Description
This is not the place to go into all the political, economic and moral issues which surrounded the ill fated De Lorean project and there were plenty. From a motoring enthusiast’s point of view, however, the sports car which former supremo John De Lorean drew up to sell (mainly) to Americans was a fascinating machine. It was controversial, too. Although the gullwing doors were an attractive (if gimmicky) feature, they soon lost their appeal when electrical failures prevented them from opening and left the car’s occupants trapped inside. Much the same could be said of the unpainted stainless steel body panels, which proved to be very far from stainless in practice. Stories of other failures were legion, and there can be little doubt that the car needed both better quality control on its assembly lines and a lot more development. However, the combination of stainless steel panels over a plastic body structure, bolted to a full-length backbone frame, using a rear-mounted Peugeot Renault Volvo V6 engine and smart styling by the Italian master Giugiaro still sounds attractive today, more than 10 years after the project foundered amid financial difficulties. Only around 4,000 De Loreans were made, which makes them rare enough to attract attention whenever their owners bring them out of hiding. But was the De Lorean a disaster, or was it a success in the making which was cut short by outside factors? A read of this book will provide at least some of the answers to that question. This is a book of contemporary road & comparison tests, technical and specification data, engineering background, history, De Lorean interview & company history. This is a book of contemporary road & comparison tests, technical and specification data, engineering background, history, De Lorean interview & company history.
With a total of 172 fully illustrated pages. SB.
