494-Mile Survivor: 1981 DeLorean DMC-12
There are cars with low miles and then there are cars with really low miles. This 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 could almost be considered new with only 494 miles on the odometer. This survivor is listed for sale on an eBay auction and is currently bid to a strong $40,900 even though the reserve has not been met. This DeLorean is located in Bensenville, Illinois. The car has had two owners since it was new. It was originally purchased from a Buick dealer in Houston in 1981 and then sold in 2020. The second owner is a DeLorean collector.
The interior retains its original black leather seats and the door panels, console and dashboard are all untouched and in excellent condition. The engine is backed by an automatic transmission and the seller states that the power windows and locks work as well as the gull wing doors. The undercarriage is said to be very nice and still reflect the factory markings. The description of the car is detailed and includes some maintenance history including the cleaning of the fuel system. All the belts have been replaced, a new battery installed and the cooling system was recently flushed and refilled.
All DMC-12 cars left the factory with a 2.85 liter SOHC V6 engine that were rated at 130 horsepower and 153 lb-ft of torque. The engines were produced by Peugeot-Renault-Volvo and most reviews at the time stated that the DeLorean DMC-12 was underpowered from the factory and a stock engine is not too exhilarating to drive. Many aftermarket suppliers have tried to improve the performance and some owners have done engine swaps. The engine is said to start right up and run with no problems.
There are 3 days remaining in the auction and the listing can be seen here on eBay. The eBay ad is well done with multiple pictures but I could not find any pictures of the engine compartment. The seller states that the engine bay is completely original and well-preserved. All DeLoreans came paneled in SS304 austenitic stainless steel from the factory except for three gold-plated cars. This car looks to be one of the nicest ever offered.
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Comments
I’ll never understand why Johnny Z never made this car a true classic by putting some real power under the hood. Old joke..what did Jouhnny Z and the car have in common? Both followed the white “lines”. Those “lines” that Johnny supposedly did might have influenced his power train decision.
At a car show recently, a DeLorean owner told me that the spare tire was a small “donut” type spare. He said the problem with changing the flat is where do you put the flat tire?
Then there is the Johnny Carson story, which tells how Johnny was driving his newly-delivered DeLorean when it died just a couple of miles from his house. Legend has it he got out of the car, got a ride home, and called the dealer to retrieve the car and gave it back to the dealer and got a refund.
Maybe Tesla was channeling DeLorean when it designed that hideous “truck” it has out now, because both vehicles are just butt-ugly.
The DeLorean looks like an XKE next to the Cybertruck.
A automatic, yawn. I clicked on to see sellers other listings, close to 1,900 came up.
I always thought these were trouble prone, ugly, wanna be exotics. But maybe if John Z. would have made them 4×4’s, they’d have sold better. There certainly was enough ground clearance.
The only good thing I can say about Delorean is he broke into the American auto market off his name. Something you’ll probably never see again. The big three is an American monopoly.