Automotive Forums .com - the leading automotive community online! Automotive Forums .com - the leading automotive community online!
Automotive Forums .com - the leading automotive community online! 
-
Latest | 0 Rplys
Go Back   Automotive Forums .com Car Chat > DeLorean > General Discussion
Reply Show Printable Version Show Printable Version | Email this Page Email this Page | Subscription Subscribe to this Thread
 
Thread Tools
Old 03-20-2005, 03:22 PM   #1
crimsonkarter21
AF Enthusiast
 
crimsonkarter21's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2004
Location: Avon Lake, Ohio
Posts: 264
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
John Z. Delorean is Dead

John Z. DeLorean, the innovative automaker who left a promising career in Detroit to develop the short-lived gull-winged sports cars featured as a souped-up time travel machine in the "Back to the Future" movies, has died. He was 80.



DeLorean died late Saturday at Overlook Hospital in Summit, N.J., of complications from a recent stroke, said Paul Connell, an owner of A.J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Directors in Royal Oak, Mich., which was handling arrangements.


"Obviously, we're deeply saddened by the passing of an incredible, talented car person and loving family member," said DeLorean's nephew, Mark DeLorean.


DeLorean was among just a handful of U.S. entrepreneurs who dared start a car company in the last 75 years. Nearly all faded away, but his crashed spectacularly amid drug charges.


A Detroit native, DeLorean "broke the mold" of staid Midwestern auto executives by "going Hollywood," and pushed General Motors Corp. to offer smaller models, auto historians said.


While at GM, he created what some consider the first "muscle car" in 1964 by cramming a V-8 engine into a Pontiac Tempest and calling it the GTO, fondly dubbed the "Goat" by auto enthusiasts.


DeLorean was a rising if unconventional executive at GM who many believe was destined for its presidency before he quit in 1973 to launch the DeLorean Motor Car Co. in Northern Ireland. Eight years later, the DeLorean DMC-12 hit the streets.


Its hallmarks, such as an unpainted stainless steel skin and the gull-wing doors, have been ignored by mainstream automakers. The angular design, however, earned it a cult following, and the car was a time-traveling vehicle for Michael J. Fox in the popular "Back to the Future" films of the late 1980s.


But the factory produced only about 8,900 cars in three years, estimated John Truscott, membership director of the DeLorean Owners Association. That figure is dwarfed by the major automakers, who sell more than a million vehicles a month.


DeLorean's company collapsed in 1983, a year after he was arrested in Los Angeles, accused in a sting of conspiring to sell $24 million of cocaine to salvage his venture.


DeLorean used an entrapment defense to win acquittal on the drug charges in 1984, despite a videotape in which he called a suitcase full of cocaine "good as gold."


He was later cleared of defrauding his investors, but continuing legal entanglements kept him on the sidelines of the automotive world, although his passion for cars did not abate. After declaring bankruptcy in 1999, he said he wanted to produce a speedy plastic sports car selling for only $20,000.


A public viewing was tentatively set for Wednesday at the funeral home, located north of Detroit, with a private burial scheduled for Thursday at White Chapel Cemetery in the Detroit suburb of Troy.
__________________


R.I.P Formula One: 1950- 2003


Thanks for the signature- Martin_Brundle
crimsonkarter21 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2005, 06:51 PM   #2
SiGNAL748
AF Enthusiast
 
SiGNAL748's Avatar
 
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Salinas, California
Posts: 3,676
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Send a message via AIM to SiGNAL748 Send a message via MSN to SiGNAL748
Sad to see him go. He was a genious in the automotive community.
__________________
SiGNAL748 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2005, 07:38 PM   #3
tha_new_guy
AF Enthusiast
 
tha_new_guy's Avatar
 
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: tallahassee, Florida
Posts: 788
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: John Z. Delorean is Dead

Man that's rough. Life goes on, however. I wonder who the next innovator will be?
__________________
AF Bay Area Crew

"Please try to refrain from smoking crack while typing. The literate community appreciates your restraint."

AF User Guidelines
tha_new_guy is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 03-20-2005, 10:10 PM   #4
sierrap615
Master Tech Wanna-be
 
Join Date: Jul 2003
Location: Downers Grove, Illinois
Posts: 2,728
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Re: John Z. Delorean is Dead

Rip
sierrap615 is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-25-2005, 11:32 PM   #5
Jaguar D-Type
Banned
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Portland, Oregon
Posts: 2,543
Thanks: 0
Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts
John,

Thanks for the Pontiac GTO.

Jaguar D-Type is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply

POST REPLY TO THIS THREAD

Go Back   Automotive Forums .com Car Chat > DeLorean > General Discussion

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off



All times are GMT -5. The time now is 02:17 AM.

Community Participation Guidelines | How to use your User Control Panel

Powered by: vBulletin | Copyright Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
 
 
no new posts