One experience sitting halfway in the car ( I didn't want the the carpet to get dirty with my boots that I wore for that day) and a little knowledge later I now have a new appreciation of this classic car.
It was built by the Delorean Motor Company. The company was started by John Delorean, the Division Manager of Pontiac, and the cars were built in Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1980 to 1982. It was in 1982 that the factory was shut down. The cars featured "gullwing" doors - a new concept for me when I first saw this car as a child in the "Back to the Future" movie. The body is brushed stainless steel and the way to clean this car is with a scotch pad or similar product. The engine is located in the back of the car, something that seems unusual to me because of the how the car is built. It has135 horsepower which was average for the time according to Jay Leno.
The car was not known for its great performance but it was known for its Gullwing doors and the fact that it did have that "from the future" look to it.
The weight distribution was 68 percent in the back and 32 percent in the front so it could be tricky on corners.
My impression of the car is that it is very comfortable to sit in but one should be careful of their head as to not hit it on the frame of the car as they climb in, when this happened to me the Museum's volunteer coordinator made it sound as if a lot of people hit their head on the the front corner of the window. The windows for me seem a bit claustrophobic because they are so small, but maybe that's just me. But over all it seems to be a very cool car despite some of the bad reports I have heard about it.
The car had its problems and was expensive to boot, around $25,000 to $27,000. However, I learned about a man, Steven Wynn, who now owns the Delorean Motor Company and is fixing the problems that the Delorean originally had, such as the steel frame with a epoxy coating cracking which actually sped up the rusting process. The video below is from Jay Leno's Garage where Mr. Leno has a interview with Mr. Steven about what he is doing to fix these cars up and about the car itself. It's 15 minutes long but if you have the time it is a very fascinating and enlightening video.
And of course I had to throw in a little "Back to the Future" movie memorabilia that was behind the Delorean in the Museum- As it was the movie "Back to the Future" that helped a new generation discover and appreciate this car.
I hope you enjoy this post and learned a little something about the Delorean.
'Til next time have a great day everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment