Bad car show experiences...

[Canon20DFan]

After reading some very interesting posts on car show behavior, I thought I'd start a thread dedicated to just that...

I have two to start with...I was at an indoor car show in Denver with a half-dozen other Delorean owners. I have long since used PVC pipe to block the doors, and place the pipe over the door striker posts. The pipes even had a "Do not sit in car" sign taped to them. Well I was leaning in the driver's side of my car when a kid, probably 14, leaped over the pipe and landed in the passenger seat. I was so stunned that it took me a second to recover - and promptly told the kid to get out of my car. He was gone before I could round the car and lecture him about manners. This was the same show where we Delorean owners had to request barricades from the convention center to keep people from the cars. Even with barricades, I saw one little boy (5, maybe) RUN for a Delorean and his mother had to dive under the barricade pole to tackle him just in time.

The other car show experience I had was a little girl, maybe 5, that was dancing around my car. She tipped backward and grabbed my rubber door seal to right herself, pulling up the seal in the process. This happened so fast that I couldn't even say anything before it was over. Since then I keep people away from the edges of the car at all times. At a recent show, another of my cars appears to have picked up bumper damage from a stroller - some Mom must have been manuevering her kid between several closely parked cars with my car the loser.

[Grover]

It still amazes me as to how people react/act to this car. I have toyed with the idea of carrying around a small video recorder and getting up into the face of people to ask them why they did what they just did, and would they do that to the Ferrari I am parked next to, or if they wouldn't mind if I just go and touch/play with some of their stuff.

At some car shows I actually don't even put the doors up and only do so when asked. It is a phenomenon that will likely never be answered, why people must touch or feel as if it is ok to just go into someone else's car. I will never forget at a BTTF showing, a little kid jumped on the seat of my car and jumped back and forth over the center console, and the parents just laughed. NOT FUNNY.

[Chris Burns]

It's this kind of stuff that keeps Deloreans out of a lot of events. When I get one I'll keep one door open and sit right next to it. When I walk away to look at other cars or talk to people I'm keeping the doors locked.

[tyb323]

It's this kind of stuff that keeps Deloreans out of a lot of events. When I get one I'll keep one door open and sit right next to it. When I walk away to look at other cars or talk to people I'm keeping the doors locked.

This is what I do. I also do this:
http://i54.tinypic.com/4zt54z.jpg

I've done this at many car shows and only had one woman actually have the audacity to move it so she could sit in the car (no permission of course)

[Michael]

Car shows suck...nothing but a bunch of hoodlems and punks with no manners. Most even lack basic common sense. I dont do shows anymore, I did one or two when I first got mine and I will never do another one. Not only does it take me spending a perfectly good day and wasting it in a chair sitting with my car(booooooring), but you suscribe to the theory that your car will be judged without bias.

Too much politics at shows, its not what you show but who you know. Couple that with a bunch of untrained monkeys dancing around your car with no respect at all for it and you have a perfect recipie for a lousy day. Why put yourself through that, pay an entry fee, all for the hopes of a little plastic trophy that somehow vindicates your car. You shouldnt need anyones approval but your own.

Cruise ins are where its at. It mostly car guys and girls who know how to behave around nice cars(there is still the occasional assclown, but nowhere near as common). There is no politics, nor is there the all day commitment that a show requires. There is just good fellowship, conversation, and nice cars, and some that are not "car show" nice that are just as welcome.

[Bitsyncmaster]

It still amazes me as to how people react/act to this car. I have toyed with the idea of carrying around a small video recorder and getting up into the face of people to ask them why they did what they just did, and would they do that to the Ferrari I am parked next to, or if they wouldn't mind if I just go and touch/play with some of their stuff.

At some car shows I actually don't even put the doors up and only do so when asked. It is a phenomenon that will likely never be answered, why people must touch or feel as if it is ok to just go into someone else's car. I will never forget at a BTTF showing, a little kid jumped on the seat of my car and jumped back and forth over the center console, and the parents just laughed. NOT FUNNY.

I must have had the same kid at one car show. Your console switches can not take much jumping on.:angry0:

But then at the same car show a nice older woman asked if she could sit in the drivers seat and was very pleasant and thankful that I allowed her to do it.

I think car shows are better than other locations you show the car at like fairs, town parades, etc. because most people at a car only show know how to act.

[SamHill]

Car shows suck...Cruise ins are where its at. It mostly car guys and girls who know how to behave around nice cars(there is still the occasional assclown, but nowhere near as common). There is no politics, nor is there the all day commitment that a show requires. There is just good fellowship, conversation, and nice cars, and some that are not "car show" nice that are just as welcome.

I've never been to a "Cars and Coffee" but the idea of it sounds more like my speed. Early morning, only a few hours, and hopefully people that know how to act. There's one in Virginia Beach this Saturday and I'm thinking of checking it out. If I can get up at 6:45 am on a Saturday.

[Rich W]

I'm working on a new "prop" to put on the seats when the doors are open.

A board with fake rubber nails sticking up, with the fake nails painted silver
with a little red paint on the ends, with a sign painted into the board edge
that says "Do Not Even Think about Sitting in This Seat". Depending on the
number of fake nails, the red ends could be in the pattern of butt cheeks.

I am interested in what kind of reaction this will generate. (LOL)

Later,
Rich W.

[Canon20DFan]

...I didn't mean for this thread to tell Delorean owners to stop going to shows. I enjoy going to them, and my area just doesn't seem to have the Cars & Coffee meetings like other areas do. Any time at a car show is time NOT doing yardwork, so I'm happy to be there. I am just fascinated with the way people behave at shows around someone else's property, and the Delorean seems to invite more than its share of ill-mannered people.

An interesting question for longer-term Delorean owners: has the behavior of car show guests gotten worse over, say, the last 10 years?

[Canon20DFan]

That's pretty bold!

I've done this at many car shows and only had one woman actually have the audacity to move it so she could sit in the car (no permission of course)

[Rich W]

Having owned dozens of DeLoreans over the past 25+ years, I can say that I had
very little problems until after BTTF III and around the time that Universal Studios
opened "BTTF - The Ride" (coincidence?), then it appeared like more of the public
started to view DeLoreans as something they were entitled to sit in (LOL).

As for the past 10 years or so, I think more and more little kids are allowed to do
whatever they want in public, with little fear of be spanked (or worse) in public.
My dad would have never put up with the way I see many kids misbehave and
that is often a reflection on their parents, who allow it to happen. (my opinion)

In general, there appears to be less respect for property (or consequences) or
maybe I am a little old fasion that way. There are plenty of good shows, good
people and good kids (my four nephews, for instance), but depending on location
these can be the exception(s) rather than the majority of car shows and events.

As a side note, shows that are pay-to-enter for the public are usually ("usually")
have people that are a little better behaved than the "free" events.

Later,
Rich W.

[SIMid]

I haven't got my D yet (soon), but an idea would be to get 2 acrylic sheets and cut them in the shape of the door sections, door sills up to the waist line and just slot them in when the doors are open at both sides. That way, they get the hint and also can still take pics like there's nothing there.

Just an idea I have.

[Renee_1632]

I've only brought 1632 to one show. I had no incidents. But, showing (and earning) respect is a HUGE thing for me. I won't yell at a three year old climbing in my car, they don't know any better. I will direct my disgust at the parents though, and I won't be pleasant about it. I have zero issues with getting up in their face and scolding a 6'5, 250lb man.

Being raised with manners does not mean you have to be a doormat.

[jmettee]

I think car shows are better than other locations you show the car at like fairs, town parades, etc. because most people at a car only show know how to act.

The Irish Festival we attended in 2008 is a good example of poor choice of venue, isn't it? The untamed public that does not attend car shows simply thinks of the car as a movie prop & toy. We had 3-4 cars on display & had to hawk over the cars to keep kids (& some adults) out---the alcohol didn't help people's manners either. That was the worst venue I've done since taking DMC ownership. The worst offense was when my wife & I were sitting in the car, waiting to leave & my louvers were opened by some older man (of all people)....not a kid or disrespectful teen!

[Cory W]

Who ever follows these knuckle draggers back to their vehicles, asks to sit in it, doesn't wait for a response, then messes with all the controls and seat position before emptying the coins from their ashtray is my new hero.

Send us your mug shot.

[DeMopar]

As for the past 10 years or so, I think more and more little kids are allowed to do
whatever they want in public, with little fear of be spanked (or worse) in public.
My dad would have never put up with the way I see many kids misbehave and
that is often a reflection on their parents, who allow it to happen. (my opinion)

In general, there appears to be less respect for property (or consequences) or
maybe I am a little old fasion that way. There are plenty of good shows, good
people and good kids (my four nephews, for instance), but depending on location
these can be the exception(s) rather than the majority of car shows and events.


Later,
Rich W.

Rich, I couldn't agree more with you. I have friends and even family members that refuse to tell their kids no, and let them do whatever they want because there are no rules or consequences. A friend of mine came by our house not long ago and brought his young son who was about 5 years old. When they pulled up, he started jumping on the brand new leather seats and the console in his dad's car. His dad wanted him to see my Delorean, so I reluctantly opened the door and let him sit in it. The first thing he does is stands on the door sill and jumps up and grabs the pull strap and tries to hang on the door. The dad sat there and watched him do it.

From the time my kids were aware, my wife and I raised them to respect people's property, including our own. It doesn't take long to get them on the right track, something which many parents these days are too lazy or selfish to do. I often got accused of not letting them be kids, or "not keeping up with the times", because all kids are like that. Seriously?

[awildermode]

Who ever follows these knuckle draggers back to their vehicles, asks to sit in it, doesn't wait for a response, then messes with all the controls and seat position before emptying the coins from their ashtray is my new hero.

Send us your mug shot.

My bet is on Renee.

[Masaes727]

I've never been to a "Cars and Coffee" but the idea of it sounds more like my speed. Early morning, only a few hours, and hopefully people that know how to act. There's one in Virginia Beach this Saturday and I'm thinking of checking it out. If I can get up at 6:45 am on a Saturday.

There is a weekly drive-in in Va Beach off of Independence BLVD. I cannot remember the cross road, but it is right before the 4 lane turns into a two lane(towards NAB Little Creek). It is normally on Saturday evenings.

[Roman Legion]

I have zero issues with getting up in their face and scolding a 6'5, 250lb man.

No being chivalric or chauvinist in any way.. If the afore mentioned ever happens when I am around, I have your back; we will share in the art of kicking the guy's ass.. And if all else fails, I have Mister .45 ACP that is the biggest, baddest MF'er you have ever seen in a fight.. :P I am not quite so reserved in telling a-holes to F**k off, but I have respect for other's property, but not for their ill behaviour.

[dmc4087]

Having owned dozens of DeLoreans over the past 25+ years, I can say that I had
very little problems until after BTTF III and around the time that Universal Studios
opened "BTTF - The Ride" (coincidence?), then it appeared like more of the public
started to view DeLoreans as something they were entitled to sit in (LOL).


This happens over here too. I keep the doors closed at shows now unless I get talking to somebody who asks to see inside it.

I had a kid rip off my indicator stalk before so that was the last straw.

[ydjk58]

I printed up a little warning sign for my D. "A man's car is like another man's wife. Look but don't touch". And I have no problem with people touching my car or sitting in it. Just ask first. I've made several a little kids day after I let them sit in it. After there parents asked first that is.

[Sidaries]

I had a bad experience too, beside the many good ones. I guy came and asked for a few thing about the car and then said, that his VW Golf is much faster than the Delorean. I said, that it can be true, but this is not why I like the car, but the styling. He just kept saying, that his car's acceleration is much better and said, that this is why the Delorean is worthless.
I got so pissed off, than said to him, that: "Ok, we can go to an acceleration race, but I hope you don't mind that until you are playing with your very good accelerating car, I fuck your girlfriend." :)
After this he shut up and left. Moron.

[topcop66]

You would be amazed how much a doors down/closed display works at a show. Cuts the traffic by more than half. Some folks still recognize the car and may stoop down to peer into the open window, but hardly any kids will stop by. Most just keep walking slowly on by...which is fine with me.
Started this practice this year at a few shows just to see the difference. Sometimes in the past I have left the driver door closed and left open the passenger, so folks could see what the window treatment looks like (cannot see them with doors open) or to see what the inside panel of the door contains.
A display with both doors down also allows people to see the lines of the car...which in my opinion are quite spectacular!!!
Yes, I have also had to deal with a$$holes at various shows. 1 trick I learned from a friend is to use an elastic cargo net, much like the one on the parcel shelf, and stretch it around the door openings, securing it with the rubber coated hooks at various points of the opening. Works pretty well.
Was at a ballon festival many years ago, windows open and doors locked. Guy reaches in, unlocks doors and opens it!!!
WTF!!!
Location also has a lot to do with the type of manners that will be "on display" at shows.
Whether it is a weekend show or a weekly cruise night, ya gotta be vigilant.
It amazes me how many owners around me just up and walk away from their cars because they want to see the other cars at the show. I do too, but after seeing what has happened to other owners of cars nicer than my D...I stay put !!!

[Canon20DFan]

I like the cargo net idea...I may try that in lieu of my PVC pipes across the doors. I'll also shut the doors for a show and see what happens...

[jmrydholm]

Here's an idea, make a sign that says, "WARNING: STAINLESS STEEL ELECTRIFIED. DO NOT TOUCH!" I'm always shocking myself off the door in winter. ;)

[Jonathan]

Let me take a shot at "worst car show experience"...

Two summers ago our club had 7 cars together for a big car show/cruise in. It was a regular cruise in show on a weeknight at the mall, but this one happened to be huge, with about 400 cars that were all there in upwards of an hour BEFORE the show started. Our group of DeLoreans were pretty excited about getting a few of them together.

I happened to be parked on the end of 4 of our D's in a short row and at the time I was say about 15 feet away from my car looking towards the passenger side front corner. I really find it hard to believe this happened... but I see this haggardly looking old Harley guy, ya know, silver long hair in a pony tail, leather vest over his denim shirt, smoke hanging out of his mouth, and all 115 pounds of him... got the picture? And what is he doing? He's walking from the back right corner of my car towards the front DRAGGING A MAGNET ALONG MY PANELS.

I'm like.... WHAT? WHOA, really? "Dude, what the hell are you doing?"

"Oh, ah, um, just seeing if the stainless is magnetic or not. Ya know, they say stainless isn't magnetic."

"Ya, uh-huh... but YOU'RE DRAGGING SOMETHING METAL DOWN MY CAR!!"

"Oh, ya, oh, uh, sorry" ...and he walks away probably thinking something like "what was that guy's problem?"

Couldn't believe it. The rath of my anger generally only appears if I'm on my own somewhere, so this guy was pretty lucky there were so many people around that I didn't want to embarass myself in front of.

Sheesh. And we all wonder why anyone would still go to a car show? LOL On second thought folks, I think I need to retract the whole Exotic Car Owners Code of Conduct rules. Man, just reminding myself about how many donkies there are out there makes me want to leave it parked in the garage.

[Canon20DFan]

A magnet? That's pretty bad...

[Chris Burns]

Let me take a shot at "worst car show experience"...

Two summers ago our club had 7 cars together for a big car show/cruise in. It was a regular cruise in show on a weeknight at the mall, but this one happened to be huge, with about 400 cars that were all there in upwards of an hour BEFORE the show started. Our group of DeLoreans were pretty excited about getting a few of them together.

I happened to be parked on the end of 4 of our D's in a short row and at the time I was say about 15 feet away from my car looking towards the passenger side front corner. I really find it hard to believe this happened... but I see this haggardly looking old Harley guy, ya know, silver long hair in a pony tail, leather vest over his denim shirt, smoke hanging out of his mouth, and all 115 pounds of him... got the picture? And what is he doing? He's walking from the back right corner of my car towards the front DRAGGING A MAGNET ALONG MY PANELS.

I'm like.... WHAT? WHOA, really? "Dude, what the hell are you doing?"

"Oh, ah, um, just seeing if the stainless is magnetic or not. Ya know, they say stainless isn't magnetic."

"Ya, uh-huh... but YOU'RE DRAGGING SOMETHING METAL DOWN MY CAR!!"

"Oh, ya, oh, uh, sorry" ...and he walks away probably thinking something like "what was that guy's problem?"

Couldn't believe it. The rath of my anger generally only appears if I'm on my own somewhere, so this guy was pretty lucky there were so many people around that I didn't want to embarass myself in front of.

Sheesh. And we all wonder why anyone would still go to a car show? LOL On second thought folks, I think I need to retract the whole Exotic Car Owners Code of Conduct rules. Man, just reminding myself about how many donkies there are out there makes me want to leave it parked in the garage.

I cant believe that Jonathan! I would've gone off on the guy for sure.

:nutkick:

[Dracula]

I just came from a car show and I took my survivor 40,000 mile 1976 Eldorado instead. Most people ignored the car; a few looked, but nobody commented on it. I even felt confident enough to leave the car unattended and check out the other vehicles.

My advice: buy a '70s Cadillac and take it to a car show; premium parking and no stupid comments.

[Sidaries]

Well, it did not happened exactly on a car show, but while I was slowly leaving from there. I left with the doors open and a guy who seemed to be interested in the car watched it and I saw, that he wants to ask something. Ok, this happens many times, so I stopped. The guy's first question was: What is the price of this car?
I was not happy, because of his rudeness. Many times it happens, that people ask this after a small conversation, but it has never been the first question. I was thinking about say something similar to him, but I said the price and left.

[Mark D]

I've had mostly good experiences with people at car shows... in general that kind of crowd is pretty respectful of the cars and their owners, but every once in a while there is always that one rude guy...

For the people that ask what I paid for my car right off the bat I usually just tell them in general you can find them in the mid teens to mid 20's depending on condition. If they insist upon asking what I paid I'll just ask them what they think it's worth instead of answering their question.

People touching the stainless doesn't bother me since they can't really do any harm, but I've had guys run their hands over the fascia and then I'll say something to them.

I've caught a few people in the act ready to try and sit inside, and giving them the stink eye is enough to make them back off. So far I haven't caught anyone actually in the driver's seat, and I'm not sure what I'd even say.

[DeLorean03]

People touching the stainless doesn't bother me since they can't really do any harm, but I've had guys run their hands over the fascia and then I'll say something to them.


I honestly don't know so I'm just curious, why nothing said for the stainless but something for the fascia?

As for the "how much did this cost you?" I say: "I almost failed my electrical engineer degree getting this car." and follow it with "Not all costs are money-based." If they still go for it, I politely tell them that I refuse to disclose that kind of information.

[Mark D]

I honestly don't know so I'm just curious, why nothing said for the stainless but something for the fascia?

I don't care if people touch the stainless mostly because I get people's fascination with wondering what it feels like. Fingerprints wipe off and there isn't really any way for them to scratch or hurt it.

Paint is a different story though... it gets dusty at shows sometimes and the guy that was touching the fascia was running his hand down the length of the whole thing. It left a visible trail through the light coat of dust and that's how you get fine scratches and swirl marks.

It's not like people don't know what a painted car feels like either... I don't normally see people running their hands over corvettes and other old cars.

[DeLorean03]

I don't care if people touch the stainless mostly because I get people's fascination with wondering what it feels like. Fingerprints wipe off and there isn't really any way for them to scratch or hurt it.

Paint is a different story though... it gets dusty at shows sometimes and the guy that was touching the fascia was running his hand down the length of the whole thing. It left a visible trail through the light coat of dust and that's how you get fine scratches and swirl marks.

It's not like people don't know what a painted car feels like either... I don't normally see people running their hands over corvettes and other old cars.



+1
Nice, I honestly did not think of this. Good call!

[Jonathan]

If they insist upon asking what I paid I'll just ask them what they think it's worth instead of answering their question.

I LOVE this! And then immediately agree with whatever number they tell you.

"What do you think it's worth?"
"Oh I don't know, probably about 80 grand."
"Well yes, good guess, you're right. Now run along." LOL

[dhaney]

Recently at an event I was allowing people who asked to sit in my car and it decided to get a bit of revenge on the basic rude car enthusiast....

One young boy 7-10 years old was sitting in the drivers seat when he decided to pull the door closed. Well he didn't have enough strength to muscle the door down without a bit of leverage.... so he put his hand up on the rim of the door above his head and pulled down on the door strap.... Before I could get there and stop what was happening he began to scream and cry... :sad30:

I was parked right across from the paramedics and so his mom took him there to get some ice for his smashed knuckles. No harm really just pain. It must have hurt like h$ll, or he was just a wimp, because he cried for about 10 minutes...

Dan

[Canon20DFan]

i heard about this incident but didn't see it. Dan was kind enough (along with Peter M.) to bring his Delorean to a BTTF Night in Colorado Springs, CO.


Recently at an event I was allowing people who asked to sit in my car and it decided to get a bit of revenge on the basic rude car enthusiast....

One young boy 7-10 years old was sitting in the drivers seat when he decided to pull the door closed. Well he didn't have enough strength to muscle the door down without a bit of leverage.... so he put his hand up on the rim of the door above his head and pulled down on the door strap.... Before I could get there and stop what was happening he began to scream and cry... :sad30:

I was parked right across from the paramedics and so his mom took him there to get some ice for his smashed knuckles. No harm really just pain. It must have hurt like h$ll, or he was just a wimp, because he cried for about 10 minutes...

Dan

[yellowmxwheels23]

as for when people ask what I paid for my car I always say "A pretty penny"
I also have a for sale sign in one of the side pontoon windows that say $190k OBO.
It has really kept the touching of the car to a min. Parents also see it and keep their kids a few feet from the car.

[mluder]

Just did my first car show last weekend - It was great. "Rockin' Around the Block in Gresham, OR. It's the largest street car show West of the Mississippi with nearly 400 cars.

Enthusiasm was really great for my car. Most were surpiresed as 90% of the entryies are clustom classics and hot rods. In fact they don't have an exotic or Eurpean category for the judging so I kinda got screwed as the closest I could guess was "1969-present classic" category so I was up against some of John DeLorean's other creations and other muscle cars. At one point I guy even asked me what class I was in... I told him and expalined I didn't know which else to choose. He said he was in charge of judging and would make sure so that I got the attention I deserved. That felt good because my car is only slightly above average. Nevertheless , he never got back to me. Found out later there was a Misc Sports car category - I'm sure I would have won that.

Anyway, the public was great. Ton's of pictures taken. A few finger pirnts here and there bt I had a spray bottle of Siple Green Stainless cleaner on hand so it was no big deal.

I got an FAQ poster from Eddie ( http://dmctalk.org/member.php?376-EdR5150 ) here on the message board and took his advice. Printed it nice and big and put it on the driver's seat so I could leave the door open. Tons of people stopped to bend down and read and several times I heard, "I didn't know that." It kept people from trying to sit and headed off some of the typical stupid questions. I kept the passenger door closed.

The best part was when my friend and I wandered off to look at some of the other cars. I left my wife and four-yr-old son in charge. She did her best to answer questions but mostly faked it. Every response she gave was followed quickly by my son saying (without looking up from his LeapFrog learining game), "...and it has a leak."

Quite honeslty, I've been to that show as an observer several times over the years and it was great fun to be on the other side of things. I can't wait for next year and am looking for other local shows to get invovled with.

Steve
#4456

[Stainless]

Yes, I am reviving this thread. I miss reading new stories.

Despite the four "look, but don't touch" signs on all four sides of the car, the DeLorean came away with way too many fingerprints during a show last weekend. Due to the hot sun when the show started, I had the passenger door closed to help block the sun from the interior. I was sitting a good 30 feet away in the shade. I didn't see this incident happen, but my wife said some guy was looking at the car, then proceeded to open the closed passenger door, and then close it with the greasiest hand I have ever seen. You could have cooked fries with the grease that was on the door. It was disgusting.

First, "look, but don't touch" includes not opening and closing my car's door.
Second, wash your damn hands once in a while, Mr. Pepperoni Pizza Hands.

I decided to simply open the door to hide the massive grease mark on the door. It looked a lot better open anyway, but I would have preferred to have done it on my own time. I need to wash it anyways as I parked under a shade tree the next day and got 15 bird poo splatters on my car in a 3.5 hour period. I still don't appreciate Mr. Greasy Hands.

[82DMC12]

If you weren't 30 feet away and instead stood/sat right there like it's obviously your car, 90% of the BS stops. Unfortunately there's always someone who feels the need to run their tentacle along the fender or try to move a door.

What I hate is when you give in and let someone sit in it, then they start playing with the shifter, adjust the seat, climbing out by grabbing the corner of the windshield to lift their 225lb ass out, etc. I can only take a couple car shows a year because of the clowns around here. And I always get stuck with 1980+ category and the hacked up rice rockets and Camero someone just bought at the dealer last week. Seriously, I was at a show and some dude and his wife brought their brand new Challenger with the window sticker still on it,wearing Dodge shirts and hats with Dodge lawn chairs. Looked like they emptied a gallon of Armor All in the interior. REALLY????

Andy

[Fox2506]

*Guy knocks on quarter panel
"yep that's stainless steel" he says.

Not so bad, but I don't think knocking proves anything.

[jawn101]

...always get stuck with [...] category and the hacked up rice rockets and Camero someone just bought at the dealer last week. Seriously, I was at a show and some dude and his wife brought their brand new Challenger with the window sticker still on it,wearing Dodge shirts and hats with Dodge lawn chairs. Looked like they emptied a gallon of Armor All in the interior. REALLY????

Andy

I hear ya there man. I was just at an all-British show a few weekends ago and because we didn't get enough DeLoreans for our own class (I was the only one, boo!) I got relegated to the "Specialty - Closed" category. Ended up parked next to a Rolls Royce Silver Cloud with dealer plates on it, and the owner wandered off as soon as he arrived and wasn't there to answer anyone's questions or anything.

There were also a bunch of people who showed up with 2011/2012 Mini Coopers. Enough that they had their own class, so it became a judged battle of who had the nicest British flag draped over their back seat.

I made some really slick barriers out of PVC and fabric covers with laminated signs to put over the striker pins - they are perfect for keeping people out of the seats. Doesn't stop morons from touching every panel though. One guy even moved as though he intended to close the louvers (with the lower engine cover raised!) and I had to get a bit red in the face at him. One thing is for sure, most people at shows seem to park their car, lock it and walk around. We have to sit with them the entire time. I didn't see more than a handful of other owners who actually had to sit with the car the whole time.


Question: anyone have any experience running a 100,000 volt charge through the little ground wires connecting all the stainless panels? :lol:

[Rich W]

Probably not confirming it is stainless steel ... more likely confirming its not aluminum.

If you have someone do it again and say the same thing, I ask them if they can tell
me the grade of stainless steel by tapping it again (LOL).



*Guy knocks on quarter panel
"yep that's stainless steel" he says.

Not so bad, but I don't think knocking proves anything.

[DeLorean03]

Man, reading these stories make me glad I don't go to car-shows or cruise-ins. My way of dealing with it is I take the car out on the weekends - both all day Saturday and then a lil' bit on Sunday. That exposure of the car is enough for me. I deal with people a LOT better with the car "in the wild" because we all have things to do and get done - there's no "car show environment" so people ask some questions and then move along. Most of the time, people have nothing but cool/nice things to say, but every now and then......

Car shows and cruise-ins I just can't do anymore. I simply don't want to deal with the hassle, and listening to this stuff makes me go "whew! good thing...". I DO look forward to hanging out with the Ohio D Club - it will be very different to go places with 5-10+ DeLoreans, and I am keeping an open mind to that avenue. In terms of doing car shows/cruise-ins by myself though - those days are done.

If this stuff bothers you, just keep it at home and take it out on the weekends. I hated the public behavior so much I almost got rid of my car - and back in the DMCTalk.com days, I actually made a "The Attention Our Cars Get" thread, and wow did that get some hype and responses. A good number of owners here suggested to just drive on weekends, but I didn't want to do that because I felt like the "public" won by me restricting my driving the DeLorean to the weekends. Now, man, I LOVE it. I'm so glad I decided to do that. Not only do I not have to deal with the vast majority of the public and their lack of common sense/DeLorean knowledge, but I also don't have to fix things on the car as frequently. It's a win-win :D!

[pezzonovante88]

If you weren't 30 feet away and instead stood/sat right there like it's obviously your car, 90% of the BS stops. Unfortunately there's always someone who feels the need to run their tentacle along the fender or try to move a door.

What I hate is when you give in and let someone sit in it, then they start playing with the shifter, adjust the seat, climbing out by grabbing the corner of the windshield to lift their 225lb ass out, etc. I can only take a couple car shows a year because of the clowns around here. And I always get stuck with 1980+ category and the hacked up rice rockets and Camero someone just bought at the dealer last week. Seriously, I was at a show and some dude and his wife brought their brand new Challenger with the window sticker still on it,wearing Dodge shirts and hats with Dodge lawn chairs. Looked like they emptied a gallon of Armor All in the interior. REALLY????

Andy

I love this whole post, especially the part about the couple with the Armor-All'd Challenger. :bang:
I have a friend who knows nothing about cars and doesn't really appreciate them. He, unfortunately has sweaty hands and has a tendency to fondle body panels while opening and closing doors. Drives me NUTS!

[Kenny_Z]

I think my worst car show experience so far has been the one where Red lost best of the 80s to an 84 Lebaron. I didn't expect my little beat up D to get much but losing to a stock 1984 Chrysler Lebaron? That's just embarrassing. At least in the last show I lost to an 85 C10 with a mile deep paintjob and airbags.

[Jonathan]

*Guy knocks on quarter panel
"yep that's stainless steel" he says.

Not so bad, but I don't think knocking proves anything.

A guy at a show a few years ago walked up to my car from the far corner (away from where I was standing), and proceeded to run a small magnet along the RR fender and passenger door. I don't remember my exact words, but I asked him something along the lines of "WTF are you doing?"

He said he was just checking if it was really stainless steel. A little more scientific than knocking on it, but did this guy realize he's scratching the grained finished with his magnetism experiment?

I love the idea of driving it for fun, not driving it to a car show and letting it sit there being abused. I've caught myself doing this a lot in the last season or two. I don't seem to enjoy the car shows as much as I used to. On the other hand, I have gone to a couple car shows without my D, just so I can walk around and look at other people's cars.

[Chris Burns]

When that guy put a magnet on your car you should've done this: :nutkick:

[Michael]

A guy at a show a few years ago walked up to my car from the far corner (away from where I was standing), and proceeded to run a small magnet along the RR fender and passenger door. I don't remember my exact words, but I asked him something along the lines of "WTF are you doing?"

He said he was just checking if it was really stainless steel. A little more scientific than knocking on it, but did this guy realize he's scratching the grained finished with his magnetism experiment?

I love the idea of driving it for fun, not driving it to a car show and letting it sit there being abused. I've caught myself doing this a lot in the last season or two. I don't seem to enjoy the car shows as much as I used to. On the other hand, I have gone to a couple car shows without my D, just so I can walk around and look at other people's cars.

How does a guy like this check is paint is dry...drags his finger through it. If it ruined the paint job the paint is wet. How to see if a gun is loaded..point it at your head and pull the trigger. If he is still alive it was unloaded. ........... Same logic

[Dangermouse]

He, unfortunately has sweaty hands and has a tendency to fondle body panels!

what a great visual!


Red lost best of the 80s to an 84 Lebaron. .

:hysterical:

[Dracula]

I think my worst car show experience so far has been the one where Red lost best of the 80s to an 84 Lebaron. I didn't expect my little beat up D to get much but losing to a stock 1984 Chrysler Lebaron? That's just embarrassing. At least in the last show I lost to an 85 C10 with a mile deep paintjob and airbags.

Get used to it. It's a common occurrence.

[stevedmc]

When that guy put a magnet on your car you should've done this: :nutkick:

I would have took the magnet and asked him to show me his car.

[opethmike]

And this stuff is why I don't go to cruise nights/car shows with my car. Just like Jeremiah, I use my car as my driver on Saturdays and Sundays, and that's enough for me.

[DeLorean03]

And this stuff is why I don't go to cruise nights/car shows with my car. Just like Jeremiah, I use my car as my driver on Saturdays and Sundays, and that's enough for me.

It was the only way for me to enjoy my car. Between the constant, constant, CONSTANT, tinkering/working on small things aspect of the car and people just trying my patience - I was really and seriously on the verge of selling mine. I was just honestly getting to the point that ownership of the car symbolized nothing but frustration, hostility, and animosity for me. I hated to go to weekends only, but man, my stress level is SO down now. It may suck at first, but when the dread of just taking the car out is gone and you actually enjoy talking to people and you stopped feeling the "constant dread" of "that guy" walking up and being an asshat - ownership is just so much better.

I strongly look forward to going to a car event with the DeLorean Club of Ohio. To have another 4-5 DeLoreans with me will probably make attending a show a LOT more enjoyable to me and my stress level will probably plummet. But yeah, days of going to any car-get-togethers solo are over and done.

[Gary Weaver II]

I've done two events in the last month with the BTTF-D and honestly had the best of both worlds at both locations.

Dallas Comic Con - This one kinda happened at the last minute. We were asked to come down by our friends who run the show for both days of the convention. We just pulled up in front of the convention and parked it for most of the day since it was so freaking hot. This show was great because I got maybe ONE flux capacitor joke the whole weekend. The downside is that geeks DO NOT know how to behave around this car. Tons of handprints and smudges. Even had two people getting on the hood for pictures - WTF?!? :swear1: Things only got worse when the doors were opened. Actually had one or two people trying to jump into the car for pics. Thank god for my striped door bars. In late afternoon we were able to be around the car more and manage the crowd a bit. All in all a good show, but I really got to think about better crowd controls.

This past Saturday we did a car show at one of the local Indian Casinos. It was a pretty good show and we went ahead and entered the BTTF-D in the special interest category. Apparently Special Interest is less about custom cars and more about where you put a factory car that you feel may get lost in the other PROPER Categories. In with the BTTF-D were two 1960's Shelby Cobras (real cars, not kits), a 30's musclecar, a modified Merc and an old Auburn. There was only two or three other cars which I felt really belonged in "Special Interests" - all those I mentioned before had other categories they really should have been in. It goes without saying that the BTTF-D pretty much stole the show with the general public. Everyone loved it for the most part.

Now, in contrast to the Dallas event - ALL I head for most of the day were Flux Capacitor jokes. I now realize why Chad gets to bent on the BTTF/Delorean stuff :) However, I'd put up with Flux jokes all day long to see a group of people who RESPECT the car and don't get all handsy with it like they did at Dallas.

The real kick in the ass came about when they announced the winners for the categories. In special interest - 3rd went to the Auburn, 2nd went to one of the Shelby Cobras (and it was the lesser of the two honestly), and first went to a really nice custom 1930 Cadillac Limo (deservedly so). A good portion of the audience was damn confused and the staff even acknoledged it by giving out an "honorable mention" to the BTTF-D... Personally, I didn't go there for the judging. We had a great family hangout with the car on a great Saturday afternoon.

Like I said before - two different events and two vastly different experiences...

-Gary

[Nicholas R]

I'll bet BTTF cars barely get flux capacitor jokes since it's assumed the car has one. Still I'm sure being a full time machine brings its own laundry list of comments and jokes.

Also are you sure those were real cobras? Those cars are unbelievably rare and kit owners lie about them all the time cause they think people cant tell the difference (and the truth is most people cant). The real cobras are almost too valuable to take to shows, greater than $500k. I cant imagine people take them idly to local car shows. If you stick your head into the engine bay and look at the body tub from underneith, it becomes clear pretty quickly whether it's a fiberglass tub or an original aluminum.

[Dracula]

I've done two events in the last month with the BTTF-D and honestly had the best of both worlds at both locations.

Dallas Comic Con - This one kinda happened at the last minute. We were asked to come down by our friends who run the show for both days of the convention. We just pulled up in front of the convention and parked it for most of the day since it was so freaking hot. This show was great because I got maybe ONE flux capacitor joke the whole weekend. The downside is that geeks DO NOT know how to behave around this car. Tons of handprints and smudges. Even had two people getting on the hood for pictures - WTF?!? :swear1: Things only got worse when the doors were opened. Actually had one or two people trying to jump into the car for pics. Thank god for my striped door bars. In late afternoon we were able to be around the car more and manage the crowd a bit. All in all a good show, but I really got to think about better crowd controls.

This past Saturday we did a car show at one of the local Indian Casinos. It was a pretty good show and we went ahead and entered the BTTF-D in the special interest category. Apparently Special Interest is less about custom cars and more about where you put a factory car that you feel may get lost in the other PROPER Categories. In with the BTTF-D were two 1960's Shelby Cobras (real cars, not kits), a 30's musclecar, a modified Merc and an old Auburn. There was only two or three other cars which I felt really belonged in "Special Interests" - all those I mentioned before had other categories they really should have been in. It goes without saying that the BTTF-D pretty much stole the show with the general public. Everyone loved it for the most part.

Now, in contrast to the Dallas event - ALL I head for most of the day were Flux Capacitor jokes. I now realize why Chad gets to bent on the BTTF/Delorean stuff :) However, I'd put up with Flux jokes all day long to see a group of people who RESPECT the car and don't get all handsy with it like they did at Dallas.

The real kick in the ass came about when they announced the winners for the categories. In special interest - 3rd went to the Auburn, 2nd went to one of the Shelby Cobras (and it was the lesser of the two honestly), and first went to a really nice custom 1930 Cadillac Limo (deservedly so). A good portion of the audience was damn confused and the staff even acknoledged it by giving out an "honorable mention" to the BTTF-D... Personally, I didn't go there for the judging. We had a great family hangout with the car on a great Saturday afternoon.

Like I said before - two different events and two vastly different experiences...

-Gary

That's very amusing to hear. In many cases, you get both types at a single car show; complete with losing in the judged portion of the show. You have to expect that sort of attention with a BTTF car, but it shouldn't dominate the ownership experience with a stock car. However, we don't live in "Should-land." I'd also have imagined that you'd get fewer Flux Capacitor jokes, but more BTTF ones, over all. The touching of the car seems universal. That I cannot figure out. What really gets me is how the DeLorean is a perpetual loser at shows. Though, my current source of aggrivation is people asking me if it's one of the new ones built in Texas.

Also, while my general opinion of BTTF cars is that they're virtually useless, my hatred comes from the poorly-built ones that wreck a good car so haphazardly.

[thirdmanj]

... my hatred comes from the poorly-built ones that wreck a good car so haphazardly.

Chad, I hear if you say his name three times really fast he'll appear in this thread...

[Michael]

Also are you sure those were real cobras? Those cars are unbelievably rare and kit owners lie about them all the time cause they think people cant tell the difference (and the truth is most people cant). The real cobras are almost too valuable to take to shows, greater than $500k. I cant imagine people take them idly to local car shows. If you stick your head into the engine bay and look at the body tub from underneith, it becomes clear pretty quickly whether it's a fiberglass tub or an original aluminum.

They were most likely continuation cars. Techinically, true Shelbys with correct frames and proper CSX vin#'s, some NOS, but not made in the 60's. This was the car worlds' version of the Star Wars "George Lucas milk it for all it's worth" campaign.


What really gets me is how the DeLorean is a perpetual loser at shows.

That's part of the car show world. It's not what you show it's who you know < BTW, I coined that phrase after my first car show when a hot girl in a stock 95ish dirty and half a$$ed detailed Firebird took second oven my immaculate Talon and many other more deserving machines.


Though, my current source of aggrivation is people asking me if it's one of the new ones built in Texas.
I get that from 90% of everyone that sees my car. I wait for them to tell me how much it costs before I tell them that this is one of those cars. Then proceed to explain the truth. It does no good, it's like trying to fill the Grand canyon by throwing a few bricks in it. For every one I enlighten, there are a few thousand that continue to spread the lie that is "New Build" every time the subject comes up.

[Citizen]

Those cars are unbelievably rare and kit owners lie about them all the time cause they think people cant tell the difference (and the truth is most people cant).

This is an under statement, I think. A kit owner told me this very thing (in a rare admission).

I couldn't tell the difference, but sometimes you can figure out that they are kits, like by questioning the owners about the car's history. Pretty soon they slip up, and give something away which would be true only for a kit car. Also, when you go to a Saturday night street-meet in the local Kroger's parking lot, and you see about eight of them lined up in a row....well, you just gotta know that these are from the local Cobra kit car club.

Thomas

...

[Gary Weaver II]

That's part of the car show world. It's not what you show it's who you know < BTW, I coined that phrase after my first car show when a hot girl in a stock 95ish dirty and half a$$ed detailed Firebird took second oven my immaculate Talon and many other more deserving machines.


That's what I was trying to explain to my wife and kids after the show. I've been to enough of the local shows to know that I'm not going to win. There is a group that goes to these things and they all know each other. When you have the car show entrants voting or a panel of "judges" - I never expect to win anything. That's not why I go to the shows, so it really doesn't bother me.

I had fun Saturday listening to the two Corvette collectors sitting with us at the awards ceremony. One guy was talking about how he placed 2nd in a category he was the only entrant in. He also spoke about how another collector flipped out at a show and demanded to see the judging sheets one time. These guys also did not hold back on the lady who brought her brand new Corvette to the show and managed to get first in the modern car category.

Like I said, I'm really glad I don't go to these things to win :) Of course, I might change my mind once my car is "finished" and detailed properly.

Oh, and Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice... :)

-Gary

[thirdmanj]

Oh, and Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice, Beetlejuice... :)

-Gary

Not quite who I was shooting for Gary. But I'm sure Chad got it. ;)

[pezzonovante88]

They were most likely continuation cars. Techinically, true Shelbys with correct frames and proper CSX vin#'s, some NOS, but not made in the 60's. This was the car worlds' version of the Star Wars "George Lucas milk it for all it's worth" campaign.

That's exactly right. They're still really nice and are technically made by Shelby, but they are NOT original Cobras. Also, I believe some of those continuation cars used fiberglass, with aluminum being an option.

[Dracula]

Not quite who I was shooting for Gary. But I'm sure Chad got it. ;)

Indeed I did.

[nimaside]

We have to sit with them the entire time. I didn't see more than a handful of other owners who actually had to sit with the car the whole time.

:lol:

Just had a question about that. Couldn't you just close up your car, lock it and go around looking at the other cars for awhile? Or do you not trust your car there even if its locked up.

Anyone can answer about this, as I'm not an owner i'm ignorant to what happens to Deloreans at the show.

thanks

[jawn101]

Just had a question about that. Couldn't you just close up your car, lock it and go around looking at the other cars for awhile? Or do you not trust your car there even if its locked up.

Anyone can answer about this, as I'm not an owner i'm ignorant to what happens to Deloreans at the show.

thanks

Yeah, I definitely could have. It's complicated but here goes:

The general expectation of the public and my own preference for showing the car is to do so with the doors open. This led me to invent/use (can't remember if I came up with it or if someone else pointed me at the idea) door barricades to prevent people from just hopping in the car. This happens a lot, I guess people see open doors as an invitation. Sounds crazy but it's true.

Anyway, my homemade barricades are made from lengths of 1/2" PVC joined by compression fittings in the middle, with a black cloth "sock" over them to dress it up, and some 'look but don't touch' reminder signs hanging from them. They fit snug over the striker pins. So, they are time consuming to remove and re-fit and I can't close the doors with them in place. Combine that with the fact that when I plan to hang out next to the car all day, I bring a cooler and a chair and all that assorted stuff.

The upshot is that packing it all up is a bit of work, and putting it all back together when I return is worse. So I just stick close, unless I have another owner or friend around I can trust to keep an eye on things :)

That's my personal story anyway. Others may feel differently but people also can't stop touching the car, fingerprinting it all up. That's why I and many others choose to stay vigilant.

[Jimmyvonviggle]

Someone should leave their car and walk away and film it with a hidden camera. I'm sure we would see some crazy things when people think nobody is watching.

[nimaside]

It was the only way for me to enjoy my car. Between the constant, constant, CONSTANT, tinkering/working on small things aspect of the car and people just trying my patience - I was really and seriously on the verge of selling mine. I was just honestly getting to the point that ownership of the car symbolized nothing but frustration, hostility, and animosity for me. I hated to go to weekends only, but man, my stress level is SO down now. It may suck at first, but when the dread of just taking the car out is gone and you actually enjoy talking to people and you stopped feeling the "constant dread" of "that guy" walking up and being an asshat - ownership is just so much better.

I strongly look forward to going to a car event with the DeLorean Club of Ohio. To have another 4-5 DeLoreans with me will probably make attending a show a LOT more enjoyable to me and my stress level will probably plummet. But yeah, days of going to any car-get-togethers solo are over and done.

Man, I remember when I first joined this forum, many years ago, you were one of the nicest persons on here and talked greatly about the car alot. Maybe you were a new owner then. Your still nice and all of course, but I sure have seen you change with bitterness that comes from with the struggles with being an owner.

Someone else on this post said they don't enjoy their delorean as much anymore. I know alot of this comes from negative attention this car sometimes brings and the mechanical problems are a headache.


I wonder, If the Delorean was a fast car (I mean fast like it looks...so you could out accelerate and leave cars that are bothering you, in the dust) if that would make a difference in liking the car more. I could be way off here, but I know the car is slow as hell and I wonder if that may be a major contribution to people losing interest after owning this beautiful but slow car after awhile.

[nimaside]

Yeah, I definitely could have. It's complicated but here goes:



That's my personal story anyway. Others may feel differently but people also can't stop touching the car, fingerprinting it all up. That's why I and many others choose to stay vigilant.

I see. I thought you might have had a setup. Thanks for the reply.:)

[Kenny_Z]

I wonder, If the Delorean was a fast car (I mean fast like it looks...so you could out accelerate and leave cars that are bothering you, in the dust) if that would make a difference in liking the car more. I could be way off here, but I know the car is slow as hell and I wonder if that may be a major contribution to people losing interest after owning this beautiful but slow car after awhile.

From talking to long time car show participants this happens to all cars at some point. Eventually the some owners get tired of that particular car and they may move on to something else. The last guy I spoke to had a beautiful 56 Bel Air. He told me he was getting tired of shows after 8 years. The only reason he was going to hang onto the car because it was his first car. He'd restored it as his graduation project and brought his kids home in it so it held a great sentimental value.

[Gary Weaver II]

I actually plan to do just that with my own car when it's all rebuilt and finished. Lord knows a BTTF-D has enough places you could hide a camera or two. I always thought that would make one hilarious web-video, or frightening depending on your point of view.

-Gary



Someone should leave their car and walk away and film it with a hidden camera. I'm sure we would see some crazy things when people think nobody is watching.

[jawn101]

I wonder, If the Delorean was a fast car (I mean fast like it looks...so you could out accelerate and leave cars that are bothering you, in the dust) if that would make a difference in liking the car more. I could be way off here, but I know the car is slow as hell and I wonder if that may be a major contribution to people losing interest after owning this beautiful but slow car after awhile.

It really isn't that slow. I had some guy staring out his window at me on the way to work, we were going 65 and I dropped it to 4th and lost him with no problem. Normally wouldn't bother but he had his breakfast in one hand and none of his eyes on the road, so it felt like a wise decision to depart his immediate vicinity.

Besides, most of the dumb comments and foolish behavior happens when the car's standing still on display. Speed wouldn't help you there.


I actually plan to do just that with my own car when it's all rebuilt and finished. Lord knows a BTTF-D has enough places you could hide a camera or two. I always thought that would make one hilarious web-video, or frightening depending on your point of view.

-Gary

That sounds like a lot of fun

[nimaside]

Besides, most of the dumb comments and foolish behavior happens when the car's standing still on display. Speed wouldn't help you there.




Of course. I guess what I mean by faster as in powerful cars tend to be more fun to drive. The delorean just being a cruiser doesn't have that kick back into your seat acceleration power that I was thinking might keep the car more exciting. Just speculating if it had that power and more joy full ride, maybe there might not be people getting tired of their Delorean.

[nimaside]

From talking to long time car show participants this happens to all cars at some point. Eventually the some owners get tired of that particular car and they may move on to something else. The last guy I spoke to had a beautiful 56 Bel Air. He told me he was getting tired of shows after 8 years. The only reason he was going to hang onto the car because it was his first car. He'd restored it as his graduation project and brought his kids home in it so it held a great sentimental value.

That's true, Of course we all get tired of our cars. I just never owned more then one, and it seems like the Delorean isn't the main source of transportation for most people. I suppose I could wrap my head around getting tired of owning one and tired of reactions.

[jawn101]

Of course. I guess what I mean by faster as in powerful cars tend to be more fun to drive. The delorean just being a cruiser doesn't have that kick back into your seat acceleration power that I was thinking might keep the car more exciting. Just speculating if it had that power and more joy full ride, maybe there might not be people getting tired of their Delorean.

I mean no disrespect but this doesn't sound like a statement made by someone who's driven one on the right kind of roads. These cars are immensely fun to drive, like a big wide go-kart with a windshield. I hope you'll get a chance to fling one around one day!

[nimaside]

I mean no disrespect but this doesn't sound like a statement made by someone who's driven one on the right kind of roads. These cars are immensely fun to drive, like a big wide go-kart with a windshield. I hope you'll get a chance to fling one around one day!

I have heard they are quite fun to drive. That's why I added the word "more" joy full. Thanks.

[jawn101]

I do wonder what it must be like to drive one that's been all souped up and has a whole mess of power. I bet it's scary :)

[StainlessSteelDream]

I actually plan to do just that with my own car when it's all rebuilt and finished. Lord knows a BTTF-D has enough places you could hide a camera or two. I always thought that would make one hilarious web-video, or frightening depending on your point of view.
-Gary

Check out the Secret Life of my Lotus Elise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i8XogKPYJk)

[nimaside]

Check out the Secret Life of my Lotus Elise (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i8XogKPYJk)

That is awesome. This is what I always wanted to see done with a delorean though. Nice job.

[opethmike]

Five plus years owner with a quick DeLorean here.

A DeLorean with higher than stock horsepower is more fun to drive, but it changes absolutely nothing of the public's perceptions toward it, and how they interact with you as an owner.

But yeah, the asshattery of what unfortunately does seem to be the majority of the public can, and does, get very tiresome. When I first had my car, dealing with the reactions of the public was a mix of fun, shrug it off nuisances, etc. But after about the 800th time you hear the same joke, or the 900th time some knuckle-dragging caveman raps his knuckles on your car's stainless steel, it gets to be very hard to tolerate it anymore.

So, much like Jeremiah, I don't do car shows, and I avoid taking the car to places where I am more likely to have interactions with people. At this point, I just drive the car on the weekends for fun, and to the homes of friends and family.

Am I a bit misanthropic about how I handle my ownership experience at this point? Yes. Have I regained the joy and continued to have fun as a result? Yes!


Man, I remember when I first joined this forum, many years ago, you were one of the nicest persons on here and talked greatly about the car alot. Maybe you were a new owner then. Your still nice and all of course, but I sure have seen you change with bitterness that comes from with the struggles with being an owner.

Someone else on this post said they don't enjoy their delorean as much anymore. I know alot of this comes from negative attention this car sometimes brings and the mechanical problems are a headache.


I wonder, If the Delorean was a fast car (I mean fast like it looks...so you could out accelerate and leave cars that are bothering you, in the dust) if that would make a difference in liking the car more. I could be way off here, but I know the car is slow as hell and I wonder if that may be a major contribution to people losing interest after owning this beautiful but slow car after awhile.

[nimaside]

Wow. I can't believe it's that bad out there. Has this changed your view on people in general. Are there more A holes out there then you would have expected?

I love the car, and may some day own one, but looks like there is alot of bad that comes with the good. I think alot of peoples dreams are to be able to afford a new build from DMCH, and have it had as a daily driver. I guess there's always bad with the good. This bad though seems to really be much worse then I expected, and I'm guessing maybe a surprise to some of you owners.

I already know that the car is a geek magnet, not a chick magnet, but looks like it can be a downer magnet as well.:frown:

[SamHill]

, but looks like it can be a downer magnet as well.:frown:

Oh, it's not that bad. If you treat it as a car and use it to go places your interactions will be mostly pleasant. If you go to car shows and run into Jethro and D'ashawnicus then your interactions will be mostly unpleasant.

[opethmike]

Oh, it's not that bad. If you treat it as a car and use it to go places your interactions will be mostly pleasant. If you go to car shows and run into Jethro and D'ashawnicus then your interactions will be mostly unpleasant.

Disagree strongly. I haven't taken my car to a show or a cruise night in years, and do just use it as transportation. It doesn't matter, you still run into the lunkheads and it has been my experience that they faaaaaar outweigh the pleasant folks.

But yeah, between the car experience and time doing bird rescue, my opinion of people has gone way down the last few years.

[thirdmanj]

I already know that the car is a geek magnet...

If you're even remotely interested in the DMC-12, furthermore contemplating ownership... Well, then you're operating on some level of geekness my man. Just sayin'.

[Kenny_Z]

I pull in the same amount of jerks with my classic Mustang as I do with my Delorean. Everyone has an uncle/brother/father/neighbor with a Mustang that ran 2 seconds in the quarter and could jump further than the General Lee while picking up supermodels and killing Nazis. And they will tell you about it and how it is so much better than your car. And you should do this with your car and change that and make it like this. And then you will want to kill them with your car.

[Dangermouse]

I do wonder what it must be like to drive one that's been all souped up and has a whole mess of power. I bet it's scary :)

well you know what they say:

I can tell you stock Delorians and quite a bit of slugs so the Turbo is a super nice up-grade.

[nimaside]

If you're even remotely interested in the DMC-12, furthermore contemplating ownership... Well, then you're operating on some level of geekness my man. Just sayin'.

Oh, I didn't mean that as a insult. Sorry about that. My wording. When it comes to my interest , I am very much a geek...at least geek as today people think of.

As in I love star Trek, Sci fi, and real life science. Nothing wrong with being a geek in those terms. I noticed alot of people here have the same interest I have.

I'm also a lead guitar player, ex grunge person. I think it evens out.:rock_on:

[DeLorean03]

Man, I remember when I first joined this forum, many years ago, you were one of the nicest persons on here and talked greatly about the car alot. Maybe you were a new owner then. Your still nice and all of course, but I sure have seen you change with bitterness that comes from with the struggles with being an owner.

Someone else on this post said they don't enjoy their delorean as much anymore. I know alot of this comes from negative attention this car sometimes brings and the mechanical problems are a headache.


I wonder, If the Delorean was a fast car (I mean fast like it looks...so you could out accelerate and leave cars that are bothering you, in the dust) if that would make a difference in liking the car more. I could be way off here, but I know the car is slow as hell and I wonder if that may be a major contribution to people losing interest after owning this beautiful but slow car after awhile.


Wow, this was a striking post to read, and it saddens me that the change has been that apparent. I have owned my DeLorean for 9 years this November, and to be honest, it's been more of a psychological train going full-speed ahead than I could ever explain. I actually had talks about this subject with my wellness counselor at the University of West Florida over the 4 years I attended voluntary counseling. I'll take a stab at explaining it:

1. So you get a DeLorean. It idles and that's about it. Transmission doesn't shift, rotors are warped, exhaust leak like a lawnmower, turn the A/C on makes the car stall - man - you got a PROJECT for the price back in 2003 of what could be considered a "restoration on wheels" - work on it a lil' here and there each week, then drive it around. You meet someone that knows these cars inside and out and helps you get the car back on its feet. You mad, mad, mad money into the car hitting everything - an entire VOD resotration, all new hoses - coolant, vacuum, and heater, fix the exhaust leak, FULL tuneup including a nearly entire new fuel and ignition system, new tires, radiator, starter, master cylinder, stainless fuel lines to name a very, very few things on a huge list. You put in mad hours going into the hundreds of working on the car -from literal dusk until dawn on some days. You nearly fail out of school, put a huge strain on a relationship with your fiancee, and spent $1000's a month when your spending budget used to be all of going out to eat at Burgerking every other day. Amidst a bunch of other personal things, bottom line, you get the car up and running, it runs good, and you're happy - you've brought a DeLorean back from the dead.

2. Then you go to car shows, and at first the flux capacitor joke is funny. A year later, it's amusing but man it's getting old. Four more years, DAMN dude, enough already. And I got it, people don't know anything about DeLoreans and they're just trying to break the ice - I get it - but man, the lack of creativity is just annoying as hell.

3. Then you get people telling you about your car, and it ALWAYS so happens they don't own a DeLorean, but somehow they know more about your car than you. Now, when I first bought my car, all I knew was air went in the tires and gas in the tank - that's it. I am by no means a master DMC mechanic - not anywhere near close. But when I get some junior level college kid trying to tell ME about MY car when they don't own one - whether it be about John DeLorean, the factory, the production of the car, performance numbers, the car itself, or anything about how any of the car works - man dude, you are SERIOUSLY trying me.

4. Then you get the people that cannot keep their hands off the car. That used to drive me insane at car shows and cruise-ins. I'll note that at car shows, people were for the most part very respectful and 9/10 people did not put their oily, greasy, french-fry eating hands on the stainless. At cruise-ins though, man, people can NOT keep their hands off the car. Part of the frustration was my fault; I would take BarKeeper's Friend and thoroughly wash, clean, and Absorber-towel dry the DeLorean to get it near show-room perfect. Once I got to a cruise-in, within 10 minutes it seemed, someone would put not just a finger but their entire HANDPRINT on the car, and I would just feel so disrespected. You can put as many signs on the car all over and around it, and people will still just do it. And what made it so bad was that it seemed like NO ONE ever touched any other car in the entire cruise-in. Yet, a car that is basically a kitchen sink people could not stop touching, and the fact that everyone else seemed to touch no other cars in the cruise-in - it made me as a DeLorean owner feel very singled out. Now if someone just flat-out politely asked me if they could touch it - absolutely - go for it! The fact they stopped and asked made it to where I did not mind because I felt respected. But when people just put their hands all over the car - damn man - come on.

5. Then you got the guys that are just rude or mean. Being told your car is ugly, slow, heavy, a "cocaine transport" - that kind of crap is totally uncalled for, yet some people feel that they have to get their two cents in. And I love the people that are all like "Man, I smoked a DeLorean in my Subaru WRX..!" That just tells me two things: 1. You're an ignorant idiot that obviously has no idea about the power displacement of a DeLorean. 2. You're taking credit in a victory that would be the equivalency of a lion bragging it killed an earthworm. Who gives a flip; you did nothing worth even mentioning yet you feel that your meaningless victoy holds merit.

6. Then you got the guys that tell BTTF jokes left and right like they should be nominated to be on the latest cover of GQ for their endless and quick-witted comments. Dude, some of the jokes you're telling are older than you - they're not funny. They're old and stale with banality. And they walk around the whole car doing it like everyone must hear this amazing and timeless comedy unfolding right in front of their eyes. Just so lame dude.

7. Lastly, all of this builds to a boil when you're the only DeLorean at every single cruise-in or car show you attend. At first, it's fun being the only DeLorean - YOUR car is getting the attention and YOU have something completely and totally unique to the entire show, and in terms of pure attention and star power - you OWN that show. After a while though, say 5-7 years, you want another DeLorean with you. Not only for some fellowship, but it also helps ease the burdens of #2 - #6. The last half year I was in Pensacola, Kenny came with me to multiple cruise-ins, and it was a huge breath of fresh air; things just felt a lot more balanced.

I say all of these things because I, myself, have realized how bitter and angst-filled I was becoming. I did what was recommended and regulate to driving the car on the weekends only to get some love for owning the car back. When I started thinking about putting it on eBay "just to see" what it would go up to for fun, I knew I was getting a bit close to really selling it. I went to driving it to just on weekends after not seeing my car since last August (10 months) and so far, it is doing well with me. I am doing this not only to enjoy my car and not things get me to such bitter levels, but also so I can have fun with the Ohio DeLorean Club. I don't want to join ODC as a stick in the mud; I want to join them with a positive attitude.

So yeah, that's my story as to why I went into the stages of "dark ownership" and what I am doing now to be a bit more upbeat. I've started posting here a bit more regularly again, but to a certain degree, I don't have much to say on a lot of threads. If I can help or have an opinion, I chime in. If not, I don't - no reason to clutter a thread with useless posts.

And remember, I'm just one DeLorean owner; I definitely do not speak for all owners. We all have different stories and reasons for feeling how we do. And remember, we only own the car itself. With what we deal with, I'm sure it is absolutely NOTHING compared to what Kathryn put up with. If some of us think owning the car is tough, I cannot imagine what she went through.

Rest assured, I love my DeLorean, and I am on a path of recovery to dealing with the public (: . Weekend pleasure-cruising is fun, and taking it out to go get something to eat or run an errand on the weekend is fun. Car shows and cruise-ins, at least by myself without the ODC, those are done. I am not doing that again for a very, very, very, VERY long time.

As far as beefing up your powerplant and making the DeLorean faster, no, it wouldn't help. People would stick to their stigmas, say more ignorant things, and still get on your nerves. I feel for Nick with that LS1 - you KNOW someone is going to be like "Dude, he STILL has the original engine! I told you they were Chevy motors!"

Life is Good (:

[Dracula]

Very well said. I'm back to, as usual, driving my car around all summer as primary transportation and this is why I'm so bitter in regards to these cars. I get the constant exposure to these people that drives me insane. However, I feel content when I drive my car and that makes it worthwhile. That's also why I get so frustrated at DMCH's naming for their restorations; per the topic of this thread. It's one of those things where the DeLorean is a harder car to own over any of the other classics I own/owned. Even right now, with my automotive business sales abysmally low and the effects of this economy having me lucky to see $300.00 a week, my DeLorean adds the peace to my life that I need.

With the DeLorean, the biggest challenge to owning and using the cars are the other people you encounter. This thread adequately details the horrors of car shows and the progression of owners. Many sell the car because they can't deal with the interactions and unique frustrations that come from simply owning a DeLorean; not repairing, but owning and using.

Many here know me only as an anti-BTTF guy. That's not 100% true. I enjoy the movies, though I lie in public and claim to have never seen them so that they end the jokes by telling me that I need to do so. When I bought my first DeLorean at 17, I had a BTTF-themed plate and even one of the replica Flux Capacitors shortly thereafter. The constant jokes made me get rid of the plate; that helped immensely and made it so I could enjoy the car more. Next, I decided to stop showing the car with the FC in it because one individual leaned in to take a picture of it and spilled soda on my seat. It was a small spill, but I'm still upset about it. I've since sold off my BTTF things and avoid it because the car was my dream as a child, when I first saw one in person, and that's why I bought it. Now, I no longer attend shows with it. Instead, I take whatever car I'm not working on at the moment. Since the DeLorean never wins at shows; a personal dream of mine that goes unfulfilled, I don't attend.

In the end, there are problems with owning any car for too long. I have a friend who goes through Corvettes every few years; each time saying that this is the one he's going to keep; selling it because he likes the car, but wants something different. For me, the DeLorean is similar. It represents the pinnacle of childhood achievements and the fact that I accomplished the first of my dreams. The feeling is renewed when I drive the car and what prompts me to keep it regardless of circumstance.

[Ron]

Great "testimonials" -- Keep em coming!

[Jonathan]

Wow, this was a striking post to read, and it saddens me that the change has been that apparent. I have owned my DeLorean for 9 years this November, and to be honest, it's been more of a psychological train going full-speed ahead than I could ever explain.

....

And remember, I'm just one DeLorean owner; I definitely do not speak for all owners. We all have different stories and reasons for feeling how we do.

....

Life is Good (:

Wow. I won't try to reiterate each point you made with an example of my own, but many many things you said here I have either felt, or gone through as well. A while back when the "what did you name your car?" thread went around, I said "Emotion" and what you've written here is exactly why I chose that name.

My ownership has only been 5 years compared to your 9, but most of those stages you described I have gone through myself, or are still in some of them. Car trouble, money, stress, reliability, strains on relationships, interacting with the local club, car show behaviour, and mostly, whether I want to take it for a drive or not

I said recently the best way to describe my D ownership has been that I have really enjoyed owning the car, but have not enjoyed driving it. If the car comes up in conversation miles away at work or dinner, or if I'm puttering away at it in my garage, or just grinning about how I own a DeLorean, life is good. But put the car in drive and it is a different story. The frazzled nerves over 5 years whether it be when the car is in motion or whether it is in park at a show or gas station, has made me, like you, consider selling it.

The jury is still out on that at the moment. I know I won't get every cent I put into it back, but that's not really that big a art of the decision. It would be more a matter of what I would do next that would put a smile on MY face, and not worry about whether I make some kid or stranger smile.

You mentioned taking a 10 month break away from the car. Well sir, that might just be what the doctor ordered. I moved recently out West, yet my car won't come out until I sell my house in Ontario and buy something here in Alberta. And it'll likely be around that 10 months you talked about. I hope by the time it gets here I'm refreshed. If not, maybe I sell it. Either now to someone in Ontario, or later in Alberta. (For Sale thread!!)

Sometimes I think of these cars the way you might think of a decision to buy a pool table or pinball machine or swimming pool for your house. For the limited amount of time you would really enjoy those things, AND the amount of money and stress you shell out to own them, sometimes it might have been a better idea just to go down to the arcade when you get the urge to throw a few quarters in the machine, and let someone else deal with living with it all the other times.

[DeLorean03]

Sometimes I think of these cars the way you might think of a decision to buy a pool table or pinball machine or swimming pool for your house. For the limited amount of time you would really enjoy those things, AND the amount of money and stress you shell out to own them, sometimes it might have been a better idea just to go down to the arcade when you get the urge to throw a few quarters in the machine, and let someone else deal with living with it all the other times.


Funny you say that....let me know when you want to start THAT hobby :P...

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10882&d=1339131436

[Nicholas R]

Funny you say that....let me know when you want to start THAT hobby :P...

http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=10882&d=1339131436

You know what, It's funny you mention this. I too have gone through spurts where I wanted little to do with the car, and this hobby was how I curbed my need to work on something. Started with arcade games back in 07 because I couldn't afford pinballs, then finally moved to pinballs and am still unloading the arcades.

These cars can really wear you down sometimes. I'm not going to lie... there were several times during the LS1 project where I hated the car so much and wished I never started the project. It's easy to tell fun stories or talk about how problems were solved in the end, but you rarely speak of how 2 companies failed to make the flywheel you asked for so you had to spend +30 hours hand machining it. Or how, after weeks of trying to figure out the starter situation, I started loosing it and considered not using the starter and always parking on a hill or where I could push start it.

You have to have another hobby; just something to curb these moments and to take a break. I love my car so much, but good lord do I need a break from turning wrenches on it. I have an Addams Family Pinball machine in a million pieces that is just DYING to be fully restored. I cannot wait to divert my attention back to it and take a DeLorean break.

[DeLorean03]

You know what, It's funny you mention this. I too have gone through spurts where I wanted little to do with the car, and this hobby was how I curbed my need to work on something. Started with arcade games back in 07 because I couldn't afford pinballs, then finally moved to pinballs and am still unloading the arcades.

These cars can really wear you down sometimes. I'm not going to lie... there were several times during the LS1 project where I hated the car so much and wished I never started the project. It's easy to tell fun stories or talk about how problems were solved in the end, but you rarely speak of how 2 companies failed to make the flywheel you asked for so you had to spend +30 hours hand machining it. Or how, after weeks of trying to figure out the starter situation, I started loosing it and considered not using the starter and always parking on a hill or where I could push start it.

You have to have another hobby; just something to curb these moments and to take a break. I love my car so much, but good lord do I need a break from turning wrenches on it. I have an Addams Family Pinball machine in a million pieces that is just DYING to be fully restored. I cannot wait to divert my attention back to it and take a DeLorean break.

Nick, quit being modest. Show off your machines too :P.

[yellowmxwheels23]

This could either go in stupid D comment of the day or here but since this happend at my local cruise in I'll put it here.
Every Wednesday there is a cruise in in El Cajon. Its pretty big. Last week I was parked across from one of the local oldie stations that do a portable broadcast from the show. 3 police officers were looking at my car when the D.J. looks up and sees them. He gets right on air after a song and says.
"Cruise in is in full swing, we got Shelby's blah blah blah and some officers looking at a Delorean. I guess they saw that bag with a white substance fall out of the door too"
As he's laughing. The cops look at me as I roll my eyes and start packing up to leave.

[82DMC12]

Next time I hear a cocaine joke I'm just going to say, "oh I know! Isn't coke awesome?? Love it!"

[Lenny]

I had one obnoxious dirtbag start with the cocaine comments and the delorean being used to smuggle it.

I got real close to his ear and told him "How do you think I can afford a $250,000.00 car? 1 out of every 9 or 10 cars has cocaine in the hidden compartments if you know where to look.

[yellowmxwheels23]

I know I've mentioned this before but a good way to keep people from putting their dirty hands on your car is to put a for sale sign in the window. Mine says 125k OBO you should see parents grab their kids when they get too close.
Almost like the car is going to shock the shit out of them.

[dvonk]

I know I've mentioned this before but a good way to keep people from putting their dirty hands on your car is to put a for sale sign in the window. Mine says 125k OBO you should see parents grab their kids when they get too close.
Almost like the car is going to shock the shit out of them.

:lol: great idea!

[Dracula]

I've now started to use the line, "You'd have to pay $125,000.00 to buy this car" when people ask me the rather rude question of "What's that car cost?" when I'm out somewhere. I'm also TECHNICALLY not lying, as that's about what it'd take, in cash, to get me to sell my car on the spot.

[Stainless]

I'm in the habit of reviving old threads this week.

I haven't had a bad car show experience for a while, but that's because I haven't gone to any in my area due to this douche bag that owns one of those fiberglass/acrylic green gullwing cars. He is one of those middle aged single guys that goes to EVERY car show around. I first met him last year and made the mistake of parking next to him for a show, thinking it would be fun to have our cars together. Too bad the guy is as annoying as hell. I now can't go to a show without him being there, thus making it so that I don't go to shows anymore.

Anyone else have a car show attendee like this ruin the car show experience? I just can't stand to listen to his know-it-all attitude nor his misinformation about my car. Just because we both own gullwing cars does NOT mean that we are best friends. Ugh. Rant over.

[jawn101]

....We should get Ryan (Racerx) to describe his experience on Saturday with the hop-on during the parade :)

[Michael]

LOL, I have ONE guy that runs up to me everytime he sees me and shouts "Hey Doc Brown!"...and everytime he waits for my response like that's the first time he ever told me the "joke". He never fails to jump right into any conversation I may (or may not be having) to make sure I know my car was in some time traveling movie(the title escapes me at the moment). I know he means no ill will, but he sure does get on my nerves to the point that I yank out my phone everytime I see him coming and get into a very intense conversation with Siri.

I stay away from car shows at all costs, and cruise in's are at best a once a month thing for me now. It was cool at first but it's always the same cars, same people, same stories...just gets old after awhile.

[Ryan S.]

....We should get Ryan (Racerx) to describe his experience on Saturday with the hop-on during the parade :)
David warn me about that before the parade. So I put a folding chair (folded) on top of passenger seat but this one college kid managed to jump into my slowly moving D and set on top of my folding chair for his Kodak moment. Otherwise, it was a fun day at the parade. Next time, I will have my own passenger or porcupine.

I think there is something about open gull wing doors. Like they are telling you, please come in and make yourself home. While we parked our cars in the parking lot with doors open, several people came over and just set in our cars without asking for our permission. Hellooo.. This is not the Universal Studio. Actually someone was asking me if our Deloreans were owned by UC Davis for parade purpose. I said, not really.

[Jonathan]

If you enjoy them, then keep taking your DeLorean to the car shows to see the ear to ear grin on the face of a young person. Make the choice to not let the idiot guy ruin your day... he doesn't have that right, you do.

18451

[Ryan S.]

To be honest, I don't really mind with people sitting in my car and taking photos, including that crazy college kid at the parade. He just surprised me by jumping into a moving vehicle. I must say, people really really like Delorean, like me. Often at the gas stations and shopping mall, when people want to take photos of my car, I usually ask if they want to sit in my car and I take their photos for them. Especially little kids and pretty ladies. Perhaps because I am still a newbie owner. :hihi: It's fun to enjoy it with others. If I can only fix my hot start issue and AC, I will be a happy camper and drive around more. It is kind of embarrassing when people tell you how nice your car is then my car goes chuga chuga chuga chuga... clunk. I am thinking what a POS. :banghead: Please start... please.

[Farrar]

It is kind of embarrassing when people tell you how nice your car is then my car goes chuga chuga chuga chuga... clunk.

My favourite was one night when I was changing the fuel pump at a Shell station when some dudes hopped out of a van and asked if they could take pictures of the car.

No, that's OK. Don't offer to help or anything.

Some people are unbelievable.

[Ron]

My favourite was one night when I was changing the fuel pump at a Shell station when some dudes hopped out of a van and asked if they could take pictures of the car.

No, that's OK. Don't offer to help or anything.

Some people are unbelievable.
:rofl: (For some reason, that just made my day.)

[Stainless]

I decided to go to one car show this year at my home town. I like this show because it's small and because the show is only part of a larger town celebration that occurs the evening before the 4th of July. I usually see a lot of familiar faces I knew from when I was a young buck.

It was super hot that day, so I took a canopy so that I could have some shade. I was on the end of a row, so I set up the canopy next to my car on the passenger side since all the other cars were lined up from my driver's side. I had just gotten done setting up when a very strong gust of wind came out of nowhere. I jumped up and grabbed the canopy to help hold it down, but the wind was so strong that it picked the canopy up and it fell apart while I was holding onto it. I was completely helpless.

The canopy separated into different pieces as it got ripped apart and it proceeded to wrap around my car and hit the 1941 Ford that was parked on the other side of my car. The owner of that car jumped in quickly to help me and we couldn't believe how quickly the wind came. As we began cleaning up my destroyed canopy, I realized that the canopy may have damaged our cars. I don't know how, but my car didn't have any damage to it whatsoever. I looked my car up and down multiple times and couldn't find a single mark anywhere. How lucky is that?!

My car show neighbor was not so lucky. The canopy put two small dings on the passenger side of his car: one on his trunk and one above the rear passenger fender. Here is a pic of our two cars as the show was winding down:
28957

I felt HORRIBLE! Here was this nice guy that I had been chatting with that was minding his own business that had his car damaged by my property. I apologized a dozen times and told him I would be sure to take care of his damaged car.

Onto the next part of this experience... since the damage to his car did not involve any of my vehicles, neither my daily driver nor collector car insurance will cover the repairs, which total around $1,200. If you think that cost of repairs is high, you're not alone. I guess they have to remove the panels and paint them off the car to get the paint right, as well as pay to have the pinstriping redone on the trunk. Ouch!

My collector car insurance agent informed me that since the damage done to his car was due to an object hitting it from the wind and not from my car, I was not liable and shouldn't have to pay for the repairs. She said that in wind conditions like tornadoes, property that is blown somewhere else and causes damage is covered by the insurance of the owner of the damaged property and not the owner of the blown object. In other words, they told me that the guy's car insurance should cover damages like that and that I shouldn't be forced to pay for the repairs.

I still feel responsible since I was right there when it happened and it was my property that damaged it, but my insurance company is telling me otherwise. I believe my insurance company called the guy to inform him of this as I haven't heard back from him since some initial communication we had about the repair bids. I am so hesitant to call him to see what he wants to do since I can only imagine how angry I would be if I were in his shoes. What would you do?

[jawn101]

I decided to go to one car show this year at my home town. I like this show because it's small and because the show is only part of a larger town celebration that occurs the evening before the 4th of July. I usually see a lot of familiar faces I knew from when I was a young buck.

It was super hot that day, so I took a canopy so that I could have some shade. I was on the end of a row, so I set up the canopy next to my car on the passenger side since all the other cars were lined up from my driver's side. I had just gotten done setting up when a very strong gust of wind came out of nowhere. I jumped up and grabbed the canopy to help hold it down, but the wind was so strong that it picked the canopy up and it fell apart while I was holding onto it. I was completely helpless.

The canopy separated into different pieces as it got ripped apart and it proceeded to wrap around my car and hit the 1941 Ford that was parked on the other side of my car. The owner of that car jumped in quickly to help me and we couldn't believe how quickly the wind came. As we began cleaning up my destroyed canopy, I realized that the canopy may have damaged our cars. I don't know how, but my car didn't have any damage to it whatsoever. I looked my car up and down multiple times and couldn't find a single mark anywhere. How lucky is that?!

My car show neighbor was not so lucky. The canopy put two small dings on the passenger side of his car: one on his trunk and one above the rear passenger fender. Here is a pic of our two cars as the show was winding down:
28957

I felt HORRIBLE! Here was this nice guy that I had been chatting with that was minding his own business that had his car damaged by my property. I apologized a dozen times and told him I would be sure to take care of his damaged car.

Onto the next part of this experience... since the damage to his car did not involve any of my vehicles, neither my daily driver nor collector car insurance will cover the repairs, which total around $1,200. If you think that cost of repairs is high, you're not alone. I guess they have to remove the panels and paint them off the car to get the paint right, as well as pay to have the pinstriping redone on the trunk. Ouch!

My collector car insurance agent informed me that since the damage done to his car was due to an object hitting it from the wind and not from my car, I was not liable and shouldn't have to pay for the repairs. She said that in wind conditions like tornadoes, property that is blown somewhere else and causes damage is covered by the insurance of the owner of the damaged property and not the owner of the blown object. In other words, they told me that the guy's car insurance should cover damages like that and that I shouldn't be forced to pay for the repairs.

I still feel responsible since I was right there when it happened and it was my property that damaged it, but my insurance company is telling me otherwise. I believe my insurance company called the guy to inform him of this as I haven't heard back from him since some initial communication we had about the repair bids. I am so hesitant to call him to see what he wants to do since I can only imagine how angry I would be if I were in his shoes. What would you do?

Bummer! The shows I frequent ban canopies for exactly this reason. Despite the blazing sun and heat we are not allowed to have anything like that on the field.

Logically, I agree that his insurance should cover the damage - that's what it's for. That said, I absolutely share your feeling over a sense of responsibility for the damage. But the car was stationary and it would be a no-fault, comprehensive claim for him so it would not hurt his rates or anything. My personal response would be to let his insurance cover the damage and buy the guy a bottle of wine or something as a token of penance.

Good luck..

[alexwolf1216]

This happened to me at the beach. We setup a canopy, anchored it down, but a big gust of wind blew it on to a brand new Chevy diesel truck :smashfreak:


The guy didnt ask for damages, and after I offered he still refused. My wife is an insurance adjuster from USAA, so shes very familiar with the liability rules, at least here in Texas, and we werent liable.

That being said, I still offered and felt bad enough that I would have paid for it. It was not $1200 though :flamed:

[mluder]

My collector car insurance agent informed me that since the damage done to his car was due to an object hitting it from the wind and not from my car, I was not liable and shouldn't have to pay for the repairs. She said that in wind conditions like tornadoes, property that is blown somewhere else and causes damage is covered by the insurance of the owner of the damaged property and not the owner of the blown object. In other words, they told me that the guy's car insurance should cover damages like that and that I shouldn't be forced to pay for the repairs.

I still feel responsible since I was right there when it happened and it was my property that damaged it, but my insurance company is telling me otherwise. I believe my insurance company called the guy to inform him of this as I haven't heard back from him since some initial communication we had about the repair bids. I am so hesitant to call him to see what he wants to do since I can only imagine how angry I would be if I were in his shoes. What would you do?

Why not offer to pay his deductible? That way he's not having to out of pocket anything and you feel better about it...

[Stainless]

Why not offer to pay his deductible? That way he's not having to out of pocket anything and you feel better about it...

That's a good idea. My collector insurance has not deductible, so it's entirely possible that his is like that as well. This still isn't resolved yet though and don't know if he plans on using his insurance or not. I haven't spoken to the guy for a week so I don't know what he plans on doing. I should just man up and call him, but I haven't. That's why I assume that my insurance told him the liability situation. Otherwise I think he'd be calling me every day.

[NightFlyer]

I decided to go to one car show this year at my home town. I like this show because it's small and because the show is only part of a larger town celebration that occurs the evening before the 4th of July. I usually see a lot of familiar faces I knew from when I was a young buck.

It was super hot that day, so I took a canopy so that I could have some shade. I was on the end of a row, so I set up the canopy next to my car on the passenger side since all the other cars were lined up from my driver's side. I had just gotten done setting up when a very strong gust of wind came out of nowhere. I jumped up and grabbed the canopy to help hold it down, but the wind was so strong that it picked the canopy up and it fell apart while I was holding onto it. I was completely helpless.

The canopy separated into different pieces as it got ripped apart and it proceeded to wrap around my car and hit the 1941 Ford that was parked on the other side of my car. The owner of that car jumped in quickly to help me and we couldn't believe how quickly the wind came. As we began cleaning up my destroyed canopy, I realized that the canopy may have damaged our cars. I don't know how, but my car didn't have any damage to it whatsoever. I looked my car up and down multiple times and couldn't find a single mark anywhere. How lucky is that?!

My car show neighbor was not so lucky. The canopy put two small dings on the passenger side of his car: one on his trunk and one above the rear passenger fender. Here is a pic of our two cars as the show was winding down:
28957

I felt HORRIBLE! Here was this nice guy that I had been chatting with that was minding his own business that had his car damaged by my property. I apologized a dozen times and told him I would be sure to take care of his damaged car.

Onto the next part of this experience... since the damage to his car did not involve any of my vehicles, neither my daily driver nor collector car insurance will cover the repairs, which total around $1,200. If you think that cost of repairs is high, you're not alone. I guess they have to remove the panels and paint them off the car to get the paint right, as well as pay to have the pinstriping redone on the trunk. Ouch!

My collector car insurance agent informed me that since the damage done to his car was due to an object hitting it from the wind and not from my car, I was not liable and shouldn't have to pay for the repairs. She said that in wind conditions like tornadoes, property that is blown somewhere else and causes damage is covered by the insurance of the owner of the damaged property and not the owner of the blown object. In other words, they told me that the guy's car insurance should cover damages like that and that I shouldn't be forced to pay for the repairs.

I still feel responsible since I was right there when it happened and it was my property that damaged it, but my insurance company is telling me otherwise. I believe my insurance company called the guy to inform him of this as I haven't heard back from him since some initial communication we had about the repair bids. I am so hesitant to call him to see what he wants to do since I can only imagine how angry I would be if I were in his shoes. What would you do?

Wow, that totally sucks - sorry to hear about that :(

While your insurance company is correct about his insurance (provided he has comprehensive coverage) covering the damage, there's still the matter of the deductible, not to mention any rate increase that filing a claim may pose.

From a legal perspective, you're responsible, and he'd be successful in obtaining an award against you for the full amount of damages caused in a small claims court, irrespective of any insurance. This would be under the theory of either negligence erection of the canopy, negligent placement of the canopy, and/or negligent decision to erect the canopy.

I noticed other tents/canopies in the picture - did all of them blow over in this wind as well? If not, then it's evidence that supports a negligent erection and/or negligent decision to erect theory of causation.

IMHO, the right thing in this case would be to pay for his repairs out-of-pocket and learn from the experience, as much as that sucks for you, unfortunately.

[NightFlyer]

Bummer! The shows I frequent ban canopies for exactly this reason. Despite the blazing sun and heat we are not allowed to have anything like that on the field.

Logically, I agree that his insurance should cover the damage - that's what it's for. That said, I absolutely share your feeling over a sense of responsibility for the damage. But the car was stationary and it would be a no-fault, comprehensive claim for him so it would not hurt his rates or anything. My personal response would be to let his insurance cover the damage and buy the guy a bottle of wine or something as a token of penance.

Good luck..

It's because of such possibilities that I don't ever bring something like that to a show where I'm surrounded by other's pride and joy that could potentially be damaged by such if something were to go wrong. I wholly understand and agree with the ban that the shows you frequent have imposed - that's smart protection for all show participants. Just makes sense to me. Instead, I make sure to wear a decent hat, bring plenty of sun screen/block, and stay well hydrated.

Not sure how it works in CA, but rates tend to increase irregardless of what portion of the policy you're making a claim against - especially in no-fault jurisdictions. At least that has been my experience in MI anyway, a no-fault jurisdiction.

[NightFlyer]

That's a good idea. My collector insurance has not deductible, so it's entirely possible that his is like that as well. This still isn't resolved yet though and don't know if he plans on using his insurance or not. I haven't spoken to the guy for a week so I don't know what he plans on doing. I should just man up and call him, but I haven't. That's why I assume that my insurance told him the liability situation. Otherwise I think he'd be calling me every day.

You can always ask, if you're comfortable in doing so. Personally, I wouldn't be, but to each their own.

[Stainless]

Not sure how it works in CA, but rates tend to increase irregardless of what portion of the policy you're making a claim against

Pet peeve of mine: "irregardless" is not a word. It's always just "regardless."

But thank you for your input. I really do feel like a horse's patoot for what happened, but not bad enough to want to spend $1,200. Hopefully I'll have this resolved soon and I can get on with my life.

[DMCVegas]

Pet peeve of mine: "irregardless" is not a word. It's always just "regardless."

http://images.cryhavok.org/d/13557-1/Threadjack.jpg

But both Merriam-Webster as well as Oxford English & American dictionaries all list this word, and have for around 80 or so years.

I mean, irregardless of opinions, it's in the dictionary.

[Michael]

You asked so here is my opinion

You need to step up and pay every penny. This was not an act of God or weather related cause. This was not some tornado and wind blows, the cause was not some random object, it was your shelter not being properly anchored and tied off. His insurance may cover it, but they could come after you for the cost...plus expenses they incurred paying the claim(they probably wouldn't but they could). Don't put this on him and make him do all the leg work and have to worry about his premiums going up. He was an innocent bystander to your mistake and incompetence (that's not meant to be harsh but really anyone knows these things will take off with just a slight breeze. They are nothing but a giant sail).

Step up, do the right thing, and just pony up the money to fix his car.

[Stainless]

It's been about three weeks since the incident with the canopy. My regular car insurance and my collector car insurance denied coverage for type an incident because the damage to his car did not involve my vehicles. The city also denied coverage for the damage caused at the car show. The owner's car insurance is going to cover it as part of the no-fault comprehensive coverage. I have agreed to pay his $500 deductible and he will then be good to go. He's scheduled to take it to the shop this week. This whole situation sucks, but we've come to a conclusion that both of us have accepted. He has nothing out of his pocket to pay for the repairs and I'm out $500 instead of $1,200.

So the lesson for all of us is: don't set up a canopy near cars! No matter how well you have in anchored down, a strong enough gust of wind can still rip it off the ground and make it a projectile.

Onto the next adventure. Hopefully nobody has to top that as a bad car show experience. Back on topic.

[Stainless]

Has it really been a year since the last bad experience was posted here?

I was invited to bring my car to a "Back to the Future" themed bike ride recently: http://antelopebymoonlight.com/ It is a family event and riders are encouraged to dress up in costume for the bike ride. My car was near the registration canopy for bike riders to have their picture taken next to the car. I had SIX "Look, but don't touch" signs on various places on the car, including on each door sill. I also had several DeLorean hot wheels on each seat, thinking that these would be enough to prevent someone from touching the car, let alone sit in it. Boy, was I wrong! At car shows, I think people generally understand that the cars are there for visual enjoyment only and people tend to be respectful and not put their claws all over other people's cars.

With the car being all by itself and not at an official car show, some people treated it like a free for all. I sat behind the car in my lawn chair, like an old man watching his lawn, and was very surprised at some of the behavior of grown adults. Throughout the entire event, people posing next to the car would touch it by putting their hand on the top of the door or prop themselves by their hand as they posed. Those didn't bother me too terribly much. What killed me was when several different people sat on the front fender at different times and when others fully climbed into the car to sit down, going over the "do not touch" sign and nearly smashing all the hot wheels on display on the seats. I had to become "that guy" that had to yell to get off/out of the car. Of the 6 or 7 different people that I had to yell at, only one came back to apologize for what they did.

For all of my time and for driving my car out to the event, I got a free t-shirt. Totally not worth it and would only consider doing something like that again if the event organizer were to agree to rope off the car to prevent attendees from getting too close. I should have known that it wasn't going to be a pleasant experience the moment I pulled up to the traffic usher and he tried making me pull into a field and park where all the attendees were going to park instead of by the registration tent. Doing so would have required me to drive the car through a mini ravine, which would have required driving talents that I don't possess to not scrape the underside of the car.

The one bright spot of the event was seeing some really good BTTF costumes. Here's a pic of my favorite group:
35343

[sdg3205]

The more shows I do, the more i whittle down the list of shows I'd ever do again for reasons specifically like this - the complete lack of respect and complete disregard of basic human decency by some people. It ruins the experience for me. Of all the shows I have done in the last 6 years, I would only ever continue to participate in ONE.

These line-crossing dullards have ruined it for everyone else.

[John U]

Yesterday I took my car to the 25th annual "cruising on king street" here in Kitchener. Every year they close down the street for a parade of about three hundred cars followed by a show.
So Im driving down the parade route with both doors open and the hover board in the passenger seat. Some friggen piece of shit crackhead steps out of the crowd and walks in front of my car so I have to stop. He then throws himself into the car ass-first and lands right on the hover board. I start yelling at him to get out. I wanted to punch him right in the face but I noticed he was strung out on drugs and had a full bottle of orange soda (imagine trying to get blood and orange out of the carpets!).
My friend in my porsche behind me yelled to a cop who promptly came over to get him out. The cop said "thats twice! Go on the road one more time and you are going to jail"
The rest of the night was pretty good. Out of the thousands of spectators only a few people touched the car after that.
I dont know if I will do that show again. There were literally thousands of people who really enjoyed the Delorean but there are way to many drunks and druggies downtown.

[durech]

I made a pair of "entry preventers" by taking two 3/4" pvc pipes and painting them black and silver. I then install each between the door strikers. They work great at keeping people out of the car

Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk

[sdg3205]

I made a pair of "entry preventers" by taking two 3/4" pvc pipes and painting them black and silver. I then install each between the door strikers. They work great at keeping people out of the car

Sent from my KFTHWI using Tapatalk

They work better than nothing, but people still climb over top and sit in the car.

Serenity now

http://images.tapatalk-cdn.com/15/07/11/0e47b353b9facb8663c5b361941fcb1c.jpg

[John U]

I guess I can count myself lucky. This f#€ken crack head was so fried that had he not got in the car he would have jumped on the hood. Now THAT would have caused some damage!

[John U]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQkyaOAwKWs
At about 21:15 you can see the Homeboy in question jumping into a Miata. My cars go by a couple minutes later but he has moved a little further down the line by then.

[aotmfilms]

Well, it did not happened exactly on a car show, but while I was slowly leaving from there. I left with the doors open and a guy who seemed to be interested in the car watched it and I saw, that he wants to ask something. Ok, this happens many times, so I stopped. The guy's first question was: What is the price of this car?
I was not happy, because of his rudeness. Many times it happens, that people ask this after a small conversation, but it has never been the first question. I was thinking about say something similar to him, but I said the price and left.

Not to bump a comment, but I kindof hate that question as well. I understand that people are rolling thru their mind if they could even afford one but look on Ebay if you want to see a general range of prices. I have owned my D for a week and I think I have been asked that question 10 times in the past 7 days. :(

WTF? I should ask "How much was your wedding ring" or something like that. It's a personal question IMO.

[aotmfilms]

as for when people ask what I paid for my car I always say "A pretty penny"
I also have a for sale sign in one of the side pontoon windows that say $190k OBO.
It has really kept the touching of the car to a min. Parents also see it and keep their kids a few feet from the car.

FLIPPING AWESOME! I need to do this! :aniclap:

[Timebender]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQkyaOAwKWs
At about 21:15 you can see the Homeboy in question jumping into a Miata. My cars go by a couple minutes later but he has moved a little further down the line by then.

Looked like he was ready to start a fight with the driver...

[louielouie2000]

I've shared this one many times, but here we go again. About a decade ago, I drove my DeLorean to the Autofair at the Charlotte Motor Speedway... which is one of the largest car shows in the U.S. I was not showing my car, but instead went to see a friend of mine's auto literature booth. He had found an original copy of Stainless Steel Illusion, and told me if I came to pick it up it was mine for $20. So naturally I was on it!

Anyway, I pulled my DeLorean in the parking field next to the speedway, and was getting out of the car and shutting the door when I heard a very accusing voice behind me say "Hey! Let my SON look at your car." I turned around to see a giant "bubba" glaring at me condescendingly... while simultaneously his equally fat little offspring darted into my car and starting pushing all of the switches with zeal. This wasn't a small child, either... he was easily 10-13. Just as quickly as they came, they waddled off... without a word of thanks or anything. I was just too dumbfounded to speak. My parents had bought, sold, and shown classic cars and motorcycles my whole life. I'd never, ever seen or experienced anything like that.

[John U]

This incident of the crackhead jumping into the car has really shown me to be careful on how I pick my shows.
The weekly parking lot car cruise seems to be safe because the crowd is essential gear heads who have respect for others cars.
The typical "car show" brings in people who think a car is merely transportation. Add booze, crack and today's attitude of "its on display, must mean I can do whatever I want" and you have a recipe for some tense moments.
Dont think I will be doing that show again with the DMC.

[rdarlington]

I've had the occasional joker feel it was appropriate to open the door and get in to pose for the picture mommy was taking for them. I'm amazed at what people do.

This time I was bringing the car to an event tonight for an outdoor screening of Back To The Future in Los Alamos, NM. We have a special place in our hearts for plutonium out here. Everybody was excited. And it rained. I got to park by Ashley Pond, in the heart of downtown Los Alamos so I snapped a couple pictures while I could when the rain stopped for a few minutes. The movie was officially called off for this evening but they may do it later in the month.

35423

35424

The headliner didn't get wet this time. I learned from the last time!

-Bob

[aotmfilms]

35426Given the horror stories, y'all make me not want to do any car shows. Maybe we should start a thread "Good car shows", unless I missed it. I will have my first one with the D today....Kindof nervous.:nervous:

[Hcloud13]

Not really a car show...but I let these film makers use my car for an awards ceremony as the theme was BTTF.
They even made some props for the car and I got to keep them.
AND they got the Marty Mcfly impersonator from Universal Studios doing his skit in the crowd/people in line and at the car.

Anyway, at the entrance outside they had my car roped off. It was those metal poles with the velvet ropes inbetween.
I was there just watching.

With security, myself and Mcfly and the ropes that still didn't stop people from stepping over the ropes to take pics.
Some guy with his kid stepped over the rope and tripped and knocked over a pole. thank god it hit the tire. But I totally lost my shit thinking it hit the body. He grabbed his kid and RAN!! I Shit you not.
After that we put the ropes further out and they got 2 more security guys to stand guard.
354273542835429

At another show some Twat decided to sit on the front facia/hood for a pic. I literally pushed him off without saying anything and he hit the ground lol.


Unrelated to the D but on 2 other shows I went to there was this 40'S ford across from me and this kid around 5-7 was running his hot wheels toy car down the side of the ford and scratched the hell out of it.



BUT! car shows can be fun! you just have to be attentive and on top of it at all times. For all the shit car guys give the D we steal the show all the time, and the public LOVE our cars.

[aotmfilms]

BUT! car shows can be fun! you just have to be attentive and on top of it at all times. For all the shit car guys give the D we steal the show all the time, and the public LOVE our cars.

I like the DMC picture/collage that you had in the one photo.:thumbup:

I hope so, I will post a pic or two of my experience :)

[louielouie2000]

35426Given the horror stories, y'all make me not want to do any car shows. Maybe we should start a thread "Good car shows", unless I missed it. I will have my first one with the D today....Kindof nervous.:nervous:

Don't let the horror stories deter you- they are the exception, not the rule. Most of the time folks are delighted to see a DeLorean, and excitedly pepper you with questions. You can really make folks days by just being there with your car. To me, interacting with people like that really was one of the finest aspects of ownership. Getting to talk about the car/marque that you love, seeing folks excitement, all while seeding their brains with some knowledge. I actually really enjoyed letting people sit in my car and play with the doors. Hell, I even taught a few friends to drive a stick with my DeLoreans.

It's all boils down to respect- if the person asked first, I pretty much didn't care how they pawed over the car. Everyone wants to touch the stainless to see if the grain has texture- how terrible is it really to spritz the car with Windex afterward the show is over? Something about DeLoreans just makes people lose their common sense. They get so excited because it's a fun car, and probably the single most approachable exotic out there. It's also so wholly unlike any other vehicle that's ever been built, so they just want to figure it out in a hands on way. I get that.

I think the reason I got so p*ssed off with the Dad & kid who helped themselves to my DeLorean was 1) the sense of entitlement 2) the fact I was NOT showing the car- I was essentially out running an errand. You have to go into a car show with a certain expectation that these cars temporarily make people lose all reason, and that makes them do dumb stuff. I wasn't in that mindframe when that kid hopped into my car without my permission, and it made me mad.

Like Hcloud13 said, just stay vigilant. If you go for a walk/bathroom break, simply close your car up. If you don't want anyone near your interior under any circumstances, I've seen a few clever options over the years. My favorite was someone who cut 2 pvc pipes down, notched the ends out, and slid them over the door striker pins. To me, that's a perfect solution- your car stays open so folks can look at it, but it should definitely prevent anyone from getting inside without your permission.

[StainlessSteelDream]

[QUOTE=louielouie2000;176988 If you don't want anyone near your interior under any circumstances, I've seen a few clever options over the years. My favorite was someone who cut 2 pvc pipes down, notched the ends out, and slid them over the door striker pins. [/QUOTE]

I use some plastic garden chain that I attached larger links that fit over the striker pins to; the doors open is just too inviting, this gives just enough of a reminder hint to people; and is easy to tuck away between shows:
35432

Won't stop the complete jackasses, but what will.

M

[SS Spoiler]

I found two chrome tubes that I notched to fit over
The door pins......works great.

[martydmc12]

I haven't taken my D out to a car show in years. Although I have gone where there have been DeLoreans in attendance.

My take is a lot of the gear heads are pretty down on the car, and usually don't have anything nice to say about it. The typical stuff, too slow, ugly design, etc., etc. At least that's been my experience in the past, and something I've witnessed happen to other owners at shows. The BTTF jokes and references can get tiresome, but I'll take those any day over the cocaine stuff.

[mluder]

I haven't taken my D out to a car show in years. Although I have gone where there have been DeLoreans in attendance.

My take is a lot of the gear heads are pretty down on the car, and usually don't have anything nice to say about it. The typical stuff, too slow, ugly design, etc., etc. At least that's been my experience in the past, and something I've witnessed happen to other owners at shows. The BTTF jokes and references can get tiresome, but I'll take those any day over the cocaine stuff.

I find for every gear head exhibitor there are typically 10 attendees who are blown away by seeing the car.
I typically like to stay back and observe and only engage if asked... Because of this I get to hear some great stuff. Occasionally its a negative comment or something completely untrue, but my favorites are the ones where you know some one on the other side of the show said, "Have you seen the DeLorean!" because when they find you they get all excited... "HERE IT IS! OH MY GOD!"

My second favorite is the 35-40-year-old dad who says to his kids, "It's the car from Back to The Future!" and the kids are like, "Huh?"

Cheers
Steven

[aotmfilms]

My second favorite is the 35-40-year-old dad who says to his kids, "It's the car from Back to The Future!" and the kids are like, "Huh?"

Cheers
Steven

THAT is bad parenting....lol...that is like a kid not seeing StarWars.....:jawdrop: Wt_?

--Doug

[mluder]

THAT is bad parenting....lol...that is like a kid not seeing StarWars.....:jawdrop: Wt_?

--Doug

:bigclap:

[Timebender]

Not really a bad car show experience, but I took my DeLorean for the first time to the local El Cajon car show that happens every Wednesday afternoon/early evening from May through the end of October. I had parked next to a nice 1967 Corvette Stingray convertible, opened the driver door and louvers to show off the engine (1978 350 SBC). Anyway, overall not a bad experience as I first sat by the car and had some nice comments, then a bit further away (to get in the shade) but still within viewing distance and being able to get to the car in less than 10 steps (me being 6'7"). There are lots of "Look but don't touch" signs everywhere, and almost all passerby respect that rule.
Being out of earshot was nice too, as you could see a lot of guys here and there explaining to their friends or girlfriend what it is, pointing here and there, lots of people checking out the engine (thinking it was an option possibly) - not being able to hear misinformation or stupid comments actually made it a nice experience, as tons of people were taking pictures and overall thrilled to see a DeLorean in the real world up close and personal. Once in a while I'd come up and see if they wanted their photo IN the car (of course that was followed by an excited YES!). And a couple times there were dad's with their little boys - one boy was taking a lot of photos so I let him sit in the car and gave him a Hot Wheel for being respectful and enthusiastic about it.

So people get information wrong and to them it's the heaviest car EVER made that came with a V8 Ford or Chevy engine made by a coke head and can only get up to 80 miles per hour.

Good for them. It's just fun to watch people get excited about it.

[aotmfilms]

Not really a bad car show experience, but I took my DeLorean for the first time to the local El Cajon car show that happens every Wednesday afternoon/early evening from May through the end of October. I had parked next to a nice 1967 Corvette Stingray convertible, opened the driver door and louvers to show off the engine (1978 350 SBC). Anyway, overall not a bad experience as I first sat by the car and had some nice comments, then a bit further away (to get in the shade) but still within viewing distance and being able to get to the car in less than 10 steps (me being 6'7"). There are lots of "Look but don't touch" signs everywhere, and almost all passerby respect that rule.
Being out of earshot was nice too, as you could see a lot of guys here and there explaining to their friends or girlfriend what it is, pointing here and there, lots of people checking out the engine (thinking it was an option possibly) - not being able to hear misinformation or stupid comments actually made it a nice experience, as tons of people were taking pictures and overall thrilled to see a DeLorean in the real world up close and personal. Once in a while I'd come up and see if they wanted their photo IN the car (of course that was followed by an excited YES!). And a couple times there were dad's with their little boys - one boy was taking a lot of photos so I let him sit in the car and gave him a Hot Wheel for being respectful and enthusiastic about it.

So people get information wrong and to them it's the heaviest car EVER made that came with a V8 Ford or Chevy engine made by a coke head and can only get up to 80 miles per hour.

Good for them. It's just fun to watch people get excited about it.

That would be cool to go to a car show out in Cali. I lived there (Stationed at Fort Irwin/Barstow) from 94 to 98. Too expensive to ship the D but nice weather, that or Arizona....ahhhh maybe when I move to AZ in about 16 years :) just typing out loud.

It would be nice to drive it more than 4 months out of the year.... :(

[FABombjoy]

It would be nice to drive it more than 4 months out of the year.... :(
Whaaat? C'mon, we only really have snow for 4 months here :D

Michigan spring & fall are the best driving seasons.. Cool, dense air AND you don't have to run the A/C!

[aotmfilms]

Whaaat? C'mon, we only really have snow for 4 months here :D

Michigan spring & fall are the best driving seasons.. Cool, dense air AND you don't have to run the A/C!

You MUST have been in Cali the past 2 years.... :) it finally got warm here in the D the last week of July :( I never thought winter was going to go away. Most of this summer seemed like spring IMO. The four months I am talking about are half of May, June, July, August and half of September. You never know what you are going to get late September (rain or rain/snow mix) or early May. The way these drivers are in the D I don't want to take my chances but we may have 5 sort of driving months. May, June, July, August, September.....

Yes, I am looking forward to September when the leaves change though, since this summer has been like Spring for 90 percent of it :( so yes, that is the silver lining.