This Vector M12, chassis 001, also known as “American Anthem,” is the very car that appeared on the cover of duPont REGISTRY’s October 1996 issue. Nearly three decades later, it is headed to Barrett-Jackson following a recent appearance at Donuts with duPont at our Lebanon, Tennessee location. Mission Motorsports, the Franklin, Tennessee dealership run by Alex Demetriades, has the car consigned ahead of the sale.
What makes this M12 special is the now iconic American-themed livery. White stars cover the deep blue nose and roof, red and white stripes sweep toward the tail, and the Statue of Liberty spans the hood and doors. Gold accents connect the artwork with the three-spoke wheels and oversized number 1 graphics along both flanks, while vivid blue upholstery carries the theme into the cabin. Designer Michael Santoro signed the work, and a plaque at the rear still identifies the car as “American Anthem” and production #1-001.
Vector CEO D. Peter Rose gave him a simple brief: create a show car that would draw attention, emphasize the M12’s American production, and hint at a future racing program. Instead of simply applying the Stars and Stripes to the body, Santoro stretched and distorted the motif to suggest the M12 had torn through the flag at speed.
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Even without the stunning livery, the M12 is unmistakably a product of the 1990s. The wedge-shaped nose, steeply raked wraparound windshield, scissor doors, integrated rear wing and deep side intakes combine to create a low-slung profile that belongs to a very particular era of supercar design. Three decades later, those proportions still make the car look almost impossibly dramatic.
The M12 itself arrived during one of Vector’s strangest chapters. After Indonesian conglomerate MegaTech took control of the company, Vector relocated from California to Florida and came under the same corporate ownership as Lamborghini. The M12 consequently used a Lamborghini-sourced, mid-mounted 5.7-liter V12 producing 492 horsepower, paired with a five-speed manual gearbox. Previous duPont REGISTRY coverage puts production at just 14 customer cars, excluding prototypes.
Chassis 001 seen here was one of the first M12s prepared for the model’s public debut at the 1996 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Later that year, American Anthem became part of duPont REGISTRY history. Our October 1996 issue featured chassis 001 on the cover beneath a U.S. Navy Blue Angels F/A-18, while an Auto Panache advertisement inside offered the then-new M12 for $189,000 and described it as a “jet fighter concept for the roads.” The car also resurfaced last year in our duPont REGISTRY 40th Anniversary - Cover Cars: 1996 retrospective, which revisited some of the magazine’s standout covers from that year.
30 years on, bringing the original issue back together with the same car at Donuts with duPont made for a rare reunion between a cover and its original subject. Mission Motorsports is now bringing American Anthem back into the public eye ahead of Barrett-Jackson later this month, adding another chapter to a car that has spent much of its life moving between spectacle and seclusion.
Images: Willis Weese
