Re: [DML] Prototypes, legend and lore

["fivetwofive" <CBL302@xxxx>]

Now to add my 2 cents worth,here's my reply,
The factory begain producing cars for DEALER shipment in June of 
1981,prior to that,there was a series of cars Vin # 000520 thru 
000648 that were HAND assembled and shipped to the USA.There were 
approximately 40 in number.These autos were for the factory 
executives,trade shows EPA and DOT.To the Best of my knowledge only a 
few of these cars survived.The balance were crashed tested,destroyed 
or disassembled for parts.They were NEVER destined to be sold to the 
general public My car has a vin tag showing a date of March 1981.As 
ALL cars HAVE to have VIN#'s this was probably done in March prior to 
shipping to the States.There are possibly several pre-prod.prototype 
cars in the US.or worldwide,BUT in the 22yeras I have been into 
Deloreans,I have only information on maybe a total of 10-12( possibly 
a few more that I am not aware of). WORLDWIDE with vin's below vin# 
648,as the FIRST car that was sold to the General public was Vin # 
000649.The #1 and #2 prototypes were sold in the fall of 1984 AT 
auction in California.Neither of the autos was in drivable 
condition,being damaged and with parts missing.The #1 ptototype 
purchased by Bill Yaccobozzi,sold for $37K.The #2 prototype,purchased 
by Don Williams,sold for $21K. 
As for my car Vin#000570,it was assigned as a "training car"(after 
BEING HAND assembled) and then was assigned to a K.Rzemek,as it was 
never intended/nor was it EVER sent to a DMC car 
delearship,again,this car(00570)was NEVER intended to be "sold" 
except for the fact of the DMC's need for cash/ collaspe,saved it 
from it's fate of doom.Again in my 22years of keeping a interest in 
Deloreans,I have ONLY come across about a dozen cars(worldwide) 
Between vins 520-648. If they were "regular production cars",then 
just answer this Question--Where are all these(128 cars) missing cars-
-- You would think since they were the first "dealer sold cars" as 
some people would think,then they should be easy to find.Also the 
true "first" Delorean prototype Delorean was not EVEN a Delorean,it 
was a FIAT X/19 (a pic is shown of it in SSI)So that the two orignal 
prototypes are cars 2 and 3 on the list.Also to back up what I am 
saying I have Documents to prove/backup my words.One more thing I am 
the second owner of 00570 the first owner got it from a company that 
was a liquidator of some kind, for DMC excess inventory(ie:items that 
could NOT be sold thru regular channels)(this is what the first owner 
told me,as I located him in N.J.) They(DMC) needed cash,but could not 
sell the cars(vins 520-648) thru normal Dealer channels/networks,for 
liability reasons,as these cars again were NEVER intended to be sent 
to/thru the new car dealerships
Ferrai TODAY does the same thing with their new production Prototype 
Ferraris(except they will never release or sell those cars(or any 
parts off those cars) in any manner,no matter how much money you 
throw at them)if you go to the Ferrari factory,somewhere in the 
corner of the factory grounds,you will FIND MILLIONS and Millions of 
Dollars worth of Ferrais,crushed or stacked 3 or 4 high one on top of 
each other,it just would make you sick to see testerossas,GTO's and 
F-50's,and some of their "lesser cars" stacked one on top of the 
other.And a start-up Company like DMC was following the same path(or 
at least disassembling,these early cars)but like any company that 
needed/strapped for cash,you sell off what ever you can,that is where 
my car and others like mine had their chance,to escape their fate.If 
I am wrong please correct my facts.

Claude
00570 

P.S.Some of my facts were gleened from DMC factory Documents, and DW 
and previous owners,and Consolidated Leasing,and California Tech 
Center.










--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "James" <james@xxxx> wrote:
> I've extensively researched the history of prototypes and know a 
fair 
> amount about them as well as the pre-production cars. Here 
goes...the 
> first prototype with the Citroen 4 cylinder engine is in a private 
> collection in Nevada. It is the subject of a feature article in an 
> upcoming issue of "deloreans". The owner is proud of the car, but 
> very protective. I don't expect we will see the car publicly 
> displayed in the near future. But I'm working on him. :-)
> 
> The second prototype was sent off to Lotus for "evaluation". This 
car 
> never returned to the states and I went to Lotus last year (at 
their 
> invitation on another matter) and spoke to several people about it. 
> Everyone was in agreement that it was destroyed in the late 1990's. 
> Photos of that era show it seemingly abandoned and in VERY poor 
> condition.
> 
> Dozens of prototypes were built at built at Lotus (cars with 
> fiberglass bodies) and destroyed or disassembled according to 
sources 
> at Lotus. I believe all the pre-production cars were built at 
> Dunmurry (in the late months of 1980 as production loomed). They 
were 
> numbered, a prefixed with a "D". One would imagine they started 
> at "D01", but no documentation has surfaced to prove that. There is 
> documentation (dated 12/31/81) of the existence of cars numbered 
D19, 
> D20, D21, and D28. These are referred to on different documents 
> as "pilot builds" or "engineering mules". Two or three of these 
pre-
> production cars have survived - the one on the DMC-News web site 
> which I believe is D28 (current whereabouts unknown) and Sascha 
> Skucek's car (sorry if I spelled your name wrong). I think we 
> determined that Sascha's car is D20. Based on the dates of that 
> document, I am inclined to think that only those four pre-
production 
> cars came to the states, the rest having stayed in Dunmurry. 
> 
> Between late Jan 1981 and April 1981, several hundred (the actual 
> number is unknown at this time) of what's come to be called 
> the "black cars" were built. Exactly what became of these cars is 
> unknown as well.
> 
> Regular production started at VIN #500, though the first 60 were 
not 
> intended for retail sale, and a document exists saying that there 
was 
> to be no warranty coverage on those cars. SSI says production 
started 
> in April, but several cars exist with build dates of March. 
> 
> The earliest documented retail sale VIN is 635, the first known 
> public sale was June 17, 1981 in Beverly Hills, CA (VIN 910). I 
doubt 
> any cars were sold retail prior to that date, as cars didn't arrive 
> in the US until early June of 1981. We all know there are lower 
VIN's 
> in private hands now, though most (if not all) can be established 
as 
> having previously been company cars originally, and were only sold 
> later as company finances deteriorated and they were forced to sell 
> those cars. Those cars were sold through a company called "Chestnut 
> Fleet Leasing" and these cars are sometimes referred to as 
> the "Chestnut Fleet" cars.
> 
> James Espey
> DMC (Texas)
> http://www.delorean.com