What Is a Delorean? Who Was John Delorean? John's Dream The
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John DeLorean The DeLorean DMC-12 What is a DeLorean? This car is the brain-child of John Zachary DeLorean, an American automobile engineer and executive. This GT type production car was designed and developed in the 1970’s, but production and funding issues delayed its introduction until 1981, the year model of this exhibit car. Who was John DeLorean? John was the son of a Ford Motor Company assembly line worker named Zachary DeLorean. Zachary was a hard drinking two-fisted brawler who sided with the unions during conflicts. Despite their poverty, John was a good student and his artistic talents were noticed at a post-war WPA project. He attended Cass Technical High School, a sort of early “magnet” school for low-income neighborhoods. He earned a scholarship to Lawrence Technical Institute and a Master’s Degree in engineering from The Chrysler Institute. He worked for Studebaker-Packard and then General Motors, with many engineering patents to his credit. At GM, DeLorean quickly rose through the ranks, becoming GM’s youngest General Manager. It was DeLorean’s concept and promotion that created the Pontiac GTO and earned him the title “Mr. GTO.” He married super-model Cristina Ferrare and had two children. John’s Dream John DeLorean was an engineer at heart and wanted to build his own car. He left what most would call a “dream job” at GM to form a group of companies under the DeLorean name. The car’s appeal and DeLorean’s marketing genius prompted many small investors, like entertainer Johnny Carson to invest in this unique car. DeLorean assembled a corporate team consisting of some of the finest automobile staff in the US. As the team and financing were growing, the DeLorean was also looking for a place to build the car. Initially, several sites were considered in the United States, including Shreveport, Louisiana. Labor costs and business incentives from other countries such as Brazil and Puerto Rico appealed to the cash strapped company. The British government, desperate to revitalize war torn North Ireland, finally seduced DeLorean to build near Belfast. John DeLorean’s dream became Ireland’s dream and a new plant was built in record time. The Car It’s not easy to design and build a car from scratch, but John DeLorean knew engineering and the automobile business. This is not a “kit car” assembled from “off the shelf” parts. Almost everything was designed specifically for the DeLorean. The timeless good looks were from celebrated designer Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Designs, now famous for his design of such cars as the Alfa Romero Brera, Ferrari 250 GT, Maserati Ghibli, DeTomaso Mangusta, Lamborghini Cala, and many more. The DeLorean is a unique car with several distinguishing features. The doors are of the “gull-wing” design opened by gas struts and “crysotwist” torsion bars designed by the Grumman Aerospace. Lotus designed the “double Y” frame. The fuel tank is safely nestled in the front Y and the engine is cradled in the rear Y. That engine is an aluminum alloy V6 jointly developed by Peugeot, Renault and Volvo (designated the PRV–6). It employed a very successful early use of fuel injection by Bosch. While the car appears to be of stamped metal panels like conventional cars, it is actually a composite car with a FRP (Fiberglass Reinforced Plastic) core covered by stainless steel panels. The 304 stainless steel costs about four times conventional steel. No factory cars were ever painted, but about 4 were gold plated. Even the Craig WS450 cassette/radio was “state of the art” at the time. There was only one model of DeLorean automobile – the DMC-12 by company designation. That was part of DeLorean’s plan for an ethical car that would be “fun to drive, safe to operate, and long lasting.” DeLoreans had a long list of standard features like leather interior, a quality music system, air conditioning and turbine rims. Warranty was 50,000 miles when the industry standard was 12,000. The car was originally promoted to sell for about $15,000, but by the time it was ready for sale the sticker was nearly $30,000 and buyers often paid thousands over sticker price. Although DeLoreans were marketed for three years (1981, ’82 and ’83) most were actually manufactured in 1981. About 8,500 were manufactured in total. What Happened? Business happened. It’s hard to compete in the automotive world (ask Preston Tucker). DMC was always marginally financed and John DeLorean was warned that GM would do whatever it could to contribute to his failure (no executive leaves GM). When Great Britain reneged on it guarantees, it created a funding crisis that eventually stalled production and collapsed the delicate network of the company. Knut Grimsrut, DeLorean enthusiast and historian states, “evidence indicates that the corporation simply ran out of money. The financial demise of the company was partly influenced by several factors including a weak market, unfavorable exchange rates, and unforeseen cost overruns.” To top it all off, John Z., in an effort to find funding for the foundering enterprise, got sucked into a funding hoax set up by the FBI. He was accused of trying to fund the company through laundering money obtained from drug sales. The subsequent “celebrity trial” was a huge embarrassment of the FBI for “flagrant entrapment.” DeLorean was exonerated, but the damage was done. The company went into receivership and the inventory was sold to a salvage company named Consolidated Salvage (later KAPAC). Consolidated moved the parts to Ohio, planning to manufacture the car in the US. DeLorean Myths Didn’t the DeLorean have a Ford engine at some point? No. Various power plants were considered, but never a Ford. A Citroen mid-engine was an early favorite, but negotiations with Citroen for its purchase when it was learned that DeLorean planned to supercharge the four cylinder engine. [Hint: maybe you were thinking of the Ford powered Bricklin] I’ll bet you can’t get parts for that thing. Most parts are readily available. DeLorean was gearing up to produce 30,000 cars a year. In three years they produced fewer than 10,000. A few years ago, DeLorean Motor Company Texas (a dealer unrelated to the original company), in the Houston suburb of Humble, bought the inventory from KAPAC and moved it from Ohio to Texas. The warehouse is stacked high with everything from lug nuts to crate engines. Parts cost about what you pay for OEM parts at a GM or Ford dealer. Did DeLorean really try to smuggle cocaine in the gas tank? Nope. There was never any legitimate belief, much less proof, that John DeLorean, the company, or the car had anything to do with the sale of drugs. I heard John DeLorean is going to start producing the cars again. Naaahh. John’s dead and therefore ill prepared to start making cars again. He had some thoughts of doing it while he was alive, but legal battles over the company and finances prevented that. You can, however, buy a “re- manufactured” DeLorean from DMC Texas (starting about $40,000) or DeLorean One (over $70,000). It looks like the “Back to the Future” car… That’s no myth. The DeLorean was used in all three of Steven Spielberg’s movies starring Michael J. Fox as “Marty McFly” and Christopher Lloyd as “Doc Brown.” .