Odd Cars....did you own one?

[Capmaster]

they also had a tendency to catch fire -

Not a good selling point

[Doramius]

Here's some good info on DeLorian:

Delorian History

John Z. DeLorean

Engineer, and of 'DeLorean Car Fame'

Although it has been long forgotten by the mainstream world of automobile purchasers, a car from the latter year of 1981 was introduced to an American society with open arms. The car was the DMC-12 manufactured by DMC (DeLorean Motor Company). The name "DeLorean" came from John Z. DeLorean, the company's founder. The DeLorean was considered a landmark in construction and engineering by many, but others just considered it ugly. No matter what your opinion of its looks, the history that soon followed can not be ignored.

The story begins with John Z. DeLorean, the son of a Detroit autoworker. DeLorean entered college on a music scholarship but left with a Master's Degree in Industrial Engineering and Business Administration. He was soon hired by General Motors at age 24, which began his decent into automotive history.

In the 60's he helped GM make the change from large heavy cars to smaller efficient cars, thus resulting in huge sales increases from GM's Pontiac division. At age 41 he became the youngest division manager in the company's history. By age 44 DeLorian divorced his wife of 15 years and married a famous football player's 19-year-old daughter. This marriage soon fizzled and in 1973 he walked away from a $650,000 job with GM to, in his own words, "Show them how to build cars". By 1974 DeLorean had pulled together $175 million in investor capitol and formed DeLorean Motor Company. Factory locations were investigated in Detroit and Puerto Rico, but the final destination was Dunmurry in Northern Ireland. After numerous prototypes were built and testing complete the DMC-12, the first and only model of DeLorean too ever be built, presumed production in 1981. Although the public's interest in his product was very high, DeLorean's investors were not providing enough capitol to keep the company afloat and he began having severe financial trouble. Nearly one year later DeLorean was busted in a government sting operation while being videotaped trying to broker a $24 million dollar cocaine deal to rescue his company. Two years later DeLorean was freed by a Federal Jury as a victim of entrapment and was acquitted of all charges. DeLorean's credibility had been destroyed along with the chances of the DMC-12 resuming production.


The DMC-12 was only produced for three years (1981-1983), in which time only 8,583 units were manufactured aside from the prototypes and test vehicles. Production numbers were as follows, 6539 were built in 1981, 1126 were built in 1982, and 918 were built in 1983. The DMC-12's engine was a PRV (Peugeot-Renault-Volvo) model that was a fuel injected, aluminum, 2.8 litter V6, for which parts are still readily available. The car's aluminum chassis was designed by Lotus in a double "Y" manner protecting both the car and passengers in an accident.


For its time, the DeLorean DMC-12 was a futuristic exotic. From its 44.9 inch ground to roof ride height to its gull wing doors to its leather-stitched bucket seats and spacious interior, this was a unique automobile. This automobile is like nothing else and probably never will be. The DeLorean features the engine mid mounted into the chassis allowing 0-60 times in less than 8 seconds without wheel spin. The car was praised by many as being an experience, more than just a driving machine. Today these cars are valued from $15,000 to $40,000 with the acceptation of four 24K gold plated models.


The original two 24K gold plated cars were built for an American Express Christmas catalog. One hundred were planned but only the two mentioned saw production, one that still remains intact. Later on, two more were assembled in America but are not as highly regarded as the originals.

With a look like no other and a history like no other the DMC-12 has surely became a landmark in automotive design. While we have only touched the surface of DeLorean history I hope I have reminded someone of a car they once owned or admired, or at least helped arouse someone's interest of finding one of these rare automobiles.

[Capmaster]

they also had a tendency to catch fire -

Not a good selling point

[SquirrelDip]

the 914 GT / 6 was hot car ... was raced a lot

I couldn't agree more! Hot cars anre not made by power alone. The 914 was quick, light and handled great. I remember reading about the 916 and hoping it came to Canada - never went into production...

[Doramius]

Here's our favored Delorean.

[BJ_M]

DeLorean's engine was weak, they could have used so many other great engines but wimped out..

It was never a performance car as it could have been (it didnt spin its tires because it couldn't - didnt have the balls)

[Doramius]

If the car company was around today, it would have had a few more ballzy cars. It had a crappy engine because they had no money to fund it. However, the car has great ability to retrofit many different GM car motors. A little thing Delorean took advantage of.

[BJ_M]

the Chevrolet Citation X-11 blew its gull wings doors off, one of the most underrated GM cars made - in fact the Citation 's front was turned around and was the engine was used in the only rear engined main stream GM car of the 80's /90's

[hech54]

Seeing Chevrolet Chevette interior parts (like door handles) in that DeLorean really turned me off of that car.
They do look cool painted too though.

[BJ_M]

If the car company was around today, it would have had a few more ballzy cars. It had a crappy engine because they had no money to fund it. However, the car has great ability to retrofit many different GM car motors. A little thing Delorean took advantage of.

they used off the shelf Volvo cast iron engine because they had to to get tax credits i understand and it was cheap ... they could have used a merc or saab engine instead - or even the tried and proven alum V8 that rover was stuffing into everything - that came from gm in the 60's in the first place (and is still used) for not a lot more money ..

[BJ_M]

anyone can name this very rare car ?

[MOVIEGEEK]

'55 Chevy Nomad?

[BJ_M]

'55 Chevy Nomad?

you got it -- 300 made only and 90% still on the road ...

[hech54]

Another strange one....1973 Ford Maverick "Grabber"...saw a blue two tone one once....didn't look as nice as this one.

I believe the Grabber came with a 302 and a 4 speed.

[sacajaweeda]

You could get it with the 250 six and the C4 auto as well. That's how mine was - and it was the blue & gold 2-tone.

[hech54]

I knew a car dealer(used) that had that blue Grabber I mentioned
for YEARS (he still may have it). It had a 302 - 4 speed
and he thought that thing was a rolling gold mine.
He overpaid for (at the auto auction I used to work at)
and was asking WAY too much for it at
his dealership...what an idiot.

[sacajaweeda]

They weren't bad. Punchy little cars, even with the six banger in it. I think they only weighed like 2800 pounds or so.

[Tool Man]

Tim Allen had a nice Nomad in the show. I believe it was sold on eBay a while ago.

I've been at the old DeLorean factory, just a few miles from me. Ford makes alloy wheels there now.
The first and last car built here Wonder why?

[awlchu]

Creative way of (re)using a 1959 Buick

[Capmaster]

Tim Allen had a nice Nomad in the show. I believe it was sold on eBay a while ago.

I've been at the old DeLorean factory, just a few miles from me. Ford makes alloy wheels there now.
The first and last car built here Wonder why?

No trees J/K. I have no idea.

I was sorry to see DeLorean blow it with that unwise decision to get involved in cocaine trafficking to finance his car factory. It was a great car, if a bit underpowered. The stainless steel skin was genius Just hose it off once in a while, you didn't even need to dry it

[BJ_M]

stainless had some drawbacks also...

one is it is a lot harder material and wore out stampers quicker , plus you couldnt bend it (in the stamping machine) in as nice a shapes as you could with steel.

another problem is it can not be picked up with a magnet, they would have to use suction or manual labour to move the panels around ..

[Capmaster]

A common misconception BJ_M

Magnetic permeability is the ability of a material to carry magnetism, indicated by the degree to which it is attracted to a magnet. All stainless steels, with the exception of the austenitic group, are strongly attracted to a magnet

http://www.azom.com/details.asp?ArticleID=1140

Maybe cost drove him to use austenitic SS (304 is in this group) if he indeed did use a non-magnetic SS

[BJ_M]

Actually i am right - because of the type they used (and is most common) , otherwise non-austenitic SS has some bad tendencies..

Stainless steels are a very broad group of metals. The name was adopted as a generic term for steel alloys with a minimum of 10.5% chromium. The chromium gives the steel its 'stainless' properties - essentially corrosion resistance. On the surface of the metal, a very thin chromium-rich oxide layer is formed which is inert - i.e. it prevents the steel from rusting. The advantage of stainless steels over plated steels is that, if scratched or damaged, the steel will 'self-repair' as a new oxide layer is formed. In plated steels, scratches in the plate will often lead to corrosion of the steel underneath.

Stainless steel in general, the higher the proportion of chromium, the stronger the corrosion resistance of the steel. In addition to chromium, other metals are added to give the steel particular properties such as strength and malleability. Specifically nickel is used to strengthen the oxide layer.

As for whether they are magnetic, the answer is that it depends. There are several families of stainless steels with different physical properties. A basic stainless steel has a 'ferritic' structure and is magnetic. These are formed from the addition of chromium and can be hardened through the addition of carbon (making them 'martensitic') and are often used in cutlery. However, the most common stainless steels are 'austenitic' - these have a higher chromium content and nickel is also added. It is the nickel which modifies the physical structure of the steel and makes it non-magnetic.

So the answer is yes, the magnetic properties of stainless steel are very dependent on the elements added into the alloy, and specifically the addition of nickel can change the structure from magnetic to non-magnetic.

Commercial kitchen grade SS is all non magnetic also....


Plus that link you gave is from austrialia - and you know they are backwards there anyway as they are upside down.....

[BJ_M]

a quick answer is that cheap SS is magnetic and expensive SS is non-magnetic

[Doramius]

Delorean Used a high Chromium rich oxide and nickel balance, which is why Delorian bodies can look so good as time passes. They were also built for safety. The YY construction of the frame was better in safety than what Volvo ever had.

With the cocaine bust, he was let go on all charges. In fact, though rarely talked about, he had asked GM for help in it's financing, but they declined his offer. A few of the CEO's of GM gave the alternative to DeLorean, to which he accepted at a very late point in time. He didn't want to do it. It was also a tipoff to the Drug Officials, from someone at GM, that the drug activity was happening. They used it as a way to eliminate competition. The Big 3 have used several different tactics through time to eliminate or suffocate certain competition. Those CEOs of GM later Resigned their positions and 1 was busted in Mexico for a drug bust in the mid to late 80's.

I hope they do a new and complete story about the DeLorean Motor Company. Something similar to Tucker. That would be pretty cool to see.

[BJ_M]

John DeLorean sadly enough is bankrupt now and lost his house and other assets ...

he also has been really railroaded .. unfairly .. he has a web site here and copies of the legal crap http://www.deloreancarshow.com/jzd/index.htm

[sacajaweeda]

What was the old joke about your rebate is in the trunk of your new DeLorean?

[Doramius]

There's even probably more too it than is being said or known. I highly doubt that DeLorean was anywhere near high fault on the whole thing, but it got his company shut down and threw a huge blacklist to his name. Honestly, I'm sure if a new car company got ahold of him and tried to push forth a new type of car using some or many of Delorean's ideas, that car would be pretty popular, powerful, and stylish that lasts a LONG time.

[hech54]

Doramius reminded me of my other two cars:

Terrible pictures but....the top car is an 85 Toyota Celica Supra.
The bottom one is a 1993 (and 1/2) Toyota Celica.
It's hard to make out but the Celica has the Toyota
Emblem on the hood (instead of the word Toyota on
the black of the nose cone) and the BIG driving l
ights in the front spoiler. Most Celica's didn't have these features.
I had it for about a month and someone
asked me "Excuse me...what year is that Celica?"
....that is exactly how I bought mine....I asked another 1993 1/2
Celica owner the same question...

The Supra was the coolest looking car I ever
had and pretty quick too. That one was an
automatic but it chirped tire in second gear
....after that it was pretty "normal" as far
as performance goes. The Celica would beat
it in a flat out race.....if I was able to drive
both at the same time...

[Tool Man]

No trees J/K. I have no idea.

Well basically, because it was crap. DeLorean had all these grand idea's but ended up cutting corners to get the car finished quicker. Rather than design the hi-tech parts he wanted, he used a Lotus chasis, a Renault engine, Ford Cortina brakes and so on. And then he built his factory here in Northern Ireland???? We knew NOTHING about building cars, ships yes, and even then, our most famous one sank on it's first voyage .
The built quality on the cars was absolute crap, in fact the first batch were so bad, they had to be stripped and rebuilt when they reached the dealers in America.