Posted on 08/21/2007 8:38:35 AM PDT by goldstategop
He may be gone--suave auto world genius John DeLorean died in 2005--but his namesake is back.
My favorite car ever, the silver stainless steel DeLorean with its gull-winged doors is making a comeback (details here and here). You remember it as the time-transporting car from the hit movie, "Back to the Future." DeLorean Motor Company went out of business 25 years, but it has been reborn.
The Dashing, Brilliant Late John DeLorean
>p>
& His Namesake Automotive Invention
A new DeLorean will set you back $57,500 (today's real dollar equal to the original $25,000 price tag) and will retain the original John DeLorean design. And they will be American made--hand-assembled in Humble, Texas at one or two DeLoreans per month, and mostly made from original DeLorean parts from the '80s. That will begin in the third quarter of next year. There will be five U.S. dealerships and one in Europe.
One of my schoolmates parents drove a DeLorean, and it was very cool. Hard to fit the car in a two-car garage next to another car and still to be able to open the doors, though. About 6,500 DeLoreans from the original 9,000 are still in existence.
If I could afford to drive any car, DeLorean would be it.
The original was a cool looking hunk of crap. Of course most cars in 1982 stunk.
If the dealership was smart, this and the Mr Fusion (spitting out steam) would be optional accessories on the new car.
Yeah, the Avanti II were given a 327 Corvette engine. That overcame the "underpowered" issue, LOL.
I hope they got some horsepower this time around. They were the biggest pigs on the road with their pewsho (that is Peugot for all you marin residents) gutless wonders.
Yes, but the car has a very high width/height ratio, so you would have to work hard at it. But I’m sure it can be done. Actually, it doesn’t take a lot of damage to jam up a regular car door. Always keep one of those hammers with a pointed end in your trunk!
It is a 150mph car.
But you are right about being cramped — but then most 2-seat sports cars are cramped. My biggest issue is the poor visibility through fairly small windows. Driving in the city on a rainy night was tough.
It came out in 1981, right after the Carter debacle with gasoline availability. So that was the period of small car engines, between the huge engines of the 70s and the biggish engines of today.
Wouldn't that make it an Olds 842? I though 442 stood for 4 Barrel carb, 4 on the floor and dual exhaust...
Looks like a catfish.
Hate to bust your bubble but they’ve been making DeLoreans our of left over and newly made parts just north of Houston since John’s Norther Ireland company went belly up in late 1982...
Sales info at http://www.delorean.com/sales.asp
Are De Sotos and Studebakers and Ramblers coming back too?
Yuh say that like it'd be a bad thing :)
I'm holding out for the tech-upgraded 1965 Mustang clone.
And the Hudson Hornet, and '56 Bel Air (the '57 was pretty, but...)
Heh... yeah, it does, a little. Top honors for the "catfish" appearance go to the mid-'80s Camaro (can't recall if it was only the Z-28 or the lesser models as well). Wide, low and flat, the car was offered in a two-tone paint job that was medium metallic grey on top. The lower part of the front bumper cover was painted a cream color, which also wrapped around onto both sides down low along the fenders and doors. All the car needed was a few curb feelers (whiskers) added to complete the look.
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