I know it’s obvious from the picture, but I never realized DeLoreans were stainless steel, which is very rare for vehicles made in the past half-century. DMC DeLorean Wikipedia here
Other DeLorean oddities:
- The car did not vary design by year, but rather by production batch, making it hard to identify a DeLorean’s year from its design
- The car was expensive for its time ($25,000-$34,000 in 1982-1984) and sold as a GT style car, despite being relatively slow (0-60 in approx. 8.8-10sec)
- “A total of four recalls were issued by the factory to correct problems such as a sticking throttle, front-suspension issues and an inertia switch”
- “The original 80-amp Ducellier alternator supplied with the early-production DeLoreans could not provide enough current to supply the car when all lights and electrical options were on; as a result, the battery would gradually discharge, leaving the driver stranded on the road.”
Still beats a refrigerator for time travel. (Yeah, that was the original plan for the film. Switching to a futuristic-looking car was definitely the right decision.)
Crappy as this car may be, it’s still pretty awesome seeing a DeLorean in a real life situation. I literally saw a DL in a Wal-Mart parking lot three year ago, and geeked the hell out. The owner even had a Back to the Future reference on his license plate!
Encouraging kids to play Back to the Future by getting into a refrigerator could cause some problems. I’ll always remember, my brother got a closet door slammed shut on his finger when we were playing Indiana Jones.
If you had said a fridge was the original plan for Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure, I would have believed that, too.