diff --git a/include/boost/compute/types/fundamental.hpp b/include/boost/compute/types/fundamental.hpp
index c1502e32..a487b14a 100644
--- a/include/boost/compute/types/fundamental.hpp
+++ b/include/boost/compute/types/fundamental.hpp
@@ -44,33 +44,89 @@ typedef cl_double double_;
 #define BOOST_COMPUTE_MAKE_VECTOR_TYPE(scalar, size) \
     BOOST_PP_CAT(BOOST_PP_CAT(::boost::compute::scalar, size), _)
 
+namespace detail {
+
+// specialized vector_type base classes that provide the
+// (x,y), (x,y,z,w), (s0..s7), (s0..sf) accessors
+template<class Scalar, size_t N> class vector_type_desc;
+
+template<class Scalar>
+class vector_type_desc<Scalar, 2>
+{
+public:
+    Scalar x, y;
+
+    Scalar& operator[](size_t i)
+    {
+        return (&x)[i];
+    }
+
+    const Scalar operator[](size_t i) const
+    {
+        return (&x)[i];
+    }
+};
+
+template<class Scalar>
+class vector_type_desc<Scalar, 4> : public vector_type_desc<Scalar, 2>
+{
+public:
+    Scalar z, w;
+};
+
+template<class Scalar>
+class vector_type_desc<Scalar, 8>
+{
+public:
+    Scalar s0, s1, s2, s3, s4, s5, s6, s7;
+
+    Scalar& operator[](size_t i)
+    {
+        return (&s0)[i];
+    }
+
+    const Scalar operator[](size_t i) const
+    {
+        return (&s0)[i];
+    }
+};
+
+template<class Scalar>
+class vector_type_desc<Scalar, 16> : public vector_type_desc<Scalar, 8>
+{
+public:
+    Scalar s8, s9, sa, sb, sc, sd, se, sf;
+};
+
+} // end detail namespace
+
 // vector data types
 template<class Scalar, size_t N>
-class vector_type
+class vector_type : public detail::vector_type_desc<Scalar, N>
 {
 public:
     typedef Scalar scalar_type;
 
     vector_type()
     {
-
+        BOOST_STATIC_ASSERT(sizeof(Scalar) * N == sizeof(vector_type<Scalar, N>));
     }
 
     explicit vector_type(const Scalar scalar)
     {
         for(size_t i = 0; i < N; i++)
-            m_value[i] = scalar;
+            (*this)[i] = scalar;
     }
 
     vector_type(const vector_type<Scalar, N> &other)
     {
-        std::memcpy(m_value, other.m_value, sizeof(m_value));
+        std::memcpy(this, &other, sizeof(Scalar) * N);
     }
 
     vector_type<Scalar, N>&
     operator=(const vector_type<Scalar, N> &other)
     {
-        std::memcpy(m_value, other.m_value, sizeof(m_value));
+        std::memcpy(this, &other, sizeof(Scalar) * N);
         return *this;
     }
 
@@ -79,28 +135,15 @@ class vector_type
         return N;
     }
 
-    Scalar& operator[](size_t i)
-    {
-        return m_value[i];
-    }
-
-    Scalar operator[](size_t i) const
-    {
-        return m_value[i];
-    }
-
     bool operator==(const vector_type<Scalar, N> &other) const
     {
-        return std::memcmp(m_value, other.m_value, sizeof(m_value)) == 0;
+        return std::memcmp(this, &other, sizeof(Scalar) * N) == 0;
     }
 
     bool operator!=(const vector_type<Scalar, N> &other) const
     {
         return !(*this == other);
     }
-
-protected:
-    scalar_type m_value[N];
 };
 
 #define BOOST_COMPUTE_VECTOR_TYPE_CTOR_ARG_FUNCTION(z, i, _) \
@@ -108,9 +151,9 @@ class vector_type
 #define BOOST_COMPUTE_VECTOR_TYPE_DECLARE_CTOR_ARGS(scalar, size) \
     BOOST_PP_REPEAT(size, BOOST_COMPUTE_VECTOR_TYPE_CTOR_ARG_FUNCTION, _)
 #define BOOST_COMPUTE_VECTOR_TYPE_ASSIGN_CTOR_ARG(z, i, _) \
-    m_value[i] = BOOST_PP_CAT(arg, i);
+    (*this)[i] = BOOST_PP_CAT(arg, i);
 #define BOOST_COMPUTE_VECTOR_TYPE_ASSIGN_CTOR_SINGLE_ARG(z, i, _) \
-    m_value[i] = arg;
+    (*this)[i] = arg;
 
 #define BOOST_COMPUTE_DECLARE_VECTOR_TYPE_CLASS(cl_scalar, size, class_name) \
     class class_name : public vector_type<cl_scalar, size> \
diff --git a/test/test_types.cpp b/test/test_types.cpp
index 3bc7cff9..3ee0e791 100644
--- a/test/test_types.cpp
+++ b/test/test_types.cpp
@@ -42,3 +42,56 @@ BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(vector_string)
     stream << boost::compute::int2_(1, 2);
     BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(stream.str(), std::string("int2(1, 2)"));
 }
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(vector_accessors_basic)
+{
+    boost::compute::float4_ v;
+    v.x = 1;
+    v.y = 2;
+    v.z = 3;
+    v.w = 4;
+    BOOST_CHECK(v == boost::compute::float4_(1, 2, 3, 4));
+}
+
+BOOST_AUTO_TEST_CASE(vector_accessors_all)
+{
+    boost::compute::int2_ i2(1, 2);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i2.x, 1);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i2.y, 2);
+
+    boost::compute::int4_ i4(1, 2, 3, 4);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i4.x, 1);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i4.y, 2);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i4.z, 3);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i4.w, 4);
+
+    boost::compute::int8_ i8(1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i8.s0, 1);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i8.s1, 2);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i8.s2, 3);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i8.s3, 4);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i8.s4, 5);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i8.s5, 6);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i8.s6, 7);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i8.s7, 8);
+
+    boost::compute::int16_ i16(
+        1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8,
+        9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.s0, 1);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.s1, 2);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.s2, 3);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.s3, 4);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.s4, 5);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.s5, 6);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.s6, 7);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.s7, 8);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.s8, 9);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.s9, 10);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.sa, 11);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.sb, 12);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.sc, 13);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.sd, 14);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.se, 15);
+    BOOST_CHECK_EQUAL(i16.sf, 16);
+}