"We're gonna see some serious shit."

July 29, 2007 7:13 AM

Every kid who grew up in the 80's wanted a DeLorean. Well, it seems that that dream may yet come true.
posted by Pope Guilty (49 comments total)

An event next week at Universal Studios Hollywood theme park is expected to attract more than a hundred DeLoreans.

I'm picturing a hundred DeLoreans all parked side-by-side, and nobody able to open the doors.
posted by Faint of Butt at 7:20 AM on July 29, 2007 [6 favorites]

That car was way ahead of its time. Too bad it died such an uneventful death.

Ditching their original idea of using an old refrigerator as a time machine, the scriptwriters opted for a modified DeLorean because of its futuristic look, particularly the doors, according to co-writer Bob Gale

Damn, that would've been a totally different movie.

The doors were always the strong point of that car. Along with that lovely stainless steel body. (Being a bit on the Obsessive Compulsive side, I was also partial to the symmetrical DMC on the front grill, and the twin exhausts in the back. Loved it!)
posted by hadjiboy at 7:37 AM on July 29, 2007

Does it come with a stash of government-planted cocaine in the glove box?
posted by ericb at 7:52 AM on July 29, 2007

I used to babysit for friends of my parents who owned a DeLorean in the mid-80's. The dad would always come and pick me up in the car, just because he knew what a thrill it was for a kid to ride in a car that could quitepossiblymaybe travel through time!!!

It was pretty neat.
posted by Cyrano at 7:58 AM on July 29, 2007

I was all growed up by the 80s, which made me want a Delorean even more, since I could have bought my own if I could have afforded it. I look at them on eBay every couple months now, and seriously think about it. Thanks for the post.
posted by The Deej at 8:05 AM on July 29, 2007

I've seen a few DeLorean's around LA. The first one I saw - the first one I'd ever seen - was parked in Venice and my reaction was one of surprise and excitement. Since then, I've passed a few on the road and they're, well, kinda pathetic.
posted by forallmankind at 8:05 AM on July 29, 2007

Yeah, from what I've read, the DeLorean had a vastly-underpowered engine. This was sort of a death sentence for a vehicle that was billed as a "sports car." I wonder if the new ones will be better equipped.

With 200 of the original 2.8-liter V-6 engines still in stock and facing a dwindling supply of cars suitable for rebuilding, Espey figures that within a year or so they'll start making the cars from scratch.

Also, is it just me, but do these not sound like incredibly definite plans?
posted by Afroblanco at 8:09 AM on July 29, 2007

Mac mini + DeLorean + Projector = Awesome.
posted by SansPoint at 8:11 AM on July 29, 2007

I always wanted a Lamborghini. A DeLorean was way down my list behind a Ford GT40 or the Ferrari that Sonny Crockett drove on Miami Vice. You could only get the DeLorean in one color - stainless steel. Lame.
posted by spicynuts at 8:25 AM on July 29, 2007

I hope all of you DMC fans realize it was a total piece of shit; the company barely did any shakedown tests of its roadworthiness, and reliability made even the crappiest cars of that era look like modern Hondas.

An icon it may be, but I'd actually rather take my chances with some of the junk being produced by British Leyland at the time...
posted by drstrangelove at 8:28 AM on July 29, 2007

I seem to remember lots of news reports about how, when you got down to it, the DeLorean wasn't a great car. Repeated problems with the starter...

Frankly, I'd be more interested in a redesigned model that kept the outer look. Extra points if they insert a flux capacitor.

And make sure that sucker's electrical.

But, if you want to buy now...
posted by Muddler at 8:29 AM on July 29, 2007

I saw one tooling around town last week while I was on my lunch break. I knew exactly what I was looking at the second I laid eyes on it, but it took a second to register. Despite the gullwing doors and the steel finish, they look exactly like Toyota Carollas from that era. They are still iconic and attention grabbing, but the styling hasn't really weathered the decades well.

I still want one though. For the steel finish. I's be happy with just about any car that had that brushed steel finish.
posted by lekvar at 8:34 AM on July 29, 2007

I never wanted one. I didn't think much of the design. The Countach was the thing that got my motor running.
posted by strontiumdog at 8:35 AM on July 29, 2007

My grandfather owned one of these cars which my grandmother sold after he died. Riding in a Delorean is actually kind of scary. When you sit in it, it feels as though your ass is about an inch from the ground and it's hard to see over the hood. Despite all that, it's still pretty rad.
posted by MaryDellamorte at 8:57 AM on July 29, 2007

Psh! It's just a pale imitation of the Bricklin.
posted by The Deej at 9:03 AM on July 29, 2007 [2 favorites]

Definitely a cool looking car, but DeLorean's choice of engine just killed it for me...the engines were manufactured by Renault, which, as most of us old enough to remember know, couldn't build a car that would live long enough to make the drive home from the dealership in the mid 80's. LeCar/Encore/Alliance/Fuego anyone?
posted by rhythim at 9:11 AM on July 29, 2007

Huh. About two years ago, someone was selling one of these for about six grand, right down the road from my house.

I considered it for about five minutes, mainly because of BTTF, and then I remembered that it was an American car built in the mid 80's, and I moved on.
posted by quin at 9:12 AM on July 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

I did a lot of research on the Delorean and called a few owners to see what they thought before I put the money down. The biggest problem was the engine -- it was built by Renault. Horrible piece of crap, always needing to be tuned, tweaked, hard to find parts for and yes -- underpowered. I have no idea why they didn't go with a basic Detroit hunk of crap motor that would run for half a million miles with an oil change and a set of plugs every year. Too bad; it had so much style that everything else (wonky doors, limited storage, awkward seat position) could be forgivable except the requirement that it fulfill Basic Transportation duties.

I bought a Honda Prelude Si instead; low slung, peppy, moon roof, and, well, a Honda. Too bad the paint fell off it.
posted by seanmpuckett at 9:28 AM on July 29, 2007

LeCar/Encore/Alliance/Fuego anyone?

When the DeLorean appeared, with its guts-by-renault, my mental picture of a Renault was the 2cv.
posted by jfuller at 9:37 AM on July 29, 2007

Also, I'm with spicynuts. If I'm going to lust after a sports car that can't pass a garage, it's going to be a Ford GT or GT40. Pieces fall off when they're not even moving, sure, but they're soooo beautiful. Today's big name Italian wheeled lust objects all look like ill-disguised Transformers to me.

To be fair to the DeL, though, the pieces-fall-off aspect of sports cars is pretty brand-neutral. I had a corvette once long ago that had the pieces-fall-off disease from the day I drove it out of the showroom. This did not at all affect its performance when parked in a hamburger joint next to a chevy full of high school girls. It excelled at the job it was designed to do. (FYI I am now a workadaddy who drives a five year old four door Boring Family Car. But they can't take my evil memories.)
posted by jfuller at 9:58 AM on July 29, 2007

LeCar/Encore/Alliance/Fuego anyone?

I loved the look of the Fuego when it came out. I don't think it has ages well. But I remembered test-driving an Alliance, so I never even considered a Fuego. The Alliance was the only brand new car I ever test drove that felt worse than any used car I had ever driven.
posted by The Deej at 10:02 AM on July 29, 2007

Ditching their original idea of using an old refrigerator as a time machine, the scriptwriters opted for a modified DeLorean because of its futuristic look, particularly the doors, according to co-writer Bob Gale

And just how did Bob Gale plan to get the refrigerator up to 88?

My personal best with a refrigerator -- 14 miles per hour.
posted by flarbuse at 10:04 AM on July 29, 2007 [2 favorites]

From what I remember about the Delorean (which I wanted Badly, of course) after reading up on them was their front ends were deemed hazardous by their own mechanics, something in the axle was prone to failure which could seize the front wheels which, at highway speed, would be bad.

Delorean ignored the concerns (not having the money to refit from scratch) and went ahead with production.

but if such a high percentage of the cars are still in circulation, maybe Delorean was right to ignore them?

and Deej, that Bricklin looks dope!
posted by Busithoth at 10:08 AM on July 29, 2007

Deej, you totally beat me to it. Canadians prefer the Bricklin.
posted by Extopalopaketle at 10:13 AM on July 29, 2007

I drove a DeLorean when they first came out.

I liked the way it looked, but it seemed rather heavy and slow to react, which is a very odd thing to say about car that featured chassis design by Colin Chapman .

The thing that worried me most wast that RPV engine. Everything else those were put in had hideous reliability problems (and I say that from the perspective of a guy that grew up around British cars).

I guess if they do a short run of more cars it would be fun for the people in various DeLorean clubs, but if I'm going to spend around 35-40K on a car, it wouldn't be one of these.
posted by Relay at 10:43 AM on July 29, 2007

flarbuse, if you want to see real speeds, you need to turbocharge it. Adding in nitrous helps as well.

I once saw a Frigidaire do a flat out 95.
posted by quin at 10:59 AM on July 29, 2007

I saw one of these on the highway last night, on the 101 just north of San Francisco. It actually had BK2FTR vanity plates. Figured it had to be Christopher Lloyd. He's still alive, right?
posted by william_boot at 10:59 AM on July 29, 2007

Yeah the Deloreans sucked.

The thing was, on the drawing board they were supposed to be innovative. The original plan was that it was to be built using a revolutionary lightweight ultra-strong plastic frame, but the frame couldn't be painted so their solution was to layer it in stainless steel. With an ultra lightweight body they were going to plant an efficient but small 4 cylinder engine in the *middle* of the car, directly behind the front seats, but not seated far into the back (as it is currently). This for various engineering reasons I don't understand would have provided a significant performance boost.

The problem was the plastic frame turned out to be unworkable, so they had to switch to a standard metal frame which made the car overweight, but DeLorean was already in love with the look of the stainless steel skin so he kept that too, which took an already overweight car and made it even more so.

In turn that meant that the middle situated 4 cylinder engine practically couldn't even move the sucker, so they had to change that to a rear located 6 cylinder (which because of the design constraints of the body (which was apparently already set in stone) was a hunk of crap, and having it located in the rear made performance even worse.

On top of all these terrible design choices the manufacturing in Ireland was awful and quality control was terrible. sometimes as many as 35% of a shipment sent to the US failed to start upon arrival! Eventually things were so bad they started shipping the cars from Ireland to a stopover factory in America were each car was then rebuilt just to get it roadworthy before they put it on sale.

All in all, one of the worst cars ever built. But it looked cool, so people still assume it was somehow ahead of it's time, or that they only failed because of DeLorean's "extra Curriculars".
posted by Jezztek at 11:45 AM on July 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

A genetically modified chicken in every pot and a Delorean in every garage!
posted by jonp72 at 11:56 AM on July 29, 2007

I've never really seen that many well designed modern cars - i can't understand why anyone buys them.
posted by sgt.serenity at 12:14 PM on July 29, 2007

In turn that meant that the middle situated 4 cylinder engine practically couldn't even move the sucker, so they had to change that to a rear located 6 cylinder (which because of the design constraints of the body (which was apparently already set in stone) was a hunk of crap, and having it located in the rear made performance even worse.

Then, of course, they forgot US emission regulations, and had to bolt on things like a catalytic converter. The car was specced for 200hp, it arrived here with less than 130 to the wheels.

Given modern engines, that could be fixed. In particular, the Honda F20 or F22 engine would make this car sing. Of course, there's the problem of mating the engine to the car, but there are guys who do silly things like that.
posted by eriko at 12:37 PM on July 29, 2007

My father had one of these briefly, so I had a chance to ride in one. I remember it being a rough ride and quite uncomfortable (as sports cars often are). Even as a 12 year old, I was rather unimpressed.

Dad came through a few weeks ago, however, when I got to drive my first (and probably last) $200,000 car. I am forever ruined.
posted by itchylick at 1:13 PM on July 29, 2007

I liked BTTF, but if I'm going to drive a car to make a statement, I'm going with an Edsel. Something about driving a car that is synonymous with "Commercial and economic failure" is nigh irresistible to me.
posted by Uther Bentrazor at 1:20 PM on July 29, 2007

I read that the part dies were cast into the ocean after DeLorean fell apart, so that no more cars would ever be made. There's so much mystery about this company.
posted by Blazecock Pileon at 2:03 PM on July 29, 2007

In the 80s I wanted a rat tail, but my mom thought that they looked stupid and wouldn't let me get one. Turns out she was right. The DeLorean is a lot like that hair style.
posted by sleepy pete at 2:17 PM on July 29, 2007 [1 favorite]

Since reading this it's been bugging me all day what I was really thinking of when it came to what the DeLorean and the Bricklin half-assed tried to embrace, form-wise.

It's Bertone. To me, the last word in latter-modernist futuristic car design, often rendered by Lamborghini.
posted by Extopalopaketle at 2:59 PM on July 29, 2007

they look exactly like Toyota Carollas from that era

Toyota Corollas from that era. I guess I don't get it.

There were actually a whole bunch of angular sports cars in those days -- the DeLorean was mainly unique for its stainless steel finish, and looks "more unique" today because of airstream design principles becoming commonplace. See the Lotus Esprit for one well-known example. If you want a cheap car in the same vein, there's the Pontiac Fiero.

The cars were marketing and engineering failures in many ways but they were innovative, in that the Big Three of that period would never have tried anything half as crazy. I think it may have jumpstarted some innovation in the long run. Part of the mystique was that DeLorean was so single-mindedly independent. It also got him in trouble in the end, but people admire that sort of thing.
posted by dhartung at 5:11 PM on July 29, 2007

they look exactly like Toyota Carollas from that era

Toyota Corollas from that era. I guess I don't get it.

They look like Celicas of that era, not Corollas.
posted by 6550 at 7:12 PM on July 29, 2007

Not ahead of its time, except for the stainless steel. Here's a production car that was ahead of its time.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 7:50 PM on July 29, 2007

Faint of Butt writes "I'm picturing a hundred DeLoreans all parked side-by-side, and nobody able to open the doors."

A common misunderstanding of the system. DeLoreans require less car to car displacement in order to exit than the vast majority of conventionally doored automobiles (any that have a door with any kind of thickness). This is because the door swings up more so than out and once open the door isn't taking up valuable inches. YouTube demonstration. About the only thing better is an internally sliding door like on Grumanns or the vertical scissor type.
posted by Mitheral at 9:40 PM on July 29, 2007

Whoops, my mistake. I meant the Celicas, of course.
posted by lekvar at 10:24 PM on July 29, 2007

The DeLorean - Modern Marvels
posted by The Deej at 10:27 PM on July 29, 2007

DeLoreans require less car to car displacement in order to exit than the vast majority of conventionally doored automobiles (any that have a door with any kind of thickness).

Well, I'll be darned. If I hadn't watched the video, I never would have believed it. Of course, if you're in an accident and the DeLorean flips upside-down, I'm pretty certain you'd be utterly screwed.
posted by Faint of Butt at 4:03 AM on July 30, 2007

I have never wanted a Delorien. How are you supposed o get out of it in parking lots?
posted by Pollomacho at 4:50 AM on July 30, 2007

I always wonderd why car manufacturers don't trade on their heritage. A modern re-issue of their most iconic car, maybe a classic chrome '67 (or whatever) Chevy, would command a premium and still sell well, because when you get down to it, lots of people loves how the car looks, but they actualy cars are a piece of shit because they're from the dark ages as far as safety and reliability and comfort features go. (Not to mention, the people can't actually buy them, because they're either a rusting hulk of junk, or restored beyond the reach of all but the wealthiest buyers).

Instead, they mess around with new looks, like the newer VW bug, which has some vaguely similar lines, but looks totally different, trades on a different aesthetic and appeals to a different demographic.


Has a classic remake ever been tried by any manufacturer?
posted by -harlequin- at 5:44 AM on July 30, 2007

The Nissan Figaro is probably the closest you'll get.

They couldn't reissue actual old designs, as they wouldn't pass modern crashworthiness/emissions/comfort/reliability/ease of production standards, and trying to update them gets you the new Beetle and Mini.
posted by cillit bang at 6:29 AM on July 30, 2007

Has a classic remake ever been tried by any manufacturer?


Ford re-released the GT40 a few years ago. The Dodge Charger has been re-released. The Thunderbird was re-released almost a decade ago. The Charger and Thunderbird are not exact replicas of the early design, but they are 'inspired' by them. Then of course there is the re-release of the "Z" cars by Nissan - the 350Z, which I think was a damn fine update.
posted by spicynuts at 6:49 AM on July 30, 2007

spicynuts: You could only get the DeLorean in one color - stainless steel. Lame.

If you're not a fan of stainless steel and you're really into 80's excess, you'll want a Gold Plated DeLorean. Because anything else would be uncivilized...
posted by 1f2frfbf at 7:21 AM on July 30, 2007

The Studebaker Avanti was built in Canada for a few years, long after Studebaker folded. Last I knew, you could still buy a replica AC Cobra.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 2:57 PM on July 30, 2007