All summer long I wanted to see a Delorian at a car show or on the road. Well in the span of a week I saw 3. Two at a car show in Seaside Heights, NJ and another at the local classic car show in Ledgewood NJ which happens every Tuesday.

This sparked my internet searching quest to find out more about this classic exotic sports car icon of the 80s.

I found that these cars are actually back in production and carry a very reasonable price for an exotic sports car. Its not 200,000.00, not 100,000.00, but rather 57,000.00 with nothing on it. Unlike Porsche the optional features don't add up to the cost of another car which is a plus.

I very much want to purchase a fun and rare sports car in the future. I'd certainly concider this one.

The draw back (and its a BIG one) is that there aren't any Delorian dealers on the east coast unless if you concider Florida which is pretty darn far away from New Jersey. A purchase of one of these cars would mean the MFG in TX would have to ship the car to you. To test drive one you would have to fly to TX, FL, or MA. Then every time it breaks you would have to ship it to either TX or MA. In the end ownership could cost as much as the car it looks most simmilar to, a Lambo.

Still.... What a car! I'm so gaga over this one right now I bought Back to the Future DVD with a gift card I had forgotten about today and I'm about to buy a die cast 1:24 scale one for 13.00 on Amazon.

Check it out:
http://www.delorean.com/index.html

 

You would not have to ship the car back to the mfr just to get repairs, any competant import mechanic can work on it.

But bear in mind, this car is no Porsche. It's slow (135 hp when new) it rides softly but handles like an American car (the designer was a Pontiac man, although Lotus did most of the chassis engineering, they tuned it "his way")

And the ergonomics are state of the art.......................for 1980.

Just want you to have your eyes open if/when you do this.

BTW, you can buy a very low mile original for about $20K, just sayin.........

 

Its food for thought.

The originals I've seen thus far have serious cosmetic issues as well as rust underneith.

One thing I never hear about is Delorians being raced on a track which is odd. I would think these cars would handle simmilarly to a Lotus Esprit and thus be good for this?

 

Naturally I have to post here!

1992,
There is a shop in NY called PJ Grady's that caters to just DeLoreans. The owner Rob is a nice guy that I've met and bought parts from.

As for purchasing a DeLorean, the DeLorean community has the "rule of 25". This means on average it costs $25K to purchase a decent looking and running car. You can spend $15K on a D, but it's probably going to cost you another $10K to get in good driving status. They are easy to work on and there's pleny of resources out there, so you can always save money by working on it yourself. Mechanically they are pretty straight forward. Just the mechanical fuel injection is what most people have difficulty figuring out.

These cars don't respond well to sitting which is rather unfortunate as way too may were improperly stored. But if you spend the right amount of money, you can get a great D (and at far less then the $57K offered by DMCH). Don't go cheap and you can own a great example!

Performance was actually pretty good for the time (remember, they did come out in 1981). The Corvette just had 50 more HP. If they could have survived to 1984, the twin turbo option by Legend Industries would have been available which would have spanked the Corvette. Still, even with 130HP (160 FT-LB of torque), it has more then enough power to handle public roads (you just won't catch me at a drag strip ). Handling is very good for a rear engine car. Any problems with it today would be caused by nearly 30 year old warn suspention parts. Upgrade them and it will handling and cruse like a dream. Admittedly still nowhere as good as the MINI (there's a reason I have a MCS as a daily driver).

I've owned my DeLorean for 6 years now and have loved almost every minute of it. The attention it gets can get tiring at times, but it's still a blast to drive and makes me a kid again!

 

1.21 gigawatts of awesome.

 

It's a cool car but I honestly wouldn't want one, even if driven infrequently. I've heard from other Delorean owners that the repair history will make you cry. I read the biography on John Delorean and the chapter about the cars coming off the assembly line in Northern Ireland was scary because the quality and assembly were just HIDEOUS.

 

Keep in mind these cars are pushing 28 years old now! No car that old will be perfectly reliable. Add to the fact (as mentioned above) most were stored improperly, they have received a less the favorable reputation. Most quality issues from the factory were addressed in the QAC when arriving in the US. Assuming the car has been driven and stored properly over the last 28 years, there's no reason for any original issues not to have been addressed by now. The same with any initial design flaws were either addressed by the factory recalls or the DeLorean vendor community.

In the 6 years of ownership, I've had my D towed just once. The original clutch slave cylinder started leaking and went out on my way to work. Admittedly, I've had a few hot start problems in the past, but that never left me stranded (just a whole bunch of cranking to get it going). This past year, the only issue I have to address is leaking seals at the axle shafts. 28 year old rubber just doesn't cut it anymore and they have to be replaced (fortunately not a major job).

So ya, if you are looking for a very reliable car, don't buy a 28 year old one! But if it was worked on and drive/stored properly, there's no reason the DeLorean can't be as good as or even better then any other 28 year old car. I've driven several times up to Seattle and back (360 miles) with no worries of breaking down. Yes, I've spent a bundle repairing mine over the years, but that was because it was almost completely original when I got it. I also got it super cheap and wanted a restoration project. I could have just as easily spent 3 times as much and then not have to do any major work. But where's the fun in that.