Are these cars ever going to be worth anything???

[Sidaries]

For me, my car's value had increased quite a lot in the past 6 years. I bought it for the price of 14800$, shipped to Europe, payed the taxes and the final price was around 24000$ that time (4,3M Ft.).

Now the Deloreans in Europe are 25000 euro minimum, but usually 30-35000 euro, which means that the price had been doubled (~10M Ft.). So for me the question is not relevant.

[delornut]

Something which people also seem to be leaving out of the equation is the fact the DeLorean has absolutely zero motorsports credentials. Every single marque mentioned in this thread, sans the Tucker, has storied racing histories. The DeLorean might have been able to overcome this lack of racing pedigree had it been a true sports car, but it wasn't. It's firmly in the Grand Touring category. Even grand touring cars from the storied marques don't appreciate like their sports/supercar counterparts; especially of that era. Look at the depressed values of the Ferrari 400i & Porsche 928, for instance. Compared to the DeLorean, those cars values are in the gutter.

I really have to wonder what will happen to DeLorean values in the future. Those who were young and aspired to own the car when it was new are now all in their 40s, 50s, and beyond. Those of us who grew up in the BTTF generation are now into our 30s & beyond. This means values for these cars should be in their prime right now, because all of us who lusted after these vehicles in our youths are now fully grown & into our established careers. So what happens when us Gen X & Gen Y folks start aging out of the game- will the slack be picked up by a younger generation? I recently read an article on the Jensen Interceptor, and how it was starting to encounter that exact fate. It's enthusiast base was aging out, and seemingly no one is coming in behind them. I'm not saying the DeLorean's future is that bleak, but the DeLorean marque does face some very real challenges in the coming decades.

I think the DeLorean falls victim to a two edged sword. On one hand the car is unique and relatively rare. It's styling currently offers the most exotica for the buck in the automotive world. On the other side of the sword much of it's following comes from it's role in the Back to the Future films. That tends to color the car as a cartoon character which currently seems to play the dominate interest among newer owners. I think that needs to be down played and interest has to be revived in the car itself before values rise in any significant amount and that's going to take a lot of time.

Bruce Benson

[OverlandMan]

Recent Hagerty valuations were published showing our car on the rise. Is this a real takeoff or just another spot to plateau? The naysayers would point to the BTTF anniversary and claim this is temporary and they could be right. The optimist would say values will continue to go up or at least follow the general collector market.

I'm split on this. I still think the car will never bring "big bucks" for reasons previously cited; however, as the whole collector market moves up it is fun to watch the correlation. When/If the bubble bursts, it will be interesting to see how the market responds.

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[ccurzio]

I think the DeLorean falls victim to a two edged sword. On one hand the car is unique and relatively rare. It's styling currently offers the most exotica for the buck in the automotive world. On the other side of the sword much of it's following comes from it's role in the Back to the Future films. That tends to color the car as a cartoon character which currently seems to play the dominate interest among newer owners. I think that needs to be down played and interest has to be revived in the car itself before values rise in any significant amount and that's going to take a lot of time.

Bruce Benson

Except BTTF is the reason the car is as well known as it is. If those movies used any other car, the DMC-12 would have been just another automotive blip known only to a tiny amount of people, like the Bricklin.

[David T]

Except BTTF is the reason the car is as well known as it is. If those movies used any other car, the DMC-12 would have been just another automotive blip known only to a tiny amount of people, like the Bricklin.

It is a function of "A rising tide lifts all boats" effect. Prices tend to go up a little every year. But the other side of the coin is as cars get older they tend to go down in value because they need work. The rising prices are for the ones in better shape. The "beaters" won't go up much if at all.

[Rich_NYS]

I think for prices to fall significantly after BTTF 2015, there would need to either be a selloff or equivalent lack of interest in the usual market (to affect the metrics of supply/demand.)

I used to think it's a bubble that will pop after 2015, but now I'm thinking there will be continued interested/no selloff due to people finding out how much they really enjoy owning the car. A dude buys a "bucket-list D" and enjoys it so much, the honeymoon never ends so he keeps it. (I bought one in December 2013, then another 14 months later.)

Also, it appears the attraction transcends all age groups so the teens that lost their shit when first seeing one a few years ago will soon become potential owners. Looks to me like there could be a fresh crop of DeLorean owners on deck right behind the youngest of us. (I recently met a college-age owner.) Plus, take a look at the younger dudes and the badass stuff they're doing (Nick, Josh from Canada, Pat C...etc.) It looks to me like the interest is trending upward, not downward.

Some things never go out of style, and I think the DeLorean is one of those things.


(Now if someone can explain WTH those last two cars at BHCC sold for 15K-16K, I'd really be interested in the answer to that one!)

[Rich_NYS]

The rising prices are for the ones in better shape. The "beaters" won't go up much if at all.

The near opposite has been true over the past 12 months....."project car" prices have been though the roof.

[OverlandMan]

It is a function of "A rising tide lifts all boats" effect. Prices tend to go up a little every year. But the other side of the coin is as cars get older they tend to go down in value because they need work. The rising prices are for the ones in better shape. The "beaters" won't go up much if at all.

The Hagerty graph I posted would refute this. It breaks down vehicles into 4 categories based-off condition. If you look at condition 3-4 cars, or your so called "beaters", they still trend slightly upwards, again following the car and market in general.

Furthermore, the DeLorean has been relatively flat for the past few years. Only this past quarter shows a significant increase over prior trends. It's nothing HUGE but its cool to see as an owner.

(Now if someone can explain WTH those last two cars at BHCC sold for 15K-16K, I'd really be interested in the answer to that one!)

Anything coming from BHCC is a red-flag to me. Most of their stuff I've seen online would fall into condition 3-4 cars.

[David T]

The Hagerty graph I posted would refute this. It breaks down vehicles into 4 categories based-off condition. If you look at condition 3-4 cars, or your so called "beaters", they still trend slightly upwards, again following the car and market in general.

Furthermore, the DeLorean has been relatively flat for the past few years. Only this past quarter shows a significant increase over prior trends. It's nothing HUGE but its cool to see as an owner.


Anything coming from BHCC is a red-flag to me. Most of their stuff I've seen online would fall into condition 3-4 cars.

When you see parts prices from the Delorean venders go up it will cause the price of #1-2 condition cars to go up and #3-4 to go down. If it starts costing a lot to make a #3-4 into a #1-2 things will change. The other factor is for an orphan Marque, there are a lot of Deloreans comparitivley speaking. Many more than for other orphan Marques. For instance look at Tucker, there are only 50 of them. Because so many Deloreans were produced and many still exist, in the world of car collecting, it is as if it was mass produced. It is also an under-appreciated Marque, not unlike Lotus.

[Hokie]

Thought you guys would be interested. I know a guy that had a real beater of a D; totally shot interior, doors barely closed, barely ran, etc. He ""tentatively" sold the car and on the way to deliver it a bidding war erupted online for his car. Long story short, he sold it for $25,000. This was about 4 weeks ago.