Rare in Red: 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 Project
Incredibly, this DeLorean DMC-12 was parked for 20 years in what looks like a storage locker. What’s not surprising is that it doesn’t run; what is surprising is the red paint job it sports, covering up the iconic stainless steel body. I doubt this is one of that small batch of cars that the factory authorized to be painted before customers got their hands on the futuristic machine, but rather the case of a second or third owner deciding they didn’t care for the original look and giving the DMC-12 the good ‘ol resale red treatment. If it was done well, however, I could understand someone wanting to drive a DeLorean that’s been painted. Find the auction here on eBay where bidding has reached $28,200 with no reserve.
Just when I think we’re over DeLoreans, you see strong bidding for a total project car and it reminds you that DMC-12 fanatics are a very faithful bunch. Could it be, too, that the red paint job has inspired some bidders to get off the bench and try to actually win this car? Knowing that it is very likely to have been repainted after it left the factory, I can’t see bidders willing to fork over a premium unless they’ve had the chance to inspect the DeLorean in person and determine that it is a high-quality respray. Of course, it could also have a lot to do with it being a genuine 5-speed example, which always commands a higher price than its slushbox sibling.
If you’re in the business of fixing up and selling vintage cars, a 5-speed DeLorean is a smart buy if the maintenance to-do list doesn’t spiral out of control. Of course, with a vehicle that’s been sitting in storage for that many years, anything is possible. The good news is the photos show what I would call encouraging signs: I don’t see torn-up seats or door panels, and even the dash looks crack-free. DeLoreans can become pretty big projects just due to a ruined interior after years of sun exposure, but fortunately for our subject car, its time spent in a storage lockup has kept the cockpit in surprisingly nice condition. The same goes for the carpets in the trunk area.
Now, despite seeming like a bit of a flip, the seller has addressed some first-time startup tasks, like cleaning out the gas tank and replacing the door and trunk lid shocks. Of course, you can’t fire it up, because it needs a fuel pump. A lot of sellers cite the fuel pump as the source for no-start issues, so who knows how much testing has been performed to determine if the pump is indeed the root cause of the no-start issue or just one of many. Regardless, the mileage is listed as being just 21,745, and if that is accurate, you’re looking at a smart investment that will always have a fan base ready to take it off your hands.
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Comments
One local to me was repainted red like this with personal plates if “XTINCT”
I remember the days when DOT didn’t want these cars on the road because they kept sucking up the white lines.
I’ll show myself out…
The most obvious reason for painting a vehicle with polished stainless steel body is the paint covers up body repairs (read Bondo) which would stand out like a wh*re in church. Maybe the owner liked red paint but I can think of many cars that would look as good or better painted red.
Painted cars were dealer painted when new, not always a sign of bodywork. Personally, i don’t mind it. The best looking Delorean I’ve seen was painted black with some of the stainless showing as highlights.
A fiberglass replacement panel would be another reason for the paint job.
In 18 years of selling DeLorean parts I never saw a fiberglass replacement panel.
Worst car ever manufactured in the USA and made worse that Company owner had to buy a ton of cocaine with plans on cutting it and selling – distribution in order to keep making these heaps. Bad ending to him and car.
Not USA, they were built in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Delorean never bought nor planned to buy any cocaine for distribution himself (personal use may be another matter), just enticed to bankroll actual traffickers and share in their profits.
He was acquitted because that whole scheme was proposed to him by a former neighbor, who was actually under trial for drug trafficking at the time himself, hoping to get his sentence at that trial reduced by becoming an FBI confidential informant and then entrapping Delorean as a “bigger fish”.
Maybe it hasn’t been hit, but I bet it has.
These things always smelled of John Z’s desperation. They were Bricklin’s with garbage engines.
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Perfect, Stan! They still make these, saw some last week at the SEMA show. Also make functioning Flux Capacitors for them, but you need a core to rebuild. Doc does the work.
BTTF- on my top 10 of best movies, with American Grafitti and Bullitt.
Cheers
GPC
Those would be great lyrics for a song!
its gone…
Wait, up in the sky! It’s a bird, it’s a plane, it’s a red DeLorean!
My wife took over her dad’s ’81 DeLorean, so that makes it a 1-family car. We live in Europe, where its following is also very enthusiastic. Incredibly helpful club members, surprisingly good availability of parts and mechanics very knowledgeable about the european V6 engine make for confident cruising. An unavoidable head-turner, smiles and thumbs up on its way. Just went for a 1’500 miles trip to the Loire chateaux, lots of fun!
Big C, ??? The drive train on a Bricklin was the ONLY thing that was not garbage! It came with either and AMC V8 (360) or a Ford 351. I worked at a Bricklin dealership (luckily we sold other cars also as we only received 2 cars) and I still tell stories about these cars and the company. Since I know about all the issues with these cars, I would still buy one if it was sound and cheap just for the “different” value.
Deloreans weren’t screwed together too much better than the Bricklin. That was my point. And, they had those wonderful Renault time bombs installed, instead of the rock solid Ford and AMC engines.
If the resurgence of new Ford Broncos drove original first generation Bronco prices through the roof, then I wonder if new EV DeLorean might also drive these original DeLoreans to $50,000, $60,000 and higher.
Assuming new DeLoreans ever get off the production lines.
Ted: good DeLorean ARE now selling north of $60-70k. I’ve seen ads at $100k!
Agreed, Ted, and likely. I was SO disappointed after watching the YouTube video on the new DeLorean a few days ago. Beautiful car, but electric; big yawn. Why? I thought they were planning to power it with a SBC, Porsche flat six, or something even more exotic. Very disappointing.
Being electric makes more sense since powering up the Flux Capacitor would have been a cinch.
There are two kinds of cars. Good ones and bad ones. Good cars run, bad ones don’t. Makes no sense to do a bunch of work on a car to flip it, and not replace a fuel pump to make it run. Serious 🚩
Best wishes for the new owner.
Nothing says I’ve got a POS car to sell better than showing it on the back of a flatbed.
Yes sold for $30k, sellers feedback (0), it would look better sitting lower.
Well us humans are a combination of both good and bad, John had a lot to do with the Gto, 1968 car of the year.
That’s something, as far as the Delorean, i think its great, but i do like the Bricklins Better.
As far as the stainless, i have often thought of
Getting my 70 Chevelle SS down to bare metal, then instead of washing it i would just WD 40 it.
As far as old JD goes there is more good than
Bad, the cup is definitely half full.
68 Black exterior Black interior Hideaway car 4 speed XS equipped, vent windows, aaaand maybe reverb with those little switches, Pontiac has looked better than the Chevy repeatedly.
The guy is dead so stop badmouthing him. I personally think he had a lot of balls, he was next in line to being the next CEO of Gm and he quit to build his own car. He got involved in a drug deal just to get cash to save his company. He was not a professional drug dealer or user. As for the quality of his cars, I’m sure if he had $$ to keep going those issues would have been corrected in time.
He actually wrote in his book that he was told by the board he had no future at GM, which is why he left.
Sure that quality issues would have been resolved but practically no one at the Northern Ireland plant had automotive assembly experience: tough uphill…
Even though these cars turned out to be junky, the initial designs had promise.
I think they would have sold more if they had been painted and available in different colors ; the grey was just soooo boring on a “sports” car of the time
I remember my aunt had a refrigerator with stainless steel doors. She spent all her time removing fingerprints.
during the 1980’s i visited the tonkin ferrari dealership in portland oregan. they had a red deloren that they claimed was previously owned by parnelli jones.
I don’t know about the PJ connection but I do remember that car. In the mid 80’s I had just started my DeLorean parts business in Olympia WA. I got a call from someone at Tonkin desperate for some parts. They had removed all of the rubber moldings, the engine cover, and rear louver while painting the car. It seems an overly enthusiastic new cleanup guy threw it all away, and they were in a panic for replacements. They even offered me a bonus if I would deliver them the same day, a 200 mile round trip. I still remember them showing me around, including one small showroom with a Ferrari Daytona California, flanked by a pair of matching Masarrati coupes. It was a fun and profitable evening.
The Bricklin was so superior to this junk, if Back to the Future had used a Trabant there would be members of the More Money Than Sense club that would be over paying to have one
Dash picture shows tach at 2300, not running? Tach must not work.
DeLorean tachs always rest at several thousand when not running. Don’t know why.
Auction has ended at 30k but does not say it sold…
Rob, no idea where you are looking, but when i go to Ebay it says Sold, and that is what i posted yesterday.
Like so many of these new start-up car companies, they get the government involved with the promise of jobs – Bricklin in St. Johns, New Brunswick and Delorean in Belfast, Northern Ireland. But the first car rolls off the line and the government is there with its hand out to get its money back. The auto industry is cash intensive – just because you’ve sold a few cars doesn’t mean the bank account is filling up. John Z did what many thought was impossible – build a plant in a country torn by religion strive but the rules were if one Catholic was hired, the next hire was a Protestant – and both left their religion at the front door when they came to work. But John had his faults – the companies money was HIS money and he liked to live lavishly. To say he was a nice man when it came to his business dealings with people, he was a crook. The state of the economy didn’t help his aspirations – what started as a $12,000 projected price soon escalated to over $20,000 and his market dried up. Two-passenger sports cars are nice – but four door sedans (now SUV’s) are where the bread and butter is…..
Jim, i will agree with you on many things, i had a Bricklin years ago, and will keep my comments to myself. But i think what hurt the Delorean’s was right out the door the word got out they were lead sleds.
Delorean, great lines outside and inside.
Needs black trim along the side to really make it pop. Original red DeLorean had black trim and logo along door.