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John Z. Delorean-Back In Business? - READ ONLY

45 messages,  Last post on Apr 19, 2001 at 3:43 PM

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Messages Page 5 of 5

#36 of 45 easy, big fella... by speedshift

Oct 11, 2000 (1:40 am)

You'll get Shiftright into a Gee-TO yet, with GRRRR plates. It'll look swell next to the ex-CHP Century. Then what will the Alfisti say?


High effort is part of the brute charm. 17:1 manual steering with 60-series tires--you know you're steering something serious, indeed, agricultural. Letting the clutch out too quickly on a downshift and skipping into the next lane--man, that's living. Using the (real) Hurst shifter to move those big gears around--none of that rubbery crap you get nowadays. As I said in the Corvair forum, there is no art without the resistance of the medium. Modern cars are too refined to resist, hence, no art.


While it's certainly a blast to run a GTO through the gears, what really impressed me about the two I had with HD suspension was how well-balanced they were. They weren't necessarily winding back roads cars, although they gave enough feedback to be thoroughly enjoyable in that context, but on a medium fast road--say, Skyline through San Mateo County, or 84 from Woodside to San Gregorio--they could be drifted through fast corners.


Isell is right about not being able to stop. I tried to pass a car on the San Mateo Bridge--this was in the '67 with 9" drums--saw that I wouldn't make it before I hit a section that had been closed off, and leaned on the brakes. This was at about 80 mph. Instant brake fade--no brakes.


     

#37 of 45 Shifty was right... by isellhondas

Oct 11, 2000 (3:46 am)

About the clutch resistance! Try getting stuck in a traffic jam!


But, my '64 Impala SS - 409 was the WORST! Talk about a heavy clutch!! Only kept it for about six months. My right leg bacame much stronger than my right in that short time!

#38 of 45 by speedshift

Oct 11, 2000 (4:49 am)

And you're complaining...you should have tried out as an NFL placekicker.

#39 of 45 Actually... by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Oct 12, 2000 (5:46 pm)

I had a '67 GTO hardtop for a while...kind of ratty but it did move out smartly...it was one of my last romantic flings with American Big Iron, and I think I did squeeze all the amusement out of it I could at the time. But then, like the jaded, world-weary debutante that I am, I went on to Jaguars and Porsches and such for a different kind of thrill. Mabye I watched too many of those "furrin" films with the Ferrari speeding along the Riviera hillsides while Italian chi-chi music played in the background.


Maybe John D. watched them, too, and wanted to create something new for himself? It was a bold and brassy enterprise, fail miserably though it did. I think he picked the wrong engine and built it in the wrong country and with the wrong set of doors. A twin-turbo normal two-door coupe built in Italy might have worked.

#40 of 45 by speedshift

Oct 14, 2000 (3:33 am)

John Z. got way too chic for Detroit. I think he started believing his own press releases.

#41 of 45 John Z. by bolivar

Oct 14, 2000 (6:17 am)

Am I miss-remembering, or didn't John get caught on video fingering through a suitcase of cocaine and mumbling about the drug deal being the way to pull his car business out of the crapper?


Slick lawyers and years later the case was thrown out of court - but if this is the same guy I remember......

#42 of 45 Yeah... by isellhondas

Oct 14, 2000 (5:58 pm)

It was pretty bad. Even now, it's illegal to drive a De Lorean in California. When they are driven on the highway, the white lines disappear!

#43 of 45 White Lines by bolivar

Oct 15, 2000 (6:30 am)

isell, that's a great one!


So, not miss-remembering, I think I can stick the 'evil' tag on him.

#44 of 45 I am glad he's back by blarg1

Apr 19, 2001 (2:16 pm)

Snnnniiiiiiffffff Hey I need a refill.
 
I knew a guy with a delorian. Paid $25000 new, slower than a $6000 camaro. He couldn't park in parkinglots, the doors would whack the car next to him. He couldn't use the drivein window at mickey d, too low, and the window didn't open the right way.
 
I saw a guy on speedvision who bought the prototype at an auction. He was so proud of his $10000 purchase. For $10K he coulda had three and still have moneyleft over to pay for the barge to dump them in the ocean.

#45 of 45 by Mr_Shiftright HOST

Apr 19, 2001 (3:43 pm)

Yeah, the poor Delorean....you know, with a decent engine (as originally planned) and some quality-control at the factory, it could have been a nice enough car. Handling is good, and the styling is, well, either you like it or you don't. So, you know, a twin turbo V-6, get rid of the goofy gullwing doors (there is, after all, only ONE Gullwing), use steel instead of stainless and you'd have....a Lotus-like coupe of better than average performance and rather dated style.

Messages Page 5 of 5

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