Right before buying my 308, I tested a DMC. Great looking but MUCH slower and pretty poor in the corners. I agree with the other posts here: not really well built. The fit and finish was pretty shabby. Funny thing though, my (then) 17 year old son was SO disappointed I chose the 308 over the DMC. He still brings it up to this day when we go for drives. Oh well, when he has enough money to pick out his toy, I'm sure the tables will turn!
Gentlemen, I own a Concours winning DeLorean, so I feel knowledgeable enough to comment. There are too many misconceptions floating around about this car. While the car is not obnoxiously fast, it certainly isn't a boring ride. Being that it was produced in the early eighties it suffers from emissions strangulation. 0-60 in 6.5 seconds with the manual, certainly not the 10.5 perpetually being re-printed from one mag to another. It is very well put together. Certainly on par with its contemporaries. The 5 speed is far superior to the auto, that is for sure. $20K, nowadays will get you a driver that needs work. A "good" car will set you back higher $30s. Concours, a lot more respectively. They definitely don't like to sit. The price of admission might be cheap and most parts are reasonable in comparison but thats it. The DeLorean is every bit as striking and exotic as anything out there then or, now. There were electrical problems with the door locks which if you locked, unlocked and locked the doors in succession the solenoids would jam. All trivial, with modern updated components. The alternators were barely powerful enough handle the loads too. Don't forget people would return to find the car dead after letting it sit for weeks, sound familiar?? The fascias will distort around the headlights in certain environments over time unless reinforced. Quite dependable if serviced actually. At 2,700 lbs, the car is lively enough. Some say that the ride height was raised to accommodate federal legislation, as in "as delivered". Many, myself included have lowered the suspension to the supposed engineering height. The car rides tight and is extremely communicative (thank you Lotus). It handles like its on rails. The interior is quite comfortable, with plenty of leg and headroom. Very easy to take long drives in this car. You do feel every last bump on the road though. The stainless can be scratched by careless handwashing etc..This sends me up a wall as re-graining is not easy. If you touch the exterior you will leave stubborn fingerprints. Fit and finish is typical of hand built (which they are) assembly. No BMW perfection but I never owned an 81 BMW either. The interior is where it stands out IMO although, some might find it claustrophobic. It feels like a cockpit. I would imagine the very same that would find a Mangusta, a Miura, or a Countach equally so. Back to the Future references are cool if they come from little kids. Everyone stops and looks at the car though. The misconceptions are legion and there will always be a know it all that claims to know something about the car more than you do as the owner/enthusiast. I'm a fan Giugiaro so this car fit the bill. It's entire story is quite compelling, as it was conceived to be quite revolutionary. Certainly more than a footnote throughout the history of the automobile. PJ Grady in Sayville NY is the most knowledgeable man in the world about these cars and the last original dealer out there.
That's it, now I really want one. PS My GranSport was designed by Guigiaro too, but boy that car couldn't be more different..
At the Woodward Dreamcruise, this year. Luke, did you buy it? Are you out driving it now or are you now stuck in the 80's, unable to read this, as FChat did not exist back then? You should always take atleast two people with you when you go back in time, and ALWAYS tell someone in the present before you go. Image Unavailable, Please Login
Great photo. No purchase yet. The seller has gone silent. Maybe he got word that I was gonna lowball him. I appreciate all the comments however, keep em coming!
***This is a post I made a year and a 1/2 ago when Jedi was thinking of getting a 2nd exotic. I drive my Delorean 3000-4000 miles a year easily. I've owned both an auto and a 5spd. Both are pictured here. I now just own the 5spd.*** The Delorean has it's faults and idiosycrasies much like any other low production exotic. But it is not as bad as NON owners make it seem. Actually they suffer from alot of the same problems as 308s. Fuse boxes, slow windows, average a/c, crappy stereos ALL of which are fixable. Cars don't have to be fast to be fun to drive. I have a soft spot for vintage air cooled vw's and I recently purchased a real nice 79 mini with a whopping 998 cc engine and it's crazy fun to drive. A nice Delorean will bring as much if not more than a nice 308, so to me it's not a poor mans exotic like seem would make it seem. People know what a Delorean is because of the movie mainly and because of the man. Meraks, Jalphas, M1s, even an Esprit takes a real car guy to appreciate them. Cost of maitainence to me is a big factor, not because I can't afford to fix a Ferrari, it's more the principle. The two most expensive things on a Delorean is the eng/tran...like most cars. As I said earlier my 5 spd has a brand new tranny, clutch, p plate everything.......it was $2300. What's a tranny worth on most other exotics?? The engine, as someone mentioned earlier is a PRV. The same 2.8l used in thousands of Volvos. I've heard guys buying running motors for $500 and cheaper. I can take the car to basically any mechanic that works on Volvos and fix it. Starters, alts, brakes, suspension, cooling, front end, everything is relatively cheap and available......alot of it from your local parts store. So Jedi, if you decide on a Delorean great, if not, thats OK too. But for those people who told you to "drive one first"...........who f***ing cares. You not buying it because of how fast it is, or how good it brakes, or how it handles in the corners. (all of which are upgradable BTW) You're buying it because it's a Delorean and I can count on one 1 hand how many times I've seen one driving "in the wild". And when you park it beside any Ferrari, Lambo, Porsche, Lotus, Beemer, Benz or even a Pantera you quickly realize why NON owners don't have much positive to say about a Delorean Image Unavailable, Please Login
I like em! I have seen a handful of them around here and have thought about getting one more than a few times.
I worked with a gentleman who swapped in an engine from a late-model Maxima (270hp IIRC or about 2X stock) with a Porsche transaxle. It came out very nice.
There are Stage I or Stage II upgrade options. Exhaust, ignition, intake etc. Stage II bumps power by 70hp. There are a few turbo Deloreans running around. The Delorean uses the PRV motor.....the 3.0l PRV is available in a late 80s Eagle sedan that guys will use. IIRC some installed a twin turbo on the 3.0 PRV.
Agreed! Same with the Christine comment - I'd love that. I'm looking for a Caddy limo that I can hang chandeliers and call myself "The Duke Of New York!"
They are probably the worst designed sportscar ever made but like the Fiero sure you can use a 3800 engine for more power. It won't be easy or cheap to do.
Just a heads-up for you west coast FChatters that Nightline will have a segment on the cars, coming up in a couple of hours. Those of you that missed it, can see it on-line tomorrow at www.abcnews.com/nightline . KevFla
The rumor is that the Back to the Future writer chose 88 MPH as the perfect speed for time travel because that's as fast as a Deloren can go.
You mean downhill right? Serioisly though, Id love to have one some day. Iconic isnt a strong enough word.
Not correct at all... they ended up putting in a GM v6 in most, if not all of the DeLorean's anyway, since they were more reliable powerplant's.
http://www.autoblog.com/2011/11/22/on-the-block-back-to-the-future-iii-delorean-up-for-auct/ Image Unavailable, Please Login
I had a 1981 early DeLorean. Owned it for 14 years. I found it to be a fun, and mostly reliable, car. Yes, it had its quirks, but it was not that difficult to work on. Only real problem I had was getting the electrics working properly. It took about 3 years of tinkering, but after they were right, I never had a problem. Took many long drives without hesitation. Went to Montreal to the GP one year from Pennsylvania. I really loved the car. But as many have stated, it was overweight and under powered. Sold it to get my 308. That was 7 years ago, and I often miss the DeLorean. Maybe I can convince the Mrs. to let me get another one.
The recent Wheeler Dealers episode is a reminder of how cool these cars are. When lowered to "correct" ride height as designed by Lotus, the car looks fantastic...perfect 70s/80s Guigiaro sci-fi art. LS
About 1988 when I was in high school in STL someone near where I worked had a black Delorean. I saw it quite often. Today all you ever see are the bare stainless cars. How rare was an actual painted Delorean, was paint a factory option, and are they worth more less than the ubiquitous stainless steel versions? BTW, the Wheeler Dealers that was on Wednesday with the Delorean is probably the best one I have seen for the series. Close to the E-type they did a couple of months ago.