Car Developer John DeLorean Dies At 80

[Gawain 0]

Sunday, March 20, 2005
Associated Press

NEWARK, N.J. — John Z. DeLorean (search), the innovative automaker who left a promising career in Detroit to develop the stainless steel-skinned, gull-winged sports car bearing his name and was acquitted of charges he planned to sell $24 million worth of cocaine to support the venture, has died at the age of 80.

DeLorean died Saturday at Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J., of complications from a recent stroke, said Paul Connell, an owner of A.J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Directors (search) in Royal Oak, Mich., which was handling arrangements.

DeLorean, whose namesake car was turned into a time machine in the "Back to the Future" (search) movies, was among just a handful of U.S. entrepreneurs who dared start a car company in the last 75 years.

DeLorean "broke the mold" of staid Midwestern auto executives by pushing General Motors Corp. (GM) to offer smaller models, auto historians said.

While at GM, he created what some consider the first "muscle car" in 1964 by cramming a V-8 engine into a Pontiac Tempest and calling it the GTO.

Although he was a rising if unconventional executive at GM, and was believed by many to be destined for its presidency, he quit in 1973 to launch the DeLorean Motor Car Co. in Northern Ireland.

Eight years later, the DeLorean DMC-12 hit the streets with its unpainted stainless steel skin and gull-wing doors.

Its angular design earned it a cult following, and the car was a time-traveling vehicle for Michael J. Fox in the "Back to the Future" films of the late 1980s.

However, the factory produced only about 8,900 cars in three years, estimated John Truscott, membership director of the DeLorean Owners Association.

DeLorean's company collapsed in 1983, a year after he was arrested in Los Angeles, accused in a sting of conspiring to sell $24 million of cocaine to salvage the company.

DeLorean used an entrapment defense to win acquittal on the drug charges in 1984, despite a surveillance videotape in which he was shown calling a suitcase full of cocaine "good as gold."

He was later cleared of defrauding his investors, but continuing legal entanglements kept him on the sidelines of the automotive world. He declared bankruptcy in 1999.

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Many of these cars are still on the road, with over 200,000 miles on the odometer, purring like kittens, with plenty of parts available across the country.

I saw a DMC-12 with a license plate on it that read "NT GLTY" --- Classic.

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[lawrocket 3]

Those of us from Los Angeles may remember Christina Ferrare, his ultra-hot wife.

My wife is hotter than your wife.

[miked10270 0]

"Many of these cars (Delorean DMC-12) are still on the road, with over 200,000 miles on the odometer, purring like kittens, with plenty of parts available across the country."

Regrettably the DMC-12 was overweight, underpowered, soggy handling and the build quality when new (for the few cars that actually left the factory) was most charitably described as "Questionable" (spelled $-H-I-T).

I'm pretty sure it was LJK Setright (in Car Magazine) who summed the DMC-12 up pretty pithily... "....of course The DMC-15 will be an excellent car... One of Stuttgart's or Bavaria's most exciting vehicles in a decade."

Of course, the production quality & quantity weren't entirely John Delorean's fault - any more than the production quality & quantity of The Learfan was Bill Lear's fault. Although at the time they maybe could have asked themselves more cynically just WHY the "cash-strapped" British Government at the time was willing to give them so much monetary aid if they set up shop in Northern Ireland!!!!

Mike.

Taking the piss out of the FrenchAmericans since before it was fashionable.

Prenait la pisse hors du FrançaisCanadiens méridionaux puisqu'avant lui à la mode.

[ltdiver 3]

Quote

Many of these cars are still on the road, with over 200,000 miles on the odometer, purring like kittens, with plenty of parts available across the country.

And we know someone at Perris who drives one.

ltdiver

Don't tell me the sky's the limit when there are footprints on the moon

[Zenister 0]

Quote

DeLorean's company collapsed in 1983, a year after he was arrested in Los Angeles, accused in a sting of conspiring to sell $24 million of cocaine to salvage the company.

buy a Delorean... check the trunk for your rebate....

____________________________________
Those who fail to learn from the past are simply Doomed.

[LawnDart21 0]

I've seen one up here with New Hampshire license plate:

GIGAWAT

--
My other ride is a RESERVE.