Delorean DMC-12 - Buyers Guide - Ownership Review

BUYING A DELOREAN

So your thinking of buying a unique Stainless Steel Sports car ….. ?

And your going to spend your hard earned money on a ……DeLorean ? !

Speaking from experience here I’m going to give you my honest and unbiased personal opinion.

I’m not going to talk you into it …. or out of it !

The DMC-12

This list could you go on here, but I have tried to summarise it as brief as I can in small bite size 6 blogs , but if you want further info please do not hesitate to contact me

( mark@sandstoneproductions.co.uk)

So what experience do I have to talk about this ?

• Qualified Electrical Mechanical Engineer - Car Mechanic - Automotive Electrical and Electronic systems

• Being an owner for over 5 years

• Rebuilt and installed PRV engine in my DeLorean

• Rebuilt most of my own DeLorean and tackled some of the hardest Jobs on the car

Before we start let me just say what John Z DeLorean accomplished in just 28 months was incredible boarding on the impossible (even if the same project was tackled today in 2021 !).

His story reads like a Hollywood fictional Movie, this was a man who knew what he wanted and nothing would stop him building his own stainless steel sports car.

So 40 years on his legacy is still alive which is his testament for his company’s slogan ‘Live the Dream"‘

DeLorean DMC-12

As John DeLorean set out he had no running prototype, no Factory, no Workers, no Money, this was something he would have to overcome in a short space of time in order to start groundbreaking for the factory in 1978, and finished it in by 1981 with the first car rolling of the line.

John Z Delorean and Cristina Ferrare with the DeLorean DMC-12

DeLorean Factory

DeLorean Factory

At that time it would have taken Ford 5 years to design a car, and that’s with all their current infrastructure already in place. John managed to build a brand new factory and produce a car in just over 2 years.

Today 40 years on, the DeLorean not only has old age against it, but also had many factory improvements made over the period of it’s 18 month production. Some of these updates may not have been carried out on your new DeLorean. Just for instance I met up with a DeLorean owner who’s car was just 50 chassis numbers away from mine, and the differences between the cars ware quite surprising.

Also this is a controversial issue in DeLorean ownership (you will find this out soon enough) is that I love the BTTF Films, but this subject along with DeLorean Ownership do not always mix well, and the Film can be a very touchy subject in DeLorean circles.

DeLorean Time Machine www.sandstoneproductions.co.uk

I want to jump straight into the 10 part DeLorean series, where we will be covering :

Buying a DeLorean ….

So where do you start ? I have broken it down to these blogs…..

Where to buy - Variations - Bodywork - Chassis - Common issues -Interior - Engine - What to look out for - Recommissioning old engines - Maintenance Factory updates - The Drive (The experience and the public views) - BTTF Conversions - living the dream – the future

Brief Background to My DeLorean :

Whilst running ‘Classic and Supercars on the Quay’ (an automotive show in Hampshire www.classiconthequay.co.uk) my Dream Car entered the show area……the DeLorean DMC-12 !

I had to stop and talk to the owner in great detail about this Stainless Steel Movie Star.

DeLorean DMC-12

Expressing to the owner that was my ‘Dream Car’ and would love to own one (but never thought I would be able too). He said he had recently imported one which needed a complete renovation which would take upto 16 months to complete, but after that would be up for sale.

Desperate to see it, a few days later I visited him. The day I visited he had 4 DeLorean’s on his drive and 2 available to purchase !

One was a black manual, which was on the road and ready to drive, the other a grey Auto with an immaculate interior, even the seats looking brand new. But like most DeLorean’s it had been standing for a very long time, so everything needed repairing / replacing and full refurbishment was needed.

I really wanted the grey interior and overlooked the sorry state the DeLorean was in, so the long wait began. The current owner had purchased this DMC-12 as a project to strip it down and rebuild most of it.

Then nearly 1 and 1/2 years later it was ready to collect in Late April 2016 (rebuild started late 2014)

What an amazing day collecting my DeLorean, it was still hard to believe it was mine !

It was the first time I had ever drove a DeLorean, the long stretched out driving position was and being left hand drive made the drive home even more exciting !

The very next day was my 1st Supercar Show ….. !

So let’s jump into the first part of my series on a owners review of how Buying and Delorean …..

You may not know there a a few variations of DeLorean :

Bonnet - Gas Flap

Grooved bonnet without Gas Flap

Smooth bonnet

Grey wheels

Silver wheels

Grey Interior

Black interior

Different design tweeks like Door handles moved forward of doors, different locations for the radio aerial

8 Right hand drives

The book ‘ DeLorean DMC-12 1981 to 1983: ‘The Essential Buyer's Guide ‘Goes into great details on the model variations

I’m based in the U.K so the choice of ‘on the road’ DeLorean’s are rare, but most purchased in the U.K have been restored. The the ones found in American are normally ‘Barn Finds’ with some of these DMC-12’s have been sitting around for the past 35 years or more, so this is good news for lower prices.

U.K purchase Benefits –

Strong owners club with excellent backup and support, overnight parts via DeLorean Go (good prices), with upgraded or original parts on offer.

U.K Downside …..

Prices are higher, but this takes into account they have imported the vehicle and in most cases recommissioned

USA purchase benefits

Prices are cheaper, but there are many questions to be asked :

? Is it, or was it from a dry state, if so is there any sun damage to interior

? Has it been recommissioned correctly ?

? Most barn finds have very little history

Import duty is only 5% of the cars value, (as it was built in Ireland) with total shipping costs being under £2500 and 6 weeks wait time.

There are shipping company’s that collect the car from any of the USA States then transport it to the nearest port

Collection from U.K Port with NOVA certificate, Trailer, Paperwork Plus getting it through the M.O.T here in the U.K

So I though rather than describe in length the various issues you may encounter, I would list the parts I have replaced in my 5 year ownership (bearing in mind my DeLorean had already had an 18 month refit) and covered just 3500 miles.

If you have any questions or would like advise, you can contact me at mark@sandstoneproductions.co.uk I would be only to happy to answer your questions.

Before anyone says ‘I never had any problems’ then if this is the case, Excellent ! You have chosen wisely, and ‘well done’ for finding a trouble free DeLorean. Or if it’s for Sale BUY IT !

My story is very different to this, and I currently know of at least 3 other DeLorean owners as we speak that have varying running issues, these issues spanning across years of ownership. Immediate ones that spring to mind are Idle speed - Hot and Cold starting issues, and noisy Cams.

Other factors to consider :

• Do you have have garage to keep, restore / work on your DeLorean ?

• Do you have a decent vehicle tool box ? (I had access to a fully equipped workshop with a full array of Snap On tools) as without this, it would have been a nightmare !

• Find a mechanic that knows the PRV engine, and is happy to work on your DeLorean (there’s not many around

• Body Work is best left to the expert Chris from PJ Grady

• Be Prepared to get your hands dirty … !

• Have to got the time to dedicate to repairing your DeLorean ?

You wouldn’t want to buy the Car of your Dreams, only to find it needs £10,000 - £20,000 of parts, labour, bodwork, interior, electrical and mechanical parts and constant repairs.

This will start to eat into your time and deflating bank account, also as the time goes on your enthusiasm starts to wane, and the project comes to a halt.

I’m definitely saying not to buy one….

It’s just when I bought mine I had rose tinted glasses on. All my common sense went out straight of the window as soon as I seen my dream car. I ignored all the basic checks (as I believed) with my DMC-12 just coming out of rebuild I would have nothing to worry about.

Blissfully unaware of how much time (I personally think around 2500 hrs to date) it would take just to keep my DeLorean on the road my journey began.

As I couldn’t find anyone to work on the car locally it was wrench time for me, so I had to learn quickly. It’s was quite unbelievable the amount of 40 year old parts that would need replacing.

The long list follows in our next blog !

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