BTW, I would've have bidden on it but only if it came with Christopher Lloyd for the repairs.
What the heck....... make that Lea Thompson.

 

Well, I'm not so sure that he'd still be producing cars... If that company was going anywhere, he wouldn't have to try to save his company with a case full of cocaine. I mean come on... A car that was stainless steel. Is that really necessary? How many cars do we lose a year due to rust (excluding pool man pick up trucks)? That stainless body achieves nothing except making body repairs impossible. You can't fix any dents. How can you cover bondo if you can't paint it? Only option is replacing panels. I'm sure a stainless steel fender or hood is NOT cheap. And the way most buyers are, how inclined would they be if they can't pick color? Only option is trash can gray. Wow.

And mechanically? If I recall that car was just a conglomeration of Volvo mechanicals and impratical designs like those doors. It wasn't all the fast either.

You're much more well versed in this area than I am so I'd love to hear the merits of the car and how this company would have moved forward. I respect your opinions so I'm curious to see where you stand on this one because as far as I have read/heard the car was not a good idea.

As an aside, I know someone that swears GM planted the case of cocaine to end his career because GM was scared his car would bankrupt them.

 

My opinions?
I think Delorean would still be in the car buisness one way or another, even if not an auto company exec. He would be a pretty old man today, though....maybe retired. DeLorean, even more than Bob Lutz, was not your average suit-and-tie, spit-and-polish, dinner-party, bottom-line, profit-motivated CEO....he was a true car enthusiast. Yes, he was also a buisnessman, but like Carroll Shelby and his company, cars always came first.
I think the main reasons his company had problems was the unskilled work force there in Northern Ireland where the plant was, the lack of experience working with stainless steel, the often stubborn nature of gull-wing-type doors not to want to close and seal properly, the traditional violence throughout Northern Ireland that made many people fear for their lives and loved ones (and, of course, may have prevented some workers from concentrating on their work), the difficulty in telling one car from another....they all had the identical finish, Delorean's own ego and impaitience wanting to get this car into production without adequate long-term testing just so he could "show up" his old bosses at GM and prove he could make it on his own, and, of course, overstretching company resources without enough thought to long-term income.
I could be wrong on this, but personally don't think anybody at GM planted cocaine in his suitcase. First of all, it is very risky...the person doing it could have easily been caught with it himself or herself. Second of all. DeLorean was not an idiot.......he wasn't going to walk around with a cheap, flimsy, unsecure suitcase that anybody could break into...it probably had special locks on it with specially-hardened metals, keys, or combinations. Third, a story like that wouldn't have stayed quiet.......SOMEBODY at GM would have leaked it just for notoriety and maybe money from the media.
If GM had really wanted Delorean out of the picture, with the huge amount of money they have, they could easily have contracted with professional Mafia hit men to do the job. John Gotti's organization probably would have done it.....for a price. When THOSE guys do a job, it is VERY hard to trace.............the Jimmy Hoffa case proved that.

 

Good stuff... Thanks.

As for the planting of the cocaine, I never supported the claim -- I highly doubt it as well. I was just saying that there's some people that think that because DeLorean was going to revolutionize the auto industry and the big players put an end to him with the planted cocaine.

Right... While he made a name for himself and DID actually produce a car, I seriously doubt he was going to put any dent in GM's or anyone else's market share. Not large enough to them to go thru the risk of framing him anyway.

Anyway, good trivia.

Another tidbit: I have seen some painted DeLoreans. Seen some red and yellow ones. Somewhat of a blasphemous act if you ask me.

 

Thanks. I didn't know there were any painted ones.