[DML] Re: The DeLorean: It's not so bad!

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Misunderstood again....

I really like my little silver car. Sometimes I even love it. I will
never sell it (whenever funds get tight I just turn the tag in). 

But I do not think the sun rises and sets on it. 

DMC is to be commended for getting so much right on the vehicle,
especially given its short development time (basically making it a
Lotus helped that development immensely). Of course all the Lotus
engineering in the world couldn't help the the actual manufacturing
process. The fact that DMC built a factory from scratch, trained a
novice workforce, and fired up continuous assembly within a couple of
years is remarkable. Even more remarkable is the fact that vehicles
rolling out the other end were not so riddled with defects as to be
unusable (compare to the Edsel, which was a well engineered car that
suffered from abysmal assembly problems -- another story for another
thread).

That said, we must be realistic. DeLoreans are far from perfect. Some
cost saving corners were cut. Some questionable engineering did enter
the design. And of course Uncle Sam had his air quality and fuel
mileage fingers in the pie.

DeLoreans are what they are: Better than many, not quite Lincolns, and
altogether a blast to own and drive.

Don't ever forget: The best thing about DeLorean ownership isn't the
car -- it's the people you meet via the car. All of us are one
telephone pole away from owning a pile of plastic.

Regarding Ford Motor Company: To be brutally honest, I am mezmerized
that they survived past 1930. Old Henry built an industrial giant,
then did everything in his power to kill it. He did manage to kill his
only son Edsel. General Motors was absolutely mopping up the floor
with Ford. I can't figure out how the company continued to lurch
along. By any reasonable measure or business practice they should have
been bankrupt. Perhaps they were -- accounting practices simply did
not exist (Ford was 100% private at that time). Young Henry saved the
company, partially by raiding General Motors for executive talent.
Then he too turned into a grumpy old man and tried to kill it. Must be
a Ford family genetic weakness. I am beholden to the unknown, low
profile, now forgotten talent in the back rooms and basements (from
whence the great and glorious Mustang crawled) for the products of
which I am now so fond (the Mustang definitely is not among them).

Back on topic: What I find most sad is the current state of automobile
design and manufacturing. Individuals are gone. Where are the John
DeLoreans (or the George Romneys and Soichiro Hondas) of today? They
don't exist. Cars are designed by committee, and they look the part.
We have entered the age of the disposable automobile -- part of their
initial design is the eventual melting down process; they are expected
to be thrown away. Does anyone seriously expect a year 2007 model
anything to still be on the road in the year 2037? I still use my
first, high school vehicle as daily transportation (an *AMC* --
greatest car company ever. Another post for another thread).

So, all things considered, DeLorean ownership is definitely worth the
pursuit (can I hear an "Amen" Farrar). Once purchased, the little car
will drive you to the edge of madness and back -- repeatedly. But
think long & hard before ever selling it. The world is full of former
owners who wish they had never sold their little silver cars (can I
hear an "Amen" Louie).

Bill Robertson
#5939

> --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Marc Levy <malevy_nj@...> wrote:
>
> When you say DeLorean owners are sometimes unrealistic
> about how "good" the car is, I think you (Bill) are
> just as guilty as being unrealistic about how "bad" it
> is.




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