DeLorean Dead at 80

[AlecWest]

Fans of the "Back To The Future" movies may remember the car but may not remember the man who created them. John DeLorean has passed away:

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=598060

[yoda313]

Hello,

Sad....

But didn't know he was a native DETROITER

Kevin

[Noahtuck]

Yep... too bad definately an icon of the auto world....
I thought he was pretty famous and his car way before BTTF came out ?
At least i knew who he was before that, but i grew up with 3 older brother's and they were all gearheads and all have a thing for GM 8)
I remember when he went on his own, me and my brother went to look at a DeLorean when they first hit the dealer in Grand Rapids because he was thinking about buying one.
I was about 16 maybe and my brother was 26. long time ago so it's hard to remember exactly when

[jackal70058]

You don't have to be a Back tothe Future fan to appreciate the DeLoran.
There's not many of them left!

[Noahtuck]

You don't have to be a Back tothe Future fan to appreciate the DeLoran.
There's not many of them left!

Here Here!!!!!!!!!
Too bad thing's went the way they did for him

I was telling my best friend of 15+ years (his G'Pa & him collect weird expensive sports car's most never heard of) today that he died after reading this thread and he was talking about back when he (DeLorean) was arrested and he had a chance to buy a brand new one for a mere $10,000.00 and passed it up because he did'nt think they would end up being worth anything!!!!

[smearbrick1]

Actually you can pick up a Delorean relatively cheap. I've seen them for as little as $10,000 already. Too bad they had crap engines in them. I guess some sacrifices had to be made to save costs.

Believe it or not, you can still get parts for them. Used to be at www.deloreanmotorcars.com.

Stainless steel... very cool.

[tgpo]

It's true. My uncle bought one thinking it was money in his hand, but if you look around you can get some with only a few hundred miles on it for next to nothing.

I drove my uncle's around a little and I gotta say, the car really is crap inside. Yes it looks cool on the outside, but the weather stripping on the doors comes off every other day, the inside feels like a cheap Ford Festiva, and the engine felt like it was previously in a VW Beatle.

Pretty car? Yes. Worth the money? No.

[smearbrick1]

Even if John Delorean wouldn't have been convicted of drug trafficking (or whatever it was... trying to negotiate a cocaine deal to save his company), the company was destined for failure. He promised middle class price with upper class performance. What people got was, middle to upper class price ($20,000 at the time was far from cheap) and mediocre performance. The car only had a 2.8 liter Renault engine in it. And like TGPO said, the interior components were crap. The Back To The Future movies really made the Delorean look like a lot more than it was.

[tgpo]

The Back To The Future movies really made the Delorean look like a lot more than it was.

Yeah. They made it look like it a drivable car

[AlecWest]

I don't know much about the car. But DeLorean was a mover and shaker (remember the film, "Tucker") who had the cojones to challenge the big boys in Detroit. While the drug embroglio surrounding him was unfortunate, we do need more movers and shakers like him in this world.

[Noahtuck]

First off... he was NEVER convicted
Second, ANY car if not taken care of and driven on a daily basis without being kept up is gonna fall apart and have problems
Give me the best built car in the world and daily driving for acouple of years it will be shit
My buddie has one of the first beetles, with a acouple of thousand original miles, the original paint & it look's like it just came out of the show room!!
Because it was kept up, his wife wanted it and when they went to pick it up the collector they bought it from freaked because his wife was driving it home instead of trailering it
He has had people offer him a shit load of money for it and to me, i would'nt want it for free
Depends on what you like and how you take care of it

[smearbrick1]

I believe VW Beetles are well known for their reliability. Too bad VW can't make a decent car now. Unfortunately, Delorean is synonamous with poorly contructed (although well thought out) cars.

This begs the question:
How has Lamborghini been able to build some of the most cheaply put together, unreliable piles of crap (they are pretty, I'll give them that), yet get people to believe they are this wonderful exotic sportscars?

[yoda313]

Hello,

tgpo[/url]]Yeah. They made it look like it a drivable car

Didn't the engine stall out twice in Back to the Future 1?????

Kevin

--You know when he hides the car behind the sign at Lyon Estates in 1955 and when he comes back to stop the terrorists from shooting DOC but the car dies again... Oh and just before he goes back to 1985 the car stalls when the alarm goes off... That's THREE stalls in one movie!!!

Hard to believe you can call that good press.....

Kevin

[Will Hay]

He was a ******* crook who single-handedly put hundreds out of work due to years of mis-management and fraud.
Still, God bless, eh?
Will

[Doramius]

Sad about THe man. He never got the proper funding for his venture to do it the way he originally wanted to. He even had to start the business in Ireland. Not his first choice. However, you can buy the KIT-CAR DeLorean with stainless steel body and the double-Y frame. Get a proper interior for it and drop in a GM V6 on it's side. The cost is a bit much to do it though. An actual Delorean was never used in any of the filming of Back to the Future. All of them were KIT-CARS. Or at least that's what Universal claims.

[Tool Man]

I visited the old factory a while ago, it's not far from me.
I think DeLorean was still offically wanted in the UK for fraud.
As for the build quality, it's the ONLY car we ever built here! What do you expect?

[BJ_M]

http://www.dmcnews.com/BuyNSell/dmcforsale.html


lots for sale -- looks like prices have jumped - but one there for sale for 5000$ still (needs engine)

[lordsmurf]

I've seen good ones for about $15,000 range many times in past years. This even includes ones with struts replaced (better ones) and a kill switch for the electrical problems.

I'd like one myself, as a big toy, but I have to settle for the $20 model for now.

[Doramius]

I'll see if there's a site for it, but there is a limo service that has a strech DeLorean as one of their cars. It's called "LUCKY STRECH LIMOS". They have strech Corvette's, Corvair's, Rolls Royce's, Dodge 2500's, Durango's, Mustang's, 57' Chevy's and a bunch of others. I've seen the DeLorean around a couple of times. Always wondered how they did it because of it's unique frame and body style. My guess is it's a KIT-CAR modification, but it still looks cool and has the DMC-DeLorean Logo's on it.

[yoda313]

Hello,

I think I remember hearing that you can't park the delorean anywhere because of the doors!! I mean think about it - you'd have to be sure no one parks next to you to get back into the car!

Still an ingenious design.....

Kevin

[BJ_M]

Even if John Delorean wouldn't have been convicted of drug trafficking (or whatever it was... trying to negotiate a cocaine deal to save his company), the company was destined for failure. He promised middle class price with upper class performance. What people got was, middle to upper class price ($20,000 at the time was far from cheap) and mediocre performance. The car only had a 2.8 liter Renault engine in it. And like TGPO said, the interior components were crap. The Back To The Future movies really made the Delorean look like a lot more than it was.

acually more volvo engine than Renault, but its a common error ..

It's a Peugeot Renault Volvo V6 (PRV-6) 2849cc Bosch K-Jet fuel injected SOHC 90 degree V6. It's a US emission-controlled amalgum of the Renault 30 and Volvo B28 engines. It's often mistaken for a Renault engine due to the belts, pulleys, alternator and water pump using the Renault configuration, but the internals are common to the Volvo engine. The transmission is a slightly modified version of the R30's (both 3-speed auto and 5-speed manual). The gears are taller and the transaxle is rotated through 180 degrees for rear-mounting. The PRV-6 has been a popular choice among kit-car enthusiasts for years due to its flexibility and availability. The 3-litre 24 valve version of the PRV-6 was in new production cars up until only a few short years ago, for example in the Citroen Xantia V6 and Renault Espace V6.
The engine only develops 130bhp. However the exhaust system is terrible for performance, and the catalytic converter makes it doubly bad. Just removing the cat can gain you 10-15hp. A free-flowing stainless exhaust can free up getting on for twice that, and remember the Volvo B28E engine of the time put out 170hp, and the differences are not massive... One of the upgrades DMUK offer is the modification to the Volvo version of the engine. Cosmetically, only a very trained eye will spot any differences. On the other hand, a more adventurous owner might consider the 3-litre 24valve PRV which can be tuned to 250-300hp, and the most powerful version is the 450hp 3-litre turbo used in the Renault Alpine A610, another rear-engined sportscar, with exactly the same engine mounts and bellhousing as the DeLorean.

Q: Why does the speedo only go up to 85mph?
A: It was a regulation in the US at the time. Corvettes of the same years also have 85mph speedos. The Canadian version carried a 240kph speedo, some of the Right-hand drive prototypes carry a 140mph face and theres a commonly available 170mph aftermarket replacement.

Q: What happens when you hit 88mph / Where's the flux Capacitor / when are you going back to the future / where's the cocaine then?
A: Ha ha. Very funny.

Q: How many were made?
A: Recently discovered documentation puts the numbers at around or just over 9000 were built, most are in North America. Commonly quoted figures are of around 6000 worldwide with maybe 250 or so in Europe, a few in Australia, Hong Kong etc. 23 or so right-hand drive ones exist, primarily in England, Ireland and Australia.

[lordsmurf]

Hello,

I think I remember hearing that you can't park the delorean anywhere because of the doors!! I mean think about it - you'd have to be sure no one parks next to you to get back into the car!

Still an ingenious design.....

Kevin

Only people that have never been in one say this. The gull wing design requires no more open room than a regular car. In fact, your door swings open farther on average than the max spanse of the gullwing needs.

Just don't park two of them side by side. That may pose a problem opening at the same time. Then again, the same can be said about normal cars.

[smearbrick1]

Hello,

I think I remember hearing that you can't park the delorean anywhere because of the doors!! I mean think about it - you'd have to be sure no one parks next to you to get back into the car! :D

Still an ingenious design.....

Kevin

Not really an issue with the Delorean. The Ford GT... that's different story.

[BJ_M]

i'll still take a ford GT over a Delorean any day

[Doramius]

I wonder if a new frame & body (similar to the original) can be designed to allow a HEMI or SCORPION engine. I know it's totally different makes of car, but it'd be a revision of an original design anyway. I'm sure you could take a camaro or Corvette engine out and swap it into a revised design. The body and frame are the key points to the DeLorean that are worth keeping.

[BJ_M]

I wonder if a new frame & body (similar to the original) can be designed to allow a HEMI or SCORPION engine. I know it's totally different makes of car, but it'd be a revision of an original design anyway. I'm sure you could take a camaro or Corvette engine out and swap it into a revised design. The body and frame are the key points to the DeLorean that are worth keeping.

a 450hp 3-litre turbo used in the Renault Alpine A610 is a direct drop in - if you read my post above ..


or a newer 3-litre 24valve PRV for 250HP for only about $2000-3000 is also a direct drop in fit ....

[adam]

My friend had one in high school until it got totalled. It really did feel and drive like a piece of crap, but it was alot of fun driving in that car. Anytime there was any kind of stretch in the road we'd always try to get up to 88. How can you resist?

[Doramius]

My friend had one in high school until it got totalled. It really did feel and drive like a piece of crap, but it was alot of fun driving in that car. Anytime there was any kind of stretch in the road we'd always try to get up to 88. How can you resist?

Time might prohibit. :P

[smearbrick1]

My friend had one in high school until it got totalled. It really did feel and drive like a piece of crap, but it was alot of fun driving in that car. Anytime there was any kind of stretch in the road we'd always try to get up to 88. How can you resist?

It's a shame that a car that looked that good (aside from the 4x4 looking front suspension) had to be pushed to get to 88. Looking at it, you would swear it would perform (power wise) like a DeTomaso Pantera or even a Lotus.

[yoda313]

Hello,

Sorry lordsmurf - guess I fell to the common myths..... Just looks awkward I guess.

Now those doors on the lamborghinis that pull straight up!!!!!! I want one!!!!

Kevin