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Obvious answer: Relatively reliable, relatively civilised, obtainable parts etc. Current preference answer:   One slow, one fast.
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Jan 26, 2014 13:11
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| # ¿ May 15, 2024 22:28 |
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blk posted:Those were all my runners up. We have similar tastes. Do you own a Delorean? Nope. I decided against buying a project one for the second time last month as I've wanted one since I was a kid, but I want it to be 'right' when I get it. It's probably not very AI to say this but I fix/force stuff to come together in a compromised way for a living and for me a car like that should be perfect (in so much as those cars can be). Working/restoring it would kill the magic for me. I'm also thinking that being in the UK I'm never far away from one of the RHD models so maybe it's worth holding back for one of those; they're 10% faster for twice the price (bargain). There's also one of the pilot/prototype cars here that's been restored and that's very tempting. blk posted:If I got people coming up to me wanting to talk about Giugiaro, I'd feel a lot different. We apparently have the same specific DeLorean interests! I love the cars, but part of what makes them interesting is the history and the circumstance around them, and how against-all-odds it was that they ever got made. John was a fascinating man - a real monster; Steve Jobs doesn't have poo poo on him. He was a crook, a thief, a liar and a blackmailer who got where he did with establishing DMC through charisma and dumb luck. He was a schemer, but he also wasn't especially bright. I don't think there's a single person who worked with him who won't tell you that he wasn't a little bit crazy - not in the good way, but like an undisciplined child. He chumped a lot of decent people, screwed people out of their money, homes, businesses, careers and retirements, shat all over the hopes of 2000 desperate people and brought down the whole thing he worked for out of sheer... something. Someone said about him that he was a man "always on the run" and even when he had it all, he was still wilfully self-destructive. I find a lot of Americans idolise him but the man was scum; the breakdown of his behaviour from 75-82 is amazing. Then there was the guys at Lotus, who effectively managed to create a production car from scratch in around 14 months (they started and then had to start over when the car was re-designed). How they managed to do it - creating toolings, testing programmes, constantly winging it (in a professional manner), having thousands of parts made from basic discussions drawings rather than actual plans and praying to god they fit... Every week there was something that should have made the whole thing crumble, but somehow they managed to make a workable production car out of it. It wasn't very good, but that's not really the point. And because there was only that one car made, you can kind of see the whole history in it. The mad gimmicks that came directly from John's pen, the cut corners in terms of engineering that can be traced back to a specific argument on a specific date, the clash in engineering between what Bill Collins produced and what Lotus put in, and of course, the iffy build quality representative of an all-new, barely trained workforce doing their best. It's not a car with soul like an Alfa or Ferarri or whatever, but few other cars have a tangible context/history just by looking at them. It's kinda a pity that the car is better known as being a comedy prop than for that, but then, most people aren't interested in cars/auto history to that level, so whatever. I've been lucky that I've been able to talk to people like Colin Spooner, Mike Loasby - even a quick chat with Giugario - there's so much crazy history to it all, and almost every person involved has their own horror story of wasted blood, sweat and tears that they put into it. Not to mention that it pretty much killed Colin Chapman (who would have gone to jail anyway). Rhyno posted:Are there Delorean owners out there who just hate BTTF? The only local one we have put a flux capaciter into his and talks about wanting to do a full conversion. It's not like the cars are hyper rare, but I am finding the volume of conversions being done to be a bit depressing. With enough money they're reversible, and the original prop cars were beautifully made (one of the reasons I ended up working in film was how much I liked them as a kid), but they're all identical and most are made for the sole purpose of being rented out for TV shows/advertising gimmicks and it's just a bit tiring (cue the usual "no one would know about DeLoreans if it wasn't for BTTF" argument)
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Feb 3, 2014 18:09
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I don't think BTTF fanboys have altered the market at all - if you assume theres 6000-6500 cars left (reasonable) there can't be more than 100 conversions out there - perhaps between 50 and 70. Used prices have risen fairly stably with inflation over the years - (£12k for a used LHD circa 1996, £18k now). Prices spiked a little when John died in 2005 but mostly they've stayed as-is. BTTF may have raised their used value in the late 80s but it's hard to say because at the time of recievership NOS cars were selling for half of list price. But generally they've stayed fairly evenly priced. They're surely the easiest classic car to find unmolested? (also, very very rear engined, not mid) Are these considered classic? After the E9/M1 I think this is the third most desirable BMW. In Europe they have the presence of an older, larger American car in some ways - I can't think of anything (other than the large Mercedes coupes) that have that kind of proportion. It's the only thing that the new boat-sized 6 series gets 'right'. E: I suppose my definition of classic is out of production but carries cachet with car nerds?  echoplex fucked around with this message at 22:21 on Feb 3, 2014 |
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Feb 3, 2014 22:06
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