Delorean Time Machine Replica Up For Auction 431
PunkerTFC writes "I'm sure most of you remember the movie Back To The Future. Well, now you have a chance to own your very own 1982 Delorean, fully equipped for time travel. It has a "Flux Capacitor", "Time Circuits" and "exterior Flux Dispersion Banding". This thing is clearly a chick magnet, and if you can't get them on the first pass, you can always crank it up to 88 mph and go back in time to try it again! Seriously though, this car is amazing, definitely worth a look to see the details. Nothing has been missed, and my hat goes off to the builder."
VMax (Score:4, Informative)
you can always crank it up to 88 mph
...if you can get it to 88mph. Those things were heavy (1200kg/2700lb) and underpowered (130bhp), and the build quality was pretty poor. And yes, I have seen one in the flesh.
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:2, Informative)
Re:I love that car... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:I love that car... (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, he wasn't a junkie, he was accused of dealing cocain but was aquitted on all charges because he was entrapped.
IMHO, the real shame is that such a great designer didn't pair up with a great business manager who could make his ideas successful rather than a footnote in automotive history.
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:5, Informative)
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:5, Informative)
Oxygen starvation happens anytime stainless steel is covered, so anywhere it's in constant contact with other materials the chromium oxide can wear off (admittedly it's tougher than rust there) and corrode. Grommet holes, contact points for suspension and plastic resin extras are all places that the deloreans that have until today are corroded.
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:3, Informative)
Stainless steel corrodes instead of rusting.
> Light, efficient and well designed midmount engine.
Underpowered unreliable engine
> Gullwing doors.
Doors incompatible with 75% of parking spaces
> Brilliant weighting and suspension that were 10 years ahead of
> what was in anything but supercars...
Go drive one. They wallow like a boat.
I think you're a bit too influenced by the image of the car rather than the reality.
Re:VMax (Score:4, Informative)
There were problems with some of the original 1981 run that caused them to need extensive work. The kinks got very quickly worked out, however. While you are correct that the vehicle, from a sports car point of view, were overpowered, don't think for a second that the car is on the level of say, Toyota Tercel. The vehicle has a V6 built by Renault-Volvo, and my old Saturn weighed just shy of 2700 lbs. The Saturn also had equal horsepower. It could do 120mph without a problem (so I hear.... cough cough), and Saturns don't have gull wing doors, or a flux capacitor.
Re:I love that car... (Score:5, Informative)
This guy is right. John DeLorean got teamed up with someone who he thought was going to fuse a large amount of cash into his company in order to save it (after his original loans by the royal family were spontaneously and unfairly called.) He had no idea that this guys plan was for him to sell coke in order to get the money.
DeLorean attempted to back out, but the man threatened his daughters life. With this in mind, he agreed to go through with the deal. Only at this point did the true facts come out. This gentlman was ACTUALLY a very over zealous cop who did all of this deliberately.
Entrapment.
DeLorean was (very appropriately) acquited of all charges.
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:3, Informative)
Like many things made for marketing I think. The name is a lot better than the reality. Titanium is COOL when it's on a blackbird (ok actually the stuff gets really hot) and the correct alloy is used for its purpose as an extreme exotic material. Use it on a Powerbook though and it's really just another metal, which dents easily and needs to be painted otherwise it too marks just by touch. But it still sounds cool.
Like the delorean. Stainless Steel is just COOL marketing wise, but it's a pain in the ass on a car.
Re:VMax (Score:3, Informative)
If there is anyone in NZ wanting to see one, there was one in the auto-museam north of Wellington (well there was one last time I looked anyway)
Re:I love that car... (Score:5, Informative)
The Delorean had so many problems with tariffs and shipping and just a mess that many of the 9,000 cars they made sat in parking lots waiting to come to America.
To call John Delorean a thieving bastard is to not understand everything that happened. John DeLorean has stayed out of the limelight. He's been entangled in about 40 legal cases stemming from his company's bankruptcy. He personally declared bankruptcy in September 1999. He was evicted from his house in 2000.
So much for the "thieving bastard".
BTTF trivia (Score:5, Informative)
# The time machine has been through several variations. In the first draft of the screenplay the time machine was a laser device that was housed in a room. At the end of the first draft the device was attached to a refrigerator and taken to an atomic bomb test. In the third draft of the film the time machine was a DeLorean, but in order to send Marty back to the future the vehicle had to drive the DeLorean into an atomic bomb test.
# The device originally considered for use as the time travel machine was a refrigerator. Director Robert Zemeckis said in an interview that the idea was scrapped because he and Steven Spielberg did not want children to start climbing into refrigerators and getting trapped inside.
# The "Mr. Fusion Home Energy Converter", which is sitting on the DeLorean when Doc returns from the future, is made from (among other things) a Krups coffee grinder.
# The script never called for Marty to repeatedly bang his head on the gull-wing door of the DeLorean; this was improvised during filming as the door mechanism became faulty.
The DeLorean time machine is a licensed, registered vehicle in the state of California. While the vanity license plate used in the film says "OUTATIME", the DeLorean's actual license plate reads 3CZV657
When Marty is trying to re-start the DeLorean in 1955 as he prepares to return to 1985, the car's headlights flash the Morse Code for "SOS".
# The DeLorean used in the trilogy is 1981 model with 6-cylinder PRV engine, and the base for the nuclear reactor was made with hubcap from a Dodge Polaris. It is incorrectly quoted as being a 4 cylinder on the 2002 special edition DVD.
Re:VMax (Score:5, Informative)
I'm not sure how many people really get it, especially on
So of course it was (dripping with sarcasm) a big deal for a car to get to 88!
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:5, Informative)
From Delorean Motors UK [delorean.co.uk]:
It's a Peugeot Renault Volvo V6 (PRV-6) 2849cc Bosch K-Jet fuel injected SOHC 90 degree V6. It's a US emission-controlled amalgum of the Renault 30 and Volvo B28 engines. It's often mistaken for a Renault engine due to the belts, pulleys, alternator and water pump using the Renault configuration, but the internals are common to the Volvo engine. The transmission is a slightly modified version of the R30's (both 3-speed auto and 5-speed manual). The gears are taller and the transaxle is rotated through 180 degrees for rear-mounting. The PRV-6 has been a popular choice among kit-car enthusiasts for years due to its flexibility and availability. The 3-litre 24 valve version of the PRV-6 was in new production cars up until only a few short years ago, for example in the Citroen Xantia V6 and Renault Espace V6.
Delorean Motors [delorean.com] offers upgrades for this engine.
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:5, Informative)
The DeLorean was a predominately British design, by Lotus and Colin Chapman, though there were other inputs too. The idea was American - DeLorean and Bill Collins, but the details and implementation were British.
More here [pistonheads.com].
Cheers,
Ian
Re:good job. (Score:5, Informative)
It's not that rare. You can buy a brand new DeLorean from the DMC [delorean.com]. Only runs about 30 grand -- not too bad for a "Rare" car, eh?
-JemRe:good job. (Score:5, Informative)
Do I have to do everything for you? Click on the "Sales" tab.
"All refurbished cars are "built to order" using only quality, rust-free (while the stainless bodies will never rust, the frames are prone to it, particularly in the Northeastern states) cars, using our years of expertise and our vast supply of original and correct DeLorean parts. By doing it the right way, we can offer a six month, six thousand mile limited warranty on our refurbished cars. It's as close as you can get to a brand new DeLorean, and for about the same price as you'd have paid for one when it was new!"
-JemForget that, I want a Buckaroo's Jet Car! (Score:5, Informative)
Actually, it's a modified F-350 with a GE jet turbine.
More information [figmentfly.com]
As cool as the DMC-based Time Machine is (and I have to admit, the original B-T-T-F movie is a good memory of my teenage years), the whole BB stuff just rocked. Soooo much more wacked, and so much more fun.
Now, if I can just get Kaneda's Bike [neo-fukuoka.com] from Akira...
-Erik
Not *quite* a replica... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:5, Informative)
> Stainless steel corrodes instead of rusting.
Only with certain chemicals
> Doors incompatible with 75% of parking spaces
You try opening up a normal car door with only 11 inches of space on the side of the car. Yes, 11 inches of space.
> Go drive one. They wallow like a boat.
You must have been in one with a poor suspension, mine is nice. Take some turns at high speed that other cars have to slowdown for due to how low it sits.
Some factual information (Score:5, Informative)
The frame is badly rusted, and little mechanical work was done to it to ensure its reliability as a driver's car. Not to mention, the electronics were in a large part fabricated by someone without an electronics degree (stainless steel incinerator, anyone?).
As far as movie accuracy, it's very close, but far from perfect. Many details were left out since this car was built to generate income rather than be accurate to the films.
There's actually some legal dispute going on right now between the seller and the builder, being that the seller is using the builder's own photos to promote the item, i.e., copyright infringement.
Most of the comments I've seen so far here about the DeLorean as a car have been pretty misinformed. Stainless does corrode, but only in an environment that lacks oxygen. The chromium forms a protective oxide that protects the carbon steel component from rusting away. Gull-wing doors on it only take about 1 foot of clearance. The engine is heavily based on the Volvo B27 and B28F and was used for many years by them. It has a reliable track record seeing as there are real timing chains, not timing belts, that are used on it, as well as a very accurate, albeit, primitive, mechanical fuel injection.
While the car itself is not necessarily practical, the concepts behind it are. Can you imagine the reduction in paint fumes released into the environment if every car built was stainless steel? Not to mention, when some jerk comes and keys your car, not only will he destroy his key, but with some sandpaper, you yourself can remove the scratch. I'll admit the car has its flaws, but nothing that can't be corrected by someone knowledgeable about DeLoreans.
Next Best Thing, a VW (Score:2, Informative)
If you look at the pics the design similarities are quite obvious.
Guigiaro... (Score:4, Informative)
Re:VMax (Score:3, Informative)
I've driven two different DeLoreans in the past, and no, they're not speed demons. However, they DO look cool as heck.
You can find a LOT of information on the car at http://delorean.com [delorean.com]. Good hour of reading or so.
Re:VMax (Score:2, Informative)
Wrong on the gullwing doors (Score:1, Informative)
> Doors incompatible with 75% of parking spaces
Actually, this is wrong. The hinges that the doors pivot on are towards the center of the roof, meaning that the doors can actually open in TIGHTER spots than a regular car.
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Not *quite* a replica... (Score:2, Informative)
Check out the pictures on eBay, though, it's clearly a manual transmission.
--Nick
Re:VMax (Score:5, Informative)
In 1980 the US government restricted speedometers to 85mph. That lasted until 1985/1986. The majority of cars sold in the US went from 0-85mph on the speedometers. In some cases the manufacturer skirted the law in creative ways, for example Ford I believe had speedometers on their Thunderbirds or maybe it was the Mustang that went to 120mph, but the numbers stopped at 85mph, to stay within the letter of the law.
Thats why early 80's 911's originally had 85mph speedometers even though my 1968 goes up to 250kph, although most had them replaced by their owners at some point after the law was removed.
Re:good job. (Score:3, Informative)
Otherwise I'd quickly agree with you. On the other hand, I think doing something like this would be the main idea behind me ever buying a Delorian anyway.
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:5, Informative)
LOL... Another wannabe who doesn't know a damn thing about DeLoreans. A typical car door requires something like 40 inches of space to fully open. The DeLorean's gullwing doors, hinged near the center of the car, only swing out 11 inches.
Next time try some basic research before opening your mouth.
Re:The other car in Back to the Future... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:Mr. Fusion? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:99% certainty the buyer is ... (Score:3, Informative)
Re:The good technology always dies (Score:3, Informative)
Open wide [shada.com]
(Taken from a delorean thread [newbeetle.org] on newbeetle.org)
The description says yes. (Score:4, Informative)
Unless those pictures are of the "real" one from the movie, then the one up for auction is a manual 5-speed, and someone goofed up the auction listing.
Re:Umm, it's a DeLorean you're talking about? (Score:3, Informative)
This proves exactly how much you don't know about what happened. John did back off. Once he found out drugs were involved, he told the guys - who were undercover FBI agents - "No deal."
Do you know how they responded? They told JZD that if he didn't follow through, they would murder his wife and his children. He didn't know they were FBI agents. He thought they were gangsters, so he cooperated. He even sent letters to his attorney before going to meet with them explaining everything, "in case they kill me." Then he meets them and lo and behold, they're FBI agents.
All of this came out in court. There were statements made by several reputable people that one of the agents in question had bragged about "bringing down someone big... someone like John DeLorean" long before any contact was initially made with him. So our own FBI screws up this guy's life - forever - because someone wants a cheap thrill. And people like you have the gall to come on a public forum 20 years later and spout off about how immoral and awful DeLorean was, without doing any research whatsoever.
He's an innocent man. Always has been.
On the origin of the car being sold (Score:2, Informative)
Should check out the discussion on the car by the original creator [bttf.com]
And the creator and his timeline on building the car [bttf.com]
In short, its a re-sell and the original creator is getting no credit. In fact the person re-selling the car is using copyrighted images on ebay (which is why the auction was previously pulled).
Re:Try again? (Score:2, Informative)