Third from Last assembled DeLorean found in NJ - VIN..20102

[Rich W]

Third from Last assembled DeLorean found in NJ - VIN..20102

Article dated: August 20, 2015

http://barnfinds.com/barn-find-delorean-dmc-12/

Note: Occasionally, its worth following up on vague Craigslist ads,
with few details and no photos.

[Domi]

Nice find :wrenchin:

[steve]

Another one for the Last 50's club:Headspin:

Steve -Vin- 20069

[Mark D]

Pretty awesome find.

One question this raises... when people say approximately 9000 cars were built, I think this typically assumes that VINs within certain range of numbers were built, IE 500-7199 for 1981 model year.

There are plenty of gaps in the VIN chronology where they skipped VINs between model years or for one reason or another. For example on the VIN list I have 6173 skips to 6175. Other cars (like 20102) are listed but highlighted in bold. I'm assuming the bold listing means the car is confirmed to exist based on some factory record, but there is no other documentation related to transmission/interior color or where they were last reported to be located.

Is it possible that a car like 6174 exists and just has zero records related to it, or because it is not in the VIN registry at all is it confirmed to not exist?

[Dangermouse]

Pretty awesome find.

One question this raises... when people say approximately 9000 cars were built, I think this typically assumes that VINs within certain range of numbers were built, IE 500-7199 for 1981 model year.

There are plenty of gaps in the VIN chronology where they skipped VINs between model years or for one reason or another. For example on the VIN list I have 6173 skips to 6175. Other cars (like 20102) are listed but highlighted in bold. I'm assuming the bold listing means the car is confirmed to exist based on some factory record, but there is no other documentation related to transmission/interior color or where they were last reported to be located.

Is it possible that a car like 6174 exists and just has zero records related to it, or because it is not in the VIN registry at all is it confirmed to not exist?

Mark, the bold font does indicate that a part of the record is missing (transmission type or interior color).

Why 6174 is not on there and 20102 is, I'm not sure. Presumably 20102 has appeared on some list somewhere leading to the assumption that it existed at some point (and of course has now resurfaced) but 6174 has never appeared on any document as yet found. It may be sitting in a barn in Ireland.

I ran some carfaxes on some of these "missing" VINs a few years ago just for fun. Most came back as "no record found" but one or two did actually exist. (I passed the results on to shannon). Read into that what you will.

[Chris 16409]

Interestingly, this car appears to have an 81 style muffler. My car had the later style. As this was one of the last cars built, the guys at the factory probably found what ever muffler they could find.

[DMCVegas]

Interestingly, this car appears to have an 81 style muffler. My car had the later style. As this was one of the last cars built, the guys at the factory probably found what ever muffler they could find.

Even with modern cars, that still happens. You've got old stock that you've got to use up, so you attach whatever comes down the line, or gets assigned so as to burn the old inventory off. Sometimes is some miscellaneous bits, sometimes it's some odd parts configurations, and other times you wind up with some really rare unicorns that come off the assembly line that were not originally intended to exist...But do anyways because they've got to clear out parts.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g98/wickedArtist11/DSC02741.jpg

[David T]

Interestingly, this car appears to have an 81 style muffler. My car had the later style. As this was one of the last cars built, the guys at the factory probably found what ever muffler they could find.

The '83's were what I call "Put Togethers" meaning they used up any and all parts they could find to assemble the cars. At that point they paid no attention to what was correct or not correct as related to vin or year. The whole point was to finish assembling a car so it could be sold as a complete car, the parts that were left over were of little value, a fully assembled car was. You see all kinds of combinations of interior colors and other anomalies only someone who is familiar with the chronological changes would notice. As you can imagine it causes all kinds of problems when it comes to concours judging of the '83 cars.