The DeLorean Deception: When Northern Ireland Built Cars

[Gemma]

@David.S now now...the titanic was 100% when she left us ..... Tail light warranty lol

 

[Dave..]

@David.S now now...the titanic was 100% when she left us ..... Tail light warranty lol

Driver error? @Gemma

 

[Gemma]

@David.S I had watched a documentary on the titanic ( surprised surprise) and the pop rivets and one section of the ship had to be replaced and they thought that the section replaced would of been weaker so they re created the part replaced and if anything, it was even stronger than the original design

Yea it was pure human error don't know how true but apparently the speed that they were going through were the ice was wasn't unheard of and usual practice

Sorry to go of the Delorean track, first time I ever saw a Delorean was a show down near Enniskillen I think, there was a huge diffin ring and a drag strip and a show and shine on (all outdoors) was it maybe called fire and ice?

The Delorean was sitting there and I was like, omg is that a real Delorean! Proper nostalgic moment lol

 

[Dave..]

@David.S I had watched a documentary on the titanic ( surprised surprise) and the pop rivets and one section of the ship had to be replaced and they thought that the section replaced would of been weaker so they re created the part replaced and if anything, it was even stronger than the original design

Yea it was pure human error don't know how true but apparently the speed that they were going through were the ice was wasn't unheard of and usual practice

Sorry to go of the Delorean track, first time I ever saw a Delorean was a show down near Enniskillen I think, there was a huge diffin ring and a drag strip and a show and shine on (all outdoors) was it maybe called fire and ice?

The Delorean was sitting there and I was like, omg is that a real Delorean! Proper nostalgic moment lol

You must be quite young, oldies like @jimcupra and I remember all the promise, expectation, anger that Delorean brought to NI. I knew a guy in Lurgan who owned one, looked great but was very unreliable.

 

[Gemma]

@David.S yea I read the article, didn't realise there was so much going on behind the scenes with debt etc but I still look at one and think wow lol dont know why lol when you pass one you can't help but say, there's a Delorean lol

Tbh, its probably because of the back to the future movies, that's it lol

 

[RickyB]

Fantastic write-up!! If it had of been a success imagine the difference it could have made to N.Ireland at the time!

 

[Lyons]

Very interesting! Excellent Cess .

Personally, I've always hated the thing. But I never knew Lotus were involved, or that it actually got good reviews. I always thought it was a POS?!

 

[davey-dimples]

This is my favourite paragraph lol

DeLorean made an assumption that the West Belfast operation wouldn’t be allowed to go under. He also made the assumption that someone would ride in to the rescue. They didn’t. In an ignominious fall from grace, the one-time Detroit wonder boy was arrested by the FBI in October 1982, apparently in the midst of facilitating a mammoth cocaine deal. Delorean claimed entrapment. The newspapers had a field day.

 

[davey-dimples]

BTW @Cess that is a fantastic article!

 

[Cess]

Thanks all and thanks @davey-dimples @Cooper also did a great job as executive editor and lay out.

Personally, I've always hated the thing. But I never knew Lotus were involved, or that it actually got good reviews. I always thought it was a POS?!

The original concept was for an pioneering car which was going to embrace a raft of new technologies. That original concept had the motoring press pretty exicted. However, when Lotus got the contract to take the car to a full scale production model, much of the cutting edge stuff was junked - most notably the body/chassis production design. The DMC-12 adopted the backbone chassis, similar in style to the Esprit.

Lotus said that the original DMC-12 design would never handle properly and would have crash protection issues. However, Lotus also got a royalties from each DMC-12 as it utilised their Intellectual property!

The initial models released to the press were given star billing. The actual production models were notoriously shoddy and had to be rebuilt in the States.

 

[davey-dimples]

Thanks all and thanks @davey-dimples @Cooper also did a great job as executive editor and lay out.



The original concept was for an pioneering car which was going to embrace a raft of new technologies. That original concept had the motoring press pretty exicted. However, when Lotus got the contract to take the car to a full scale production model, much of the cutting edge stuff was junked - most notably the body/chassis production design. The DMC-12 adopted the backbone chassis, similar in style to the Esprit.

Lotus said that the original DMC-12 design would never handle properly and would have crash protection issues. However, Lotus also got a royalties from each DMC-12 as it utilised their Intellectual property!

The initial models released to the press were given star billing. The actual production models were notoriously shoddy and had to be rebuilt in the States.

Does this mean we can blame @Cooper for the typo?

 

[Ghisallo]

Is it true that nelson Piquet drove the car on the Dunmurray test track?

The best DeLorean I ever saw was at Kilbroney years ago. It was painted red and the owner was a dwarf.

 

[dave b]

I know a fella from Liverpool bought the remaining parts stock when the factory closed and founded a new DMC based in America. They sell the parts as new old stock and also have recreated parts which are low in stock or is no longer available.

Is this the place that was featured on wheeler dealers where the factory had the original build sheets?
Or maybe that was Jensen??

 

[AlpineF30]

Is this the place that was featured on wheeler dealers where the factory had the original build sheets?
Or maybe that was Jensen??

Thats the very one

 

[anlygi]

One of my favourite topics. The Delorean Story is a good read also.

Here's me and Mrs trespassing on St Patrick's Day 2014.

View attachment 123503

Your wife must have went back in time to stop your marriage. You've disappeared from the picture!

Great read @Cess

 

[Brennan]

Have a soft spot for the DeLorean, not just because it was built local but it's an iconic car that's recognised all over the world, definitely our claim to fame. I'm a huge fan of the BTTF movies.

A car that looked years a head of its time, looked like something from the future (no pun intended).

Would definitely have a place in my dream car garage