Back To The Past, The DeLorean DMC-12

[sciencefiction.com]

            When I was a kid I always dreamed about driving a DeLorean DMC-12. The futuristic controls and lights in the car intrigued me; it was so fast it left trails of fire on the blacktop (as shown on the trilogy “Back to the Future”).

I remember asking my dad: “Why can’t we have the “Back to the Future” car?”

He told me: “The man who built them just doesn’t want to build them anymore and he dumped the car dies (used to shape the body panels) in the ocean so nobody else can build them.”

It made me angry that a selfish man was preventing us from being able to own a “Back to the Future” car. I still want a DeLorean, and I have always been disappointed that I couldn’t have one. I have never taken the time to research and find out the real story behind the DeLorean Motor Company, and why they no longer make the DMC-12.

Believed to be the DeLorean car dies being used as net anchors by a fishing boat in Northern Ireland [jalopnik.com]

            The founder of DeLorean Motor Company was John Z. DeLorean, former Pontiac chief engineer who also developed the Pontiac GTO. In 1973, John left GM and founded the DeLorean Motor Company in 1975. He was able to get financing from a number of sources including: Johnny Carson, Roy Clark, and Sammy Davis Jr. “DeLorean also sought lucrative incentives from various government and economic organizations to pay for constructing the company's automobile manufacturing facilities” [Wikipedia.com]. The British government gave him around 120 million dollars to build his factory in Northern Ireland, which provided the government a much needed economy boost, and also provided jobs for over 2,000 people. “Production was scheduled to begin in 1979, but … delays and budget overruns caused the assembly lines to start only in early 1981.” [Wikipedia.com]

Most of the factory workers had never had a job before, so early productions of the expensive DMC-12’s were poorly built. Due to the lack of reliability in early production, and the high sticker price of $25,000, DeLorean needed to offer an incentive to encourage consumers to buy the car. In order to boost sales, DeLorean offered a 12-month, 12,000-mile warranty. John DeLorean, “in a desperate attempt to raise the funds his company needed to survive”[Wikipedia.com] was arrested for allegedly providing funds to support drug trafficking. His company was able to produce 9,000 cars before manufacturing was halted. The British government took control of the plant and it finally went bankrupt.

John DeLorean [google images]

After DeLorean Motor Company went bankrupt there were many consumers who needed repairs and parts for their vehicles. Since the company was bankrupt, car dealers were unable get parts to perform any of the warrantied repairs. Stephen Wynne, a mechanic in England “operated an independent auto service facility that specialized in English and French cars… he was approached by a DeLorean owner who needed repairs to his car and Wynne quickly recognized the Renault drivetrain and other components commonly found on cars that his company normally serviced.” [Delorean.com/about] Word quickly spread that Wynne could repair the DeLorean. To better serve the overwhelming demand for repairs, Wynne moved his company to Houston, TX. He was later able to get the rights to rename his company “DeLorean Motor Company”, and to this day the Wynne’s “DeLorean Motor Company” offers repairs and services for the DeLorean DMC-12. On their website (delorean.com) you can purchase a restored DeLorean DMC-12 for $25,000-$55,000.

After doing more research I found that federal agents baited John DeLorean into getting involved with drug trafficking. A convicted narcotics smuggler, who later became an FBI informant, approached DeLorean with a “business opportunity”, which had been set-up by the FBI. John DeLorean put off funding the “business opportunity” until he was told that his family’s lives were in danger if he didn’t cooperate. He was told by his attorney to act as though he had the money with him and then when he went to meet the smuggler, he was arrested for drug trafficking. After his company went bankrupt, he was able to get all the charges dropped under the laws of Entrapment.

John DeLorean put everything he had into keeping his dream company afloat, federal agents had taken advantage of him in a desperate time, they threatened his family’s safety, and lured him into doing something illegal. The federal agents didn’t accomplish any good by doing this; instead they ruined John DeLorean’s company, put thousands of people out of work, and ended the production of a beautiful car.

“In the years before his death, DeLorean planned to resurrect his car company, and gave interviews describing a new vehicle called the DMC2.” [Chicago Tribune] “In an effort to gather funds for this venture, he designed and sold high-end watches via the Internet under the name DeLorean Time.” [The Washington Post]… “Purchasers were placed on a waiting list for the chance to buy one of the first DMC2s when they became available. None of the watches seem to have ever been built or delivered to customers before DeLorean's death.” [Wikipedia.com]

John DeLorean 1925-2005 [google images]

Pontiac, The Red Headed Stepchild Of GM

I have always had mixed feelings about the cars that Pontiac produced. I love everything about the old Pontiac muscle cars. I don’t entirely dislike the 2004-06 GTO, and 2008-09 G8. For the most part, the 2004-06 GTO, and 2008-09 G8 are attractive cars, but I think that the front end was poorly designed. The rest of the cars made throughout the 1980’s and onward were ugly. When I was growing up, my mom owned an early 1990’s Pontiac Sunbird Convertible. We loved the fact that it was a convertible, but that was about it. The car was a pile of junk and sat in a parking spot for the majority of the time that we owned it. Pontiac has always had a bad rap when it comes to reliability. The Pontiac Vibe wagon was the only Pontiac that was deemed reliable by “Consumer Magazine”. The majority of Pontiac cars are driven by “bros” and/or “rednecks”.

In 1963 GM placed a ban on Pontiac’s involvement in automobile racing. Once the ban was in place, Pontiac engineers (Russell Gee, Bill Collins, and chief engineer John DeLorian) decided to focus their attention on street performance instead. In 1963 they produced the world’s first “muscle car”, which revolutionized the car industry and created the “muscle car era”. In 1964, Pontiac pitted their GTO against the Ferrari GTO in a performance challenge, and Pontiac won (37 years later, Pontiac admitted to cheating by placing a bigger engine into the GTO before the tests). After Pontiac “won” the challenge against Ferrari, the battle was publicized in every magazine/newspaper. Pontiac estimated selling 5,000 GTO’s in the year of 1964, but they ended up selling 32,450.

Pontiac was the first car manufacturer to produce a “street legal race car”, which created the “muscle car era”(an era that marketed to the “speed-minded youth”) [wikipedia.com]. The Pontiac GTO dominated car sales in 1964, and many other carmakers wanted in. Car manufacturers hurried to build their own GTO equivalent cars, and Ford was one of the first to be successful in accomplishing this. In 1964, the first Ford Mustang was produced and in 1965, the Mustang was deemed Fords most successful launch since the Ford Model A.

I can’t help but wonder if Pontiac would have made it as long as they did if they hadn’t come out with the GTO. It's possible that the GTO may not have survived if they hadn’t cheated when it was pitted against Ferrari’s GTO. Even more important, without the GTO we may have never had the “muscle car era”. Cars today would be completely different, because the car industry wouldn’t have had the inspiration from the GTO and car manufacturers wouldn’t have shifted focus to building performance vehicles. We might all be driving around renewable energy vehicles, and gas powered vehicles would have been a thing of the past.

Its crazy to think that something as simple as cheating on a performance test could impact everything we know about cars today. I love the “muscle car era” and most vehicles that were inspired by the “muscle car era”. I would be lying if I said that Pontiac’s deceitful practices at the time were a bad thing. I can understand why a consumer back then would have been very angry, they were cheated and coaxed into buying a car that was marketed around a lie. Some would say, that eventually their deceitful practices caught up with them, and as a result, in 2010 GM shut them down.

Jalopnik.com

[Photos from google images]

[Research from: History.com, Wikipedia.com]

Ford, Not Built Tough

Are poor people naturally attracted to Fords? My family was poor, so when I was growing up we had 3 or 4 Ford vehicles, and every single one we owned was a pile of junk! One of our first Fords was a late 80’s candy apple red Ford Mustang. We were so proud of that car! Our pride was short lived, because the engine caught on fire and burned the car up (good thing it happened while nobody was in it). We also owned a 92 Ford Probe and when we bought the car my mom said that it was the fastest car on the road. The Probe was so fast, it even had a special “Turbo” button that my mom would let us push to make us go even faster. After a year or so of dealing with issue after issue, the frame snapped in half and my mom was stuck in the middle of the desert (very negative experience for her). My father also owned a mid 90’s Ford Ranger as a work truck. He ended up having to rebuild the whole drive train, and decided to sell it before anything else went wrong.

If you didn't figured it out by the title, I’m sure you can tell that I am not fond of Ford Motor Company. All of my memories of owning a Ford are negative ones, but I’m sure there were some good experiences as well. I’m sure Ford makes good cars too; I have just never seen one.

Henry Ford driving "Sweepstakes"

In 1901 Henry Ford proved to everyone that he could build the most reliable car around. He built his custom racecar named “Sweepstakes” with newly invented technologies that we still use today. Ford entered his first race ever against Alexander Winton (The best builder/racer of that era). Back then racecars always had 2 men in them, one being the driver and the other being the mechanic (who was constantly fixing the car during the race). Racecars were not reliable by any means, and this was where Henry Ford’s new racecar would show the world that it was the best car ever made. On the 8^th lap of the race, the “Winton Motor Carriage” began to break down, and Henry Ford in his reliable racecar was able to pass him. Henry Ford finished the race as the winner. This was Henry Ford’s first and last race. His victory later gave him the leverage and backing to Incorporate Ford Motor Company, and build the very successful consumer car “Ford Model A”. Ford has been one of the most successful carmakers ever since; but they have had their ups and downs, just like every other carmaker.

Henry Ford

Ford continues to market their vehicles in being the “most reliable”; they take pride in the fact that their automobiles are American made. In my opinion, Ford Motor Company lost the right to be deemed “reliable” in the 1980’s. Sure they had some decent cars, but they were not to Henry Ford’s standards of reliability. After researching Ford, and learning about Henry Ford’s great victory (a corner stone in history for Ford Motor Company), I have gained a great deal of respect for him, and where Ford Motor Company came from. Over the past 5-10 years Ford has been improving their vehicles. I might even agree to drive one as a rental car. During those decades when they were crap, it ruined the idea of ever wanting to own one. 

Ford Motor Company's mission statement is to be viable and profitable for all. I agree that it has been a very profitable company for all involved, and I think that with any big corporation, the cost cuts that inevitably happen usually give the consumer the short end of the stick. That's probably what happened those years they couldn't put out a reliable vehicle. In today's age corporations have to keep the customer first or they wont last. That is why customer service and quality products are important to any company in todays world. Consumers have the ability to research and read through other consumer's reviews before they make the "educated" decision to buy anything. In closing, I feel that Ford Motor Company, and most other car manufacturers are becoming more reliable. However, I still have a sour feeling in my gut when I see a Ford emblem.

Photo Credits

1. Calvin and Hobbes Peeing on Ford: google images

2. Henry Ford driving Sweepstakes: hfha.org

3. Henry Ford Photo: google images

Research performed on:

Ford.com

Wikipedia.com