Re: [DML] Gull wings/saftey issue

[senatorpack@xxxx]

Dear dml,

The DeLorean was designed as a safety car, and is one of the world's 
safest automobiles. It was intended for the Mercedes Benz, Acura, Infiniti, 
Lexus, & Jaguar crowd. These particular machines have a panache for style and 
grace, however they have an extremely safe and well made.
The DeLorean was 15 years ahead of the level that it took Lexus/Toyota, 
Infiniti/Nissan, and Acura/Honda to attain in terms of perceived value, 
status, and quality. The educated consumer knew that these automobiles were 
some of the finest examples of quality and safety. This is true with the 
DeLorean as well. In my opinion the automotive press was way too concerned 
with drag strip performance and unrealistic comparison to the corvette. The 
DeLorean had evolved too far ahead of the 78-82 corvette in terms of a buyer 
wanting a more luxurious and prestigious automobile, but this is another 
story. 
In addition, Allstate Insurance Inc. contributed to the research and 
development of the Elastic Reservoir Molding (ERM) process for the DeLorean. 
However the technology to develop ERM was a substantial cost to DMC so Lotus 
changed DeLorean's mind about using it in a production automobile. The 
Variable Assisted Resin Injection (VARI) process used in the Lotus Esprit 
outerbody and DeLorean underbody, incorporate stiffening areas filled with 
beams of foam. The foam used is extremely hard to crush and provides 
excellent protection via front, side, and rear impact. 
Additionally, The United States Federal Government contracted AMF and 
Fairchild to build the experimental US safety car, and it had gullwing doors. 
John DeLorean touted the gullwings in the DeLorean automobile much safer than 
a conventional car because the higher door sill protected the driver in a 
side impact collision. 
Keep in mind that until the late 1990s automobile manufactures offered 
side impact collision airbags as standard features. So it is "safe" to say 
that the DeLorean is a very safe car.
There are two films that I was able to locate from NHTSA about 5 years 
ago. The films show the production DeLorean in a closing barrier impact speed 
of 35 and 40 mph. The car did well considering the impact speed was 70 and 80 
mph. (35x2 = 70, 40x2 =80mph) The problem area was the fuel pump boot. The 
pump broke free from the boot, spilling small amounts of fuel into the 
passenger compartment. This was NHTSA only viable complaint.

Michael