Made To Drive | S05 E06

The DeLorean DMC-12 Is An Outlier’s Legacy

“There was a guy who lived up the street from me who had one,” Geoff Ombao remembers of his boyhood. “And every time he drove by, it was like watching Santa Claus driving the ice cream truck.” Santa’s ice cream truck, in this instance, was a DeLorean DMC-12, a stainless steel, gullwinged car that–thanks to the Back to the Future film franchise–would be forever associated with time travel in the popular imagination. For Ombao, however, the car’s appeal lies in the marque’s short-lived, tumultuous history.

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frankcasanova

7 years ago

“Like watching Santa Claus driving the ice cream truck”… perfect.

Mukul Bhaskar

9 years ago

Hey Petrolicious, great videos .. have been following you guys for some time now.. keep up the good work. Any chance on finding out the score/song list for this delorean video?.. the first intro piece sounds awesome… cheers

Nathan Leland

Kudos to the owner for being equally bold, entering the Trans dept at Art Center in his 40s and holding on to one of his muses.

Congrats!

Gianni Burrows

Another great video. Love the shot of it in front of Dr. Brown’s house. 🙂

kevin Hersom

I actually took the time to read John DeLorean’s autobiography a few years back. I wanted to take it with a gran of salt because it was written by non other than John himself but his words felt very genuine to me. He spoke of embarrassment, desperation and unfaltering parts of his character that lead him to leave GM. He even spoke about how his desperation led him to do foolish things that in the end lost him his family and business. The informant that went by James Hoffman had a lot to gain by nabbing the FBI a celebrity. Unfortunately John had the sad fate of personally Meeting Hoffman years before at his vacation home where they were neighbors for a short time. No one can say where fate will take you and who will take advantage of you at your weakest.

Anders Holmberg

A great story about a great idea that got “killed” by powerful interests just as the Tucker.

Not a fan of the DMC per se, but this was a really interesting video.

Kuroneko

Nice piece on an icon, that’s for sure! They always look great in motion, and the few drivers that can resist the temptation to park-pose with their doors left open should be commended. The lines really are attractive, and as suggested, evoke a great industrial & purposeful feel. Leaving the doors open when parked, just makes them look like a kid’s party trick, and not the style icon they are…

Nice to see a stock ride height on this example too!

Todd Cox

I was smack-dab in the middle of the target audience for Back to the Future, and seeing the DeLorean there was an incredibly cool treat for a gearhead like me; most movies of the era featured concept designs over real cars, so this was quite a change. However, it wasn’t really the movie that made the car famous; the car was already quite famous in its own right and the inclusion in the movie was a little bit of a joke; even Marty kind of raises his eyebrows as Doc says that the stainless steel body was ideal for the car (then under his breath that he wanted to do it with style). The DeLorean drug ordeal was huge, and posters of the car, shot from the front at night with the gullwings open, headlights blazing and half buried in snow were incredibly popular.

The car was awesome looking, and it still looks great. When I saw the BMW M1 I thought it was a sad attempt at cribbing the design (though a quick bit of research shows the M1 predates the DeLorean, my memory places the stainless beauty as more dominant). The performance was questionable and the idea of a Volvo powered supercar kind of made folks cringe since the Volvo brand had pushed so hard into the ‘we’re safe, not edgy’ market and produced some of the squarest cars ever during that decade. Even yet, I loved this car. I love it as much today as I ever did; maybe more since I can see the story of the dreamer. This guy was a few lucky strokes shy of an Elon Musk who had all the potential in the world. It is his swan song. And for that, every time I see one, I take just a moment and give him a quiet mental applause.

Thanks Petrolicious for yet another amazing video!

Dennis White

So I’m assuming James’ usual boring diatribe has been expunged. Good, saves me the scrolling time!

Geoff, as cool as the DeLorean is, I think your mid-life career change is really the most impressive part of this video. Bravo! Now, about Mr. DeLorean as a person…

Afshin Behnia

Reply to Dennis White

We normally don’t like to censure anyone, including Martin James, but when comments become personal attacks or they simply make the post angry as opposed to enjoyable, then we’ll happily take them down.

Bill Cahill

Always loved the Delorean style. Obviously some people miss the point, or can’t see it. Yes, its a gutless wonder, but it has made its mark on pop culture.

Cien Fuegos

You live in Colorado, Martin James? That’s great! So do I. What luck. Perhaps we should get some coffee one day? Better yet, maybe you’ll bring one of your cars to the Cars and Coffee event on Saturday in Lafayette? I’d love to see what you’ve got . If it’s something pristine and noteworthy, I will gladly eat the biggest slice of humble pie around. So, please, let us all know what will be on display. Can’t wait.

Lawrence Peabody

Reply to Cien Fuegos

Dont bother with him Cien Fuegos. Maybe you missed it last week, but in a fit of his dementia he admitted that he doesnt actually own any cars and lives in a retirement home. Martin James is a senior citizen poser.

Josh V

Reply to Lawrence Peabody

That actually turned out to not be our TJ. Although, he had admitted in an earlier post that he sold all his vintage cars and bought more reliable modern cars. So there’s that.

Reply to Josh V

You actually believe anything TJ / Martin James says?
The guy sounds like a bitter loser whos never owned any cars in his life.
Its amazing to me that Petrolicious hasnt banned his IP address.
He obviously does not understand or appreciate what this hobby is about and is specifically here to insult people so he can feel good about himself.

I don’t take anything he says to heart. He isn’t a “Gearhead” to me. His “facts” are opinions, and negative opinions at that. So they mean nothing to me; this hobby should just be about fun. I’m not some uppity Concours d’Elegance judge wannabe.

I’m curious, does a rain cloud permanently follow you around, @ Martin James?

Martin James

One could equally ask in light of the implied tone in your inquiry … has discernment , reality and common sense somehow passed you by ? Or is it that you are just so flummoxed by Pop Culture sentimentality that the above personality traits haven’t even appeared on your radar ?

But to give an honest answer . i live in Colorado ! Just how bad do you think life could possibly be out here .. with our 300 + days of sunshine … world class skiing .. world class fly fishing .. the best drivers roads in the US … the healthiest population etc etc ? Which is to say … even when it rains … they aint no rain clouds looming over my being . Just a healthy permanent sense of reality tempered by a bit of fun from time to time thats not influenced by the current ” No-Brow ” zeitgeist permeating most peoples thoughts as they go thru life blindly in the vain attempt to be ‘ ironic ‘ in their ignorance

Frank Anigbo

Reply to Martin James

Martin James, you really are a very ugly human being and I wish that Petrolicious would give greater weight to the needs of the many against that of one. You are a troll — go look up the definition and carefully look yourself in the face. You’ve abused a lot of people for long enough. Please go away.

To Petrolicious: The incredibly negative air that this one person breathes on this website will, at the very least, deter many of us from submitting stories about cars we own and love — to avoid becoming subject to the inevitable personal attacks and abuse from TJ Martin. And at worst, Petrolicious is best known as that website with a resident and virulent troll. Look at all the postings since he turned up. How many got high-jacked with him and his behaviour being the primary focus of discussion? That’s not the way this was supposed to happen.

To say that I am fed up is an understatement and I know I’m not the only one.

Jim Valcarcel

Reply to Frank Anigbo

Thank you Frank. Well stated and trust me your thoughts are those of many here on this site.

Again, Martin, a majority of your “facts” are in fact opinion. But you won’t see that since you are the definition of narcissism.

Unfortunately what Mr Ombao hasn’t come to grips with is the actual legacy left behind by the outlier known as John Z DeLorean .

That being the single worst automotive grifter / con artist in the history of the industry … and in fact only out done outside the automotive world by Bernie Madoff … but perhaps about to be out done by Elon Musk .

Fact is … the DMC-12 is an absolute pile of crap [ the only reason they’re almost drivable now is because everything’s been replaced at least once ]

And the rest is abject myth !

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