FOUNDER BARRICADES OFFICE IN `WALL STREET'S WACO'

                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: FRIDAY, March 26, 1993                   TAG: 9303260190
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES                                LENGTH: Medium
FOUNDER BARRICADES OFFICE IN `WALL STREET'S WACO'
Fired by his board of directors, the founder of a "supercar" company changed the locks, posted armed guards and holed up at his corporate compound in what investors are calling "Wall Street's Waco."
Gerald A. Wiegert refused to budge from Vector Aeromotive Corp., which makes high-performance cars.
Wiegart said Thursday he'll give up peacefully if a judge rules against him at a hearing today.
A real estate partnership that owns some of Vector's buildings posted a back-rent demand for $10,800 on the front door Thursday morning.
Wiegert remained inside Vector with a handful of armed guards and a few loyal employees, as other company officials sought a court order forcing him to leave.
Wiegert, Vector's founder, was voted out Monday by the board, which alleged mismanagement and financial abuses. In response, he had the locks changed, hired the guards and sealed up the company's four buildings Wednesday with himself inside.
The vote that ousted him as chairman, chief executive and president "was not a legal board meeting," he said Thursday by telephone.
He said he had planned to force out several officers and directors for failing him, so they rebelled while he was debuting his new Avtech WX3 car - starting price $239,000 - at an auto show in Geneva this month.
Wiegert's flamboyant style matched his company's high-performance vehicles, made with materials used in spaceships and fighter jets.
Officials and stockholders say that style masked greed, deceit and a long chain of disgruntled investors, including a group of Indonesians who helped oust Wiegert.
Critics say that whatever his flair for design and sales, Wiegert is a rotten businessman, spending company money more freely on his office, home and girlfriend than on producing cars.
John Pope, one of the directors who voted Wiegert out Monday, said Vector needs a cash infusion to continue. He said he believed that the Indonesians can be persuaded to invest another $2 million and that additional investors can be found - but only if Wiegert steps aside.

by Archana Subramaniam by CNB