If a car shows your age, this is it. It depends when you were born as to what immediately comes to mind when you see one. For my generation, this is the car from the Back to the Future films. For my parents generation, this was the car built by the ‘drug dealing con-man’ (John DeLorean) which soaked up millions of £’s of tax payers money. Either way, the DeLorean is real, if rare, and will be around for years to come.
From my perspective, the DeLorean is something that influences all aspects of life over at Mr and Mrs Parnham’s (senior) house. You see my dad is fanatical about them. He currently owns three and is sectary of the DeLorean Owners Club here in the UK. For me (and my mum) though, the novelties warn off. I see it more like just another classic car, but I think I have enough experiences of being around them (and a fair bit of driving) to write a fair and balanced review, which I hope you’ll enjoy reading.
HISTORY
You can’t really talk about DeLorean without going a little into the history of them which, although short, makes interesting reading.
Back in the late 70’s a senior bod at General Motors by the name of John Zachary DeLorean in the USA had a dream. He wanted to create an accessible super car which would last for years and be within reach of the normal man. Honourable intentions. He left GM and formed his own company, took on designers and drafted what was to become one of the most talked about projects of the early 80’s. To cut a long story short, he was induced (by the way of generous regional funding) into building a factory in Dunmurry, just outside Belfast in Northern Ireland.
Starting from a green field site (and an unskilled local workforce), within 2 years the factory was up and running, a churning out just over 8,000 cars in it’s short 2 year life-span (1981 – 1983). The dream all collapsed for a number of reasons.
The first cars were notoriously badly built, the finished product didn’t really live up to expectations (in terms of price, performance and equipment) and the factory was loosing money hand over fist. All came crashing down with allegations of financial impropriety together with the head of the company being subject to a FBI drug dealing sting.
John DeLorean was eventually found not guilty of drug dealing, and his name was cleared in the US. Over this side of the pond, there were question as to where all the tax payers money had gone. Eventually Mrs Thatcher pulled the plug on government funding and the factory was placed in the hands of the receivers. There is still an arrest warrant out for Mr DeLorean (on fraud charges I think) in the unlikely event he ever sets foot in the UK again.
Most of the cars were exported directly to America where they were sold through an extensive dealer network. A few cars ended up staying in the UK when they were auctioned off at Measham car auctions by the receivers. Needless to say when the factory closed, the entire workforce was laid off meaning this was one of the shortest regeneration projects in history.
STYLING
There are not many cars on the road like a DeLorean. The first two things that really strike you is the lack of paint and the odd doors. The metal work is pure brushed stainless steel, which will never rust. The 2 doors are both of the gull wing variety, meaning that they flip upwards allowing you (in theory) easy access to the car. The main picture was taken by me at Giant’s Causeway of one of our DeLoreans just before it was sold. There are minor differences between each one, but essentially they all look like this.
When the car was launched, it was criticised (by people in brown slacks and shoulder pads) as being dated. Today, it has more of a retro-chic quality. The car sits low to the floor (or even lower on modified versions). Getting in and out is quiet easy, if a little ungainly. I don’t think there’s a DeLorean owner around which hasn’t bumped their head at one time of another! Contrary to popular belief, the doors open in less space than a conventional door. If someone parked too closely then chances are the door will still open normally.
The car is rear engined and rear wheel drive. The oily bits sit at the back of the car under an 80’s style louver with a small boot being situated under the front bonnet. Personally I think the overall effect is fairly timeless, and certainly unique.
ON THE INSIDE
Upon manoeuvring your self into position, the car does show its age a little on the inside, but has a good roster of toys to play with. Most DeLoreans are left hand drive, but there are a handful (probably about 50 in the world) which have the steering wheel on the proper side.
All the cars have the same equipment and have either black or grey trim. The leather seats are low to the floor and provide a good range or adjustments. The low driving position (with legs out-stretched) takes a little getting used to, but is supremely comfy. The adjustable steering wheel is still too low for my taste and obscures many of the minor controls on the instrument panel. In the large centre consol you get switches for electric windows, heated rear window air-conditioning and a stereo with a digital tuner and a Dolby tape deck (remember, this is from 1981).
From the seating position you can reach the strap attached to the door which lowers it with a good “thunk”. Although the roof height is quite low, at 6ft 3 I still have headroom. The doors continue the wrap around theme of the dash, and there are controls for the electric mirrors, central locking a further air-vent contained in the doors.
From a practical point of view, the boot space is limited to small, squashy bags. There’s also a large storage area in a net behind the rear seat which normally swallows up the rest of your luggage. The glove box is small, but holds 3 cans of coke with ease. The central consol also has additional storage tray for those odds and sods. Obviously you don’t get door pockets; otherwise you’d end up with a lap full of polo mints and sunglasses as soon as you open the doors!
The instrument panel has a good range of read outs and warning lights. However, these are notoriously troublesome, so do not rely on them alone. It’s some feat of engineering to have all the gauges point to random levels when there’s no power on, although they do return to the correct place when started. You’ll also find the most unique “door open” warning light of any car, together with a handy reminder to lock the doors to prevent any car jacking.
The fit and finish is no where near modern standards. Although the thing is normally free of squeaks and rattles, the switches (particularly those for the mirrors and windows), have a nasty flimsy feel about them. A poorly sited heated rear window switch can lead to inadvertent activation (and a drained battery) and the air conditioning frequently packs up if not maintained correctly. The opening windows are small and were billed as “toll windows” and they live up to that description. Put it this way you wouldn’t be able to go round a drive-thru unless the pimply assistant passed you your purchases chip by chip.
ON THE ROAD
You are propelled along by a V6 2.85 litre engine, mated to either a 5 speed manual or 3 speed automatic. The car runs on unleaded fuel only (at the time of building they had to import unleaded petrol, as it wasn’t yet on sale in the UK) and the majority of the cars have catalectic converters.
The emissions control systems was one of the things that buggered up the sale of the car. By the time the engine was adjusted to meet USA emissions requirements, it was no longer a ball of fire. Most of the UK cars simply have the catalyst removed to unleash the proper performance.
Acceleration is good (if a little short of excellent), but more than enough to cut the mustard in modern traffic. The handling is really very sorted and it has many of the “chuckable” qualities of a modern sports scar. The steering is not power assisted, which can become tiresome when parking, although the trade off is a very direct connection to the road as speed.
The automatic gear box provides some good changes, if a little “revy” when pushed. The manual box I don’t really care for. I find the clutch rather heavy and the changes a little notcy (although I am in a minority in by transmission preference).
All in all, it has rather modern and functional characteristics on the open road. The only thing you need to watch out for is the 6ft 6 width, which means narrow lanes can become exciting and small gaps in traffic are a no-no.
RELIABILITY AND SERVICING
Surprisingly parts are pretty easy to come by if you know where to look. As the engine was sourced from a joint project by Peugeot / Renault / Volvo, many of the service items are off the shelf at Halfords. Also the brakes have discs and pads from Cortinas and Jaguars and are readily available. There are a couple of companies in the USA which supply virtually everything else that could go wrong, together with a few people over here which deal solely in DeLorean stuff.
Over reliability, there is a big question mark. Many of the parts that were fitted by the factory simply weren’t up to the job. For example, the alternator wasn’t powerful enough, the radiator tank easily leaked and the light in the boot has a tendency to overheat. Fortunately, all of these items have ‘fixes’ available for them and the work has already been carried out on the majority of cars in the UK. If in doubt, ask!
The only other thing is the door openers. The doors should align perfectly, and close tightly. If they don’t the torsion bar may need adjusting which does cost and needs to be done by a professional (they are people in the UK which can do this). Torsion bar problems are normally rare, but you will need to replace the gas struts (like the one that hold your boot open), regularly to avoid droopy doors (and bashed heads).
GETTING ONE
Again, they are easy to come by. The owners club can normally put you in touch with cars that are for sale or you can try your luck on eBay. You may wish to import one yourself from the USA, but I wouldn’t really recommend this as it is time consuming, expensive and has reams of paperwork attached to it.
Expect to pay anything from £7,000 for something that doesn’t work to £25,000 for a really good one. Anything in this country with a current MOT is worth at least £14,000.
For more information you can visit the owners’ club website (www.deloreans.co.uk) who will be happy to answer any questions you have, even if you are not a member. You will also find a DeLorean stand at the NEC Classic and Sports car show, which is held annually.
For those of you who asked about insurance, well there's good news. It comes under the relm of classic car insurance, which means it's cheap. Basically you have to declare your own value, support its overal condtion with photographs and an agreed anual millage (not normally more than 4,000). You get fully comp cover for about £200!
SUMMARY
For those who want to a take their first step into classic car ownership, but don’t want to leave the conveniences of modern life behind, the DeLorean is a great car. It won’t rust into the driveway just because it’s had a few drops of rain on it, and club events aren’t full of old men with beards. Incidentally, the majority of DeLorean club members are between 20 and 30 years old.
The DeLorean may have had a chequered history and is a relatively ‘modern’ classic, but I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend one. Buy it, enjoy it, but just don’t tell my dad I recommended you (he might think all his DeLorean talking has paid off)…
Thanks for reading
Rob
More details
Purchase Price
£18,000
Safety
Satisfactory
Spaciousness
Good
Road Handling
Excellent
Customer service
Satisfactory
Fuel consumption
Good
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