccentric engineer named Harvey Postlethwaite convinced Hesketh they needed to build their own car—and accidentally created an aerodynamic masterpiece.The Unsponsored Rebellion: Why Hesketh flat-out refused corporate sponsors, running a pure white car adorned only with a teddy bear, making them the ultimate romantic privateers in an increasingly clinical sport.The Zandvoort Miracle: The legendary 1975 Dutch Grand Prix, where James Hunt held off a charging Niki Lauda to achieve the impossible—forcing the paddock to admit the "party boys" were actually F1 titans.Hesketh didn't survive the corporate evolution of F1—but their brief, explosive run proved that raw passion, engineering brilliance, and a little bit of madness could still bring down the establishment. Were they the last true F1 romantics, or just a beautiful flash in the pan? Let’s settle it in the comments.Subscribe for more deep dives into automotive history and future tech.Follow me: http://x.com/jayhassettMy New Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GP9TKPBH#Hesketh #JamesHunt #Formula1 #F1History #Hesketh308 #TheCarNerd #AutomotiveHistory #Motorsport

THE ARCHITECTURE OF SACRILEGEFerrari just revealed the interior of the Luce—their first fully electric car—and the internet is having a complete meltdown. Designed by Jony Ive, the man behind your iPhone, the Luce is being called "cold," "clinical," and "not a Ferrari" by purists and legendary designers alike.But here is the secret: Ferrari has been "offending" its fanbase for over sixty years, and every single time, it’s the decision that saves the company.In this deep dive, we explore The Architecture of Sacrilege:The 1962 Palace Revolt: Why Enzo Ferrari fired his entire engineering brain trust right before the birth of the 250 GTO.The V8 Heresy: How the "wrong" engine and a "wedge" design from a Lamborghini designer built the modern Ferrari empire.The Honda Humiliation: When the NSX forced Ferrari to admit their cars were "crap" and reinvent their engineering DNA.The Luce & Jony Ive: Why replacing the V12 scream with a "visual performance" and mechanical obsession is exactly what Ferrari needs to survive the electric era.Ferrari doesn't survive by giving purists what they want—it survives by doing the one thing they hate until it becomes the new standard.Is the Luce a masterpiece or a mistake? Let’s settle it in the comments.Subscribe for more deep dives into automotive history and future tech.Follow me: http://x.com/jayhassettMy New Book: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0GP9TKPBH#Ferrari #Luce #JonyIve #FerrariLuce #CarHistory #EnzoFerrari #TheCarNerd #AutomotiveDesign

The Weekly Classic Newsletter: http://weeklyclassic.hassettstudios.com/🎥 Video Description:The Heist of the Century — How BMW Stole Rolls-Royce from VolkswagenIn this episode of Automotive Storytime, Jason dissects the most bizarre, ego-driven, and legally complex acquisition in the history of the car industry: the battle for Rolls-Royce and Bentley.The year was 1998, and the "Crown Jewels" of British motoring were on the auction block. On one side stood Ferdinand Piëch, the terrifyingly brilliant technocrat of Volkswagen, looking to crown his imperial expansion with the ultimate status symbol. On the other stood BMW, the preferred partner who believed they owned the brand by right of succession. What should have been a polite transfer of power turned into a corporate bloodbath. Volkswagen brought the cash—a staggering £430 million "knockout" bid—but BMW brought the lawyers.We trace the timeline of a deal that went spectacularly wrong for the highest bidder. While Volkswagen celebrated buying the historic Crewe factory, the workforce, and the famous Spirit of Ecstasy mascot, they failed to read the fine print regarding a dormant trademark clause from 1971. In a move that humiliated the Wolfsburg giant, BMW utilized a connection with the aero-engine division to "steal" the Rolls-Royce brand name for a mere £40 million—less than 10% of what VW paid for the rest of the company.This is the story of the "Green Label" hell, the awkward four-year divorce where VW was forced to build cars for their rivals, and the secret "Project Rolls-Royce" that gave birth to the modern Phantom. We look at how this comedy of errors eventually saved the British luxury industry, creating two distinct powerhouses—Bentley and Rolls-Royce—out of the wreckage of a feud between two Austrian billionaires.🔖 Hashtags: #RollsRoyce #Bentley #BMW #Volkswagen #AutomotiveStorytime #CarHistory #BusinessWars #FerdinandPiech #V12 #LuxuryCars

The Weekly Classic Newsletter: http://weeklyclassic.hassettstudios.com/Automotive Merch: https://shop.hassettstudios.com/collections/automotive (use FOREVER20 for 20% off)🎥 Video Description:The Antarctic Snow Cruiser — The 37-Ton Behemoth That Drove Backwards Into HistoryIn this episode of Automotive Storytime, Jason takes you deep into the story of the ultimate "Land Ship"—a machine so ambitious it carried an airplane on its roof, yet so flawed it was defeated by basic friction. This is the Antarctic Snow Cruiser.Born on the eve of World War II, the Snow Cruiser was America's attempt to plant a flag at the South Pole with sheer industrial might. While early explorers like Shackleton and Scott relied on dogs and endurance, Dr. Thomas Poulter envisioned a 55-foot-long mobile base that would allow men to live in "shirtsleeve comfort" while blizzards raged outside. It was a diesel-electric marvel designed to "jump" over crevasses and conquer the ice.But this monument to American engineering had a fatal Achilles' heel. In a catastrophic error of physics, its designers treated the Antarctic ice shelf like a swamp, fitting the 37-ton vehicle with massive, treadless "balloon" tires. The result? A futuristic science vessel that could barely move forward, forcing the crew to drive it 92 miles in reverse just to reach their base.Using archival records and the technical autopsy of a $3 million mistake, we explore how a vehicle decades ahead of its time in powertrain technology became a stationary dormitory buried in the snow.You’ll discover:❄️ The "Crevasse Jumper": The geometric genius behind the hydraulic suspension designed to retract its wheels and slide over 15-foot gaps in the ice. 🔋 The First Hybrid? Inside the diesel-electric powertrain that used Cummins engines and GE hub motors—decades before the Toyota Prius. 🛑 The Traffic Jam of the Century: How the Cruiser's drive from Chicago to Boston caused a 70,000-car gridlock and a crash into an Ohio creek. 🎈 The "Swamp Fallacy": Why the smooth Goodyear tires, designed to "float" on sand, turned the granular Antarctic snow into a frictionless trap. 🔄 ** The Reverse Miracle:** How the crew discovered the massive vehicle actually had better traction going backward, leading to the strangest road trip in polar history. ✈️ The Aircraft Carrier Concept: The audacity of mounting a Beechcraft Staggerwing biplane on the roof for aerial scouting. 🌊 The Final Fate: The mystery of the Cruiser's disappearance, likely entombed in a giant iceberg that calved off into the Southern Ocean.From the factory floors of Chicago to the crushing depths of the Antarctic sea, this is the story of the machine that tried to negotiate with nature, only to find that the ice doesn't compromise.🔖 Hashtags: #AntarcticSnowCruiser #EngineeringFailure #History #AutomotiveStorytime #DieselElectric #TheCarNerd #Antarctica #ExpeditionVehicles #ThomasPoulter

The Weekly Classic Newsletter: http://weeklyclassic.hassettstudios.com/Automotive Merch: https://shop.hassettstudios.com/collections/automotive (use FOREVER20 for 20% off)🎥 Video Description:The "Nazi Killer" — The Aerodynamic Genius & Fatal Flaw of the Tatra T87In this episode of Automotive Storytime, Jason takes you deep into the story of the car that looked like it landed from the future and drove like a weapon: the radical, stream-lined, and infamous Tatra T87.Decades before the world understood aerodynamics, a visionary Czech company built a machine that defied every convention of the 1930s. While Ford and Mercedes were building "bricks" that fought the wind, Tatra created a teardrop-shaped marvel with a rear-mounted magnesium V8 and a dorsal fin that belonged on an airship. +3But the T87 wasn't just a triumph of science; it was a "Trojan Horse" for the occupying forces. Legend says this car killed so many high-ranking German officers that it was known as the "Czech Secret Weapon"—a machine that lured drivers in with Autobahn luxury, only to punish them with a suspension flaw that turned physics into a death sentence. +1Using declassified history, engineering breakdowns, and the true story of the greatest intellectual property theft in automotive history, we explore how the Tatra T87 defined the future... and why Volkswagen had to pay for it decades later. +1You’ll discover:💨 How the "Zeppelin Lineage" of Paul Jaray brought airship aerodynamics to the road, achieving a drag coefficient of 0.36 in an era of 0.60 bricks ⚙️ The "Magnesium Masterpiece": Inside the air-cooled, 2.9L V8 engine that was light enough to hang behind the rear axle yet strong enough to run at full throttle all day 🦈 The Physics of the Fin: Why the car's iconic dorsal fin wasn't just for looks, but a crucial stabilizer to manage the Center of Pressure ⚠️ The "Snap Oversteer" Trap: The swing axle geometry that caused the rear wheels to tuck under during lift-off, creating the legendary "Nazi Killer" spin ⚖️ The Great VW Heist: How Ferdinand Porsche "looked over Ledwinka's shoulder" to create the Beetle, and the 1,000,000 DM settlement that finally admitted the theft 🌍 The Ultimate Road Trip: The story of Hanzelka and Zikmund driving a T87 across Africa and the Andes, proving the car was rugged, not just radical 🔮 The "What If" History: A look at how the Tatra T97 could have been the People's Car if a dictator hadn't intervened to protect the KdF-Wagen +4From the wind tunnels of the Zeppelin works to the courtrooms of the Cold War, this is the story of the car that cheated the wind but couldn't cheat history. +1🔖 Hashtags: #TatraT87 #HansLedwinka #CarHistory #AutomotiveStorytime #ClassicCars #Aerodynamics #AirCooled #NaziKiller #TheCarNerd #TatraHistory

The Weekly Classic Newsletter: http://weeklyclassic.hassettstudios.com/Automotive Merch: https://shop.hassettstudios.com/collections/automotive (use FOREVER20 for 20% off)🎥 Video Description:The Car That Detroit Tried to Kill — The Rise & Fall of the Tucker 48In this episode of Automotive Storytime, Jason takes you deep into one of the most dramatic, controversial, and misunderstood stories in automotive history: the incredible rise — and brutal destruction — of the Tucker 48.Known as the “Car of Tomorrow,” the Tucker 48 was years ahead of its time. A safer, faster, radically engineered American sedan designed by one man who refused to play by Detroit’s rules.But Preston Tucker wasn’t just building a car — he was declaring war on the industry’s biggest players. And they fought back.Using real engineering history, newly uncovered details, and the dramatic courtroom battles that followed, we explore how the Tucker 48 almost changed the auto industry forever… before being crushed by forces far more powerful than bad luck.You’ll discover:🚗 How Preston Tucker’s wild imagination and wartime engineering background shaped one of the boldest automotive startups in American history⚙️ Why the Tucker Torpedo concept was so radical that Detroit executives quietly panicked🔧 How the Tucker 48’s innovations — from safety glass, to fuel injection dreams, to its rear-engine layout — were decades ahead of their time🎬 What really happened during the 1948 unveiling, and why the car became an instant sensation🏭 The brutal reality of taking the car into production, including rushed engineering, supplier sabotage, and political pressure💥 The infamous endurance test crash, and how it was weaponized against Tucker⚖️ The legal war that followed, the accusations, the trial, and the shocking verdict that came too lateFrom engineering brilliance to corporate sabotage, empty factories to courtroom showdowns — this isn’t just a car.This is the American dream… put on trial.🕒 Chapters:0:00 — Intro2:15 — Who is Preston Tucker5:25 — The Tucker Torpedo9:04 — The Tucker 4817:08 — Unveiling the Car20:30 — Into Production25:58 — Endurance Test Crash28:25 — The Legal Problems🔖 Hashtags:#Tucker48 #PrestonTucker #CarHistory #AutomotiveStorytime #ClassicCars #AmericanCars #TuckerTorpedo #CarLegends #TheCarNerd #HistoryOfCars

NordVPN: https://nordvpn.com/hassettHosted by Jason Hassett | The Car Nerd🎥 Video Description:“Where Are My Flying Cars?” — The Wild Ride from 1894 to the Tesla TeaseIn this episode of Automotive Storytime, Jason dives deep into one of motoring’s most tantalizing dreams: the flying car. From the earliest experiments at the dawn of modern aviation to the pop-culture icons and the regulatory nightmares that keep them grounded — and finally to the modern era where Tesla’s tease reignites our hope.You’ll discover:🚀 How the first “flying car” experiments began in 1894, as engineers attempted to merge wings and wheels for the first time✈️ How the years after World War I and then World War II produced ambitious road-air hybrids that promised to change transport forever😱 The tragic 1973 failure (including accidents, technical hurdles and industry abandonments) that put a dent in the flying-car dream🎬 How pop culture (from Bond movies to cartoons) kept the fantasy alive — the flying car became the symbol of “future transport”🛩️ How in the 2000s, programs like DARPA’s Transformer and private ventures attempted VTOL and roadable aircraft — real flying-car prototypes — and what stopped them in their tracks (spoiler: regulations, certification and infrastructure)🧭 Why regulation often kills flying cars: air-space + road rules + cost + safety all colliding in one impossible intersection⚡ Finally, how Tesla & Elon Musk’s recently teased “flying Roadster” revived the question: Are flying cars finally about to become real? Musk says yes — but the devil’s in the details.If you’ve ever wondered why we still don’t all have jet-wings in our garages (despite “the day flying cars arrive” being promised for decades), this video will give you the full story — ambition, mistakes, culture, tech and maybe the next big leap.📺 More from Jason Hassett:The Jason Hassett Show: https://www.youtube.com/@TheJasonHassettShowDocumentary Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thatjasonhassettTwitter/X: https://x.com/jayhassett🔖 Hashtags:#FlyingCar #FutureTransport #TeslaRoadster #ElonMusk #AutomotiveStorytime #CarHistory #TheCarNerd #RoadableAircraft #VTOL #TransportInnovation #JetsonsIRL #AutomotiveLegends

NordVPN: https://nordvpn.com/hassettHosted by Jason Hassett | The Car Nerd🎥 Video Description:The Story of the Chrysler Turbine CarWelcome to Automotive Storytime on The Car Nerd — the series where we dig into the wildest, most ambitious, and most forgotten chapters in automotive history.In this episode, Jason Hassett takes you inside one of the most futuristic experiments ever attempted by an American automaker — the Chrysler Turbine Car, a vehicle that could run on almost anything flammable and sounded like a jet taking off.This is the story of a time when engineers believed the future would be powered by turbines — when America’s postwar optimism collided with reality, bureaucracy, and the limits of technology.In this episode, you’ll discover:🔥 How George Huebner and his secret Chrysler lab tried to bring jet power to the streets🚗 The incredible 1963 Turbine Car — handcrafted in Italy by Ghia, built for the American driveway💨 How 203 ordinary Americans were handed turbine cars to test in real life⚙️ Why Chrysler’s dream of a turbine-powered future suddenly vanished🪦 The tragic destruction of nearly all 55 cars — and the myths surrounding why🏛️ How the legacy of the Turbine Car still echoes through today’s car culture and even the U.S. militaryFrom the Jet Age’s soaring optimism to the crushing end of a technological dream, this is the unbelievable true story of the car that ran on fire — and how close America came to a turbine revolution.📺 More from Jason Hassett:The Jason Hassett Show: https://www.youtube.com/@TheJasonHassettShowDocumentary Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thatjasonhassettTwitter: https://x.com/jayhassett🔖 Hashtags:#ChryslerTurbineCar #JetAge #CarHistory #TheCarNerd #AutomotiveStorytime #ChryslerHistory #AmericanInnovation #CarCulture #EngineeringGenius #LostCars #AutomotiveIcons #JetPowered #ClassicCars #AutomotiveLegends #TurbinePower

NordVPN: https://nordvpn.com/hassettHosted by Jason Hassett | The Car Nerd🎥 Video Description:The Wild Story of Vector MotorsWelcome to Automotive Storytime on The Car Nerd — the series where we put the pedal to the metal and explore the most outrageous stories in automotive history.In this episode, Jason Hassett unravels the unbelievable tale of Vector Motors — the American dream machine that dared to take on Ferrari and Lamborghini… and almost pulled it off.This is the story of obsession, innovation, and ego — how one man’s vision for the ultimate supercar collided with reality, greed, and corporate chaos.In this episode, you’ll discover:🚀 How Gerald Wiegert’s bold dream gave birth to “America’s first supercar”💡 The groundbreaking design and aerospace engineering behind the Vector W2 and W8💸 How Hollywood hype and Wall Street money fueled a dangerous ambition⚔️ The corporate coup that tore the company apart🕵️‍♂️ The mysterious role of Indonesian conglomerate Megatech and the final downfall🔧 How Vector’s legacy still echoes through American car culture and hypercar design todayIt’s part genius, part madness — and 100% American ambition on four wheels. Buckle up, because the story of Vector Motors is one of the wildest rides in automotive history.📺 More from Jason Hassett:The Jason Hassett Show: https://www.youtube.com/@TheJasonHassettShowDocumentary Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@thatjasonhassettTwitter: https://x.com/jayhassett🔖 Hashtags:#VectorMotors #AmericanSupercar #CarHistory #TheCarNerd #AutomotiveStorytime #W8TwinTurbo #VectorW8 #HypercarHistory #AutomotiveIcons #CarCulture #EngineeringGenius #VectorMotorsStory #GeraldWiegert #AutomotiveLegends