I had the M100, so my wife Laura bought a...

[TheBard]

DeLorean DMC-12
Yup, we managed just 1 year of modern, normal car ownership after selling the Lotus. Watch out 2012 we're heading back....to the future!

Happy New Year to everyone old, and new, on LEC!

[HJ2]

WOW!

It's on my wish-list as well!
I know about the engine .... but... How does it handle?
A true motoring icon!

Regards
Henk-Jan

[muley]

An Esprit in drag! Nice one


Jim

[clemo]

so cool.

[rip]

Is that an original Belfast one or one of the new ones?

[TheBard]

Hey Rip, it is a 1981 Belfast original, ex-museum car with less than 7000 miles on it. All original, and the previous owner had it since 2001 and kept it garaged as a concourse winning show car, and had a separate DeLorean for his more frequent driving. Laura really lucked out.

The car hasn't had the fluids changed as often as I'd like (last owner admitted he'd never changed brake fluid in 10 years!), but is otherwise still in "practically new" condition. We look forward to putting some gentle miles on it, but driving it a bit more often than shows only, particularly during the nicer parts of the year. Even on a cold December morning it turned a heck of a lot of heads!

I've heard rumours that many parts were signed (much like inside the Elan) so look forward to tinkering and finding out more of the history of the car. We already know it is one of the cross-over 500 which had locking petrol caps, but no cutaway in the bonnet. It is also identifiable as an early car by the rolled creases down the bonnet (the VIN also gives it away, but I like the more cryptic signs).

[ovi]

Is the same engine as my Alpine A310 V6!
You can also convert a V6 Renault 25 injection. I am currently doing that now.

[Stef]

Cool! What a driveway you'll have!

[Lotus54]

Back when I worked as a mechanic someone brought one in that had twin turbos- but not done that well.

I did a few things to make it run much better (tricking the injection a bit). It had loads of power.

Certainly turned heads.

Mark

[nitroman]

They built about 9,000 and when the company shuttered they had parts to make another 30,000 cars on hand. The De Lorean Motor Company of Texas acquired the entire lot, from powertrains to pushbuttons, in 1997. However, experience & refinements have resulted in new & improved part numbers being added along the way. For instance the original plastic coolant bottles were prone to splitting under pressure. There was no low-coolant warning light and if the driver didn't notice the temp-gauge pegged into the red-zone the story for the all-aluminium engine didn't end well. So they developed, produced and now sell a stainless-steel overflow tank. Their stock of parts is so extensive that for around $50,000 they'll build you a completely new car from NOS parts! It's called their "New Build Program." Legally, they have to scrape an old VIN number off a junker they have sitting out back to start. But as long as they use an original VIN number it's legal, as there is no law saying how many parts you can replace on an old car. You can change to a light beige interior too, instead of grey, as they had that option all ready for the next model-year, but it never occured.

Short of making you a new car they can add numerous levels of performance kits to the engine. I read a separate article on that but I don't know where I put it. Anything from adding 40hp through improved intakes, exhaust & modern ignition changes to adding twin-turbos or supercharging worth well over 100hp, albeit along with improved cooling , etc... as another of their goals is to make everything they do increase the reliability of the car, knowing full-well the car's public perception which they really want to change, as they are "stuck" with selling this car, and only this car. As they said, "If you have enough parts to make every car 3-times-over, you have to make it worthwhile for the owner to want to." A lesser restoration program they offer is the BRP, "Budget Restoration Program", which you become enrolled in if you buy $1500 in parts within a year. That gets you 10% off all parts except those which exceed what the catalog says is needed for one car. For instance, you can't order three hoods and still expect a 10% discount on hood numbers 2 & 3. As long as you spend another $1500 before another year goes by you'll stay enrolled in the program.

Their newest "new" car is the DMC EV. An all-electric DMC-12 which has 360lb.ft. of torque and will out-accelerate both their turbo and superchargered variants. Remember, electric cars have completely flat torque curves, so that 360lb.ft. is there from 0rpm until the electric motor can't spin any higher. It's like if a horse could reach maximum acceleration the nanosecond the gate got out of its way. It'd sprint to a huge lead before the other horses could even begin catching up.

They have a unique business model within the car industry. Instead of changing styling to sell cars they keep their iconic styling exactly the same to sell cars, maintaining their brand whilst continually making it more reliable and modern underneath the surface. The closest example would be the Porsche 911, except still looking like a 1964 911 outside. Because they are technically not selling new cars they avoid the cost of government mandated changes & testing, spending precious money only on what will sell cars.
http://www.delorean.com
800-872-3621