Do you park your DMC in popular places with lots of foot traffic?

[STAINLS]

You are very brave.

I never leave mine intentionally unattended and if something forces me to do so, it's not for very long.


About a month in with my last DeLorean, I drove it down to Branson MO to see my fiancé who at the time was going to college down there. It was about a 4 hour drive for me. Always enjoyed taking the DeLorean. Plus it was summertime. We went out the evening I arrived and ate at the Cracker Barrel there on the far end of the strip for dinner. I parked it near the back of the lot and we were sure to get seats right by the windows that overlooked the parking lot. Perfect view of the car. We had a great evening and laughed at all the people driving through and snapping their necks for a double take when they saw it. About 30 or so minutes in, I noticed a group of guys walking up to it. We watched them for a few minutes and they seemed mostly harmless. Then one of them proceeds to open the driver's door. I couldn't have run out there fast enough. I slammed the door and about punched the guy in the face. He expressed that it was the first time he'd ever seen one and just wanted to see how the doors worked. All three smelled of alcohol. I explained to him what breaking and entering is and that he'd have to find another DeLorean to "check out". I was very prepared to get in a fight right there in the parking lot. Some people are just that dense.....and alcohol always compounds the problem several fold.

From that point on, I've never left either of my DeLoreans unattended in public areas. We don't drive it to outings we weren't intending to be car oriented because I end up spending the majority of the time worrying and checking on the car if we inevitably park somewhere. It's better peace of mind to just leave it at home. People CAN ruin a good thing.

The thing that's always really worried me the most is if I leave it somewhere locked, some meathead will over extend the door handle and snap it off. I still have plastic ones on my current D. That will be changing soon.

[AgentDL]

From that point on, I've never left either of my DeLoreans unattended in public areas. We don't drive it to outings we weren't intending to be car oriented because I end up spending the majority of the time worrying and checking on the car if we inevitably park somewhere. It's better peace of mind to just leave it at home.

This is like saying, "I'm just going to stay home from now on" because you almost suffered a minor injury outside once.

Different strokes, I guess.

[STAINLS]

This is like saying, "I'm just going to stay home from now on" because you almost suffered a minor injury outside once.

Different strokes, I guess.

Miscommunicated my point.

This was not to say that I specifically never take the DeLorean out anymore because I'm afraid of something happening to it. Far from it. The thing is always out doing something. I park it in a car port next to our house when not in use no less.

I meant that if we are going out somewhere that isn't car oriented and it's going to be parked the whole time or an extended amount of time, i.e. movies, groceries, date night, etc...we typically take another car. We don't want the added stress of worrying what fruit cake is going to be messing with it while we're gone/away if we don't have to. It drives my wife nuts and I don't enjoy it myself. My first DeLorean was my daily driver. We used to be pretty nonchalant about it and parked it anywhere. I gave people rope in my early ownership days. A lot of rope. They hung me with it almost every time. I have pictures from '5444 of the dents and dings, scratches, spilled soda on the interior, that are a constant reminder of why I don't trust the public around these cars. It even got hailed on once after a freak thunderstorm at a car show. Clear weather all day and then poof. In 30 seconds, not one not one single body panel was untouched by it. You don't want to know the cost of having every single panel replaced, but I have the quote from Dave to show you if you want. I've just seen it too many times to not just my car, but others as well. The bad thing is that, at least in our area, it's getting worse. My wife and I are blessed enough have multiple cars. My point is, if we aren't going to be specifically taking out to be driven in and enjoyed, we just don't take it. If you never have something happen to yours then right on DMC brother and more power to you!!

[? ? ? ?]

I'm amazed at the number of reports of people just coming up to the car and trying to open the door. I know people can be inconsiderate by touching it, but trying to open the door is straight up breaking and entering. If I caught someone doing that I'd have no problem introducing them to my bat that I keep in the front.

As for me, I try to take the car out and use it when I can. If it's raining out (super rare now in CA) I'll leave it at home, or if I'm heading to a somewhat "shady" area, or someplace where parking isn't great, again I'll just leave it at home. But I did buy it to drive it and not sit, so I try to drive it to work daily and take it to dinners and Sunday drives and what not. If I can prevent something from happening to it then I'm going to try my best, but if something does happen to it that's outside my control, then ya that sucks, but at the end of the day it can be fixed, and I'll still have my dream car, and I'll still be enjoying it.

[Jonathan]

I think we need to have a "holy can of worms! thread topic of the month" award. (j/k) There are some subjects that touch a nerve, like what kind of oil you use, or opinions on time machine conversions, etc. and this seems to be another good one.

I'm amazed at the number of reports of people just coming up to the car and trying to open the door. I know people can be inconsiderate by touching it, but trying to open the door is straight up breaking and entering. If I caught someone doing that I'd have no problem introducing them to my bat that I keep in the front.

Think of what happens to your car when you are actually in view (but at a distance). Now think of what happens when you aren't around and never know (unless something is broken when you get there).

Like the saying goes about people talking behind another's back. "Listen to how they talk about others when you're there, for that is how they'll talk about you when you're not." You take a small sample size of certain things and it'll often indicate what goes on in the majority.

I had the "try opening the doors" routine once at a local car show. And I was just getting back to the car after grabbing a coffee or something. You can come back saying WTF? to the person and sometimes they still give you a "well, I just thought I'd see if it was open and watch the doors go up." They'll say it like it's completely understandable why they tried to open your doors even though if you take the silly DeLorean specific part out of the equation, it's downright odd and not right at all.

Case in point one day coming home from somewhere in the car. Some guy had followed me from somewhere nearby, came onto my street, parked at the end of my driveway and was walking into my garage as I got out of the car. I asked him what exactly he was doing and he quite matter of factly told me how glad he was I finally stopped because he was afraid he was going to need to force me off the road so he could see the car. I've never seen one of these you know, he said.

Oh, sounds completely normal, great. Thanks for coming. Can I offer you lunch or a drink while you're here? It never dawned on him that if you take away the DMC part, this guy followed me home, came into my garage and even explained how he was happy I live here and not far away so his stalking was easier. Would he have been shocked if I proceeded to grab a yard tool and bash his brains in? How would that read on the police report? "Home owner admits killing victim with shovel in self defense because dead guy followed him home and came upon him inside his own garage." The story somehow takes on a different life as soon as you insert DeLorean into it.

I'll take the "Canadians are all nice" compliment, but it's still less than 100% of the population. The Jerk Store here in Canada has lots of models for sale too, just like in every other corner of the world. Come to think of it, if that guy coming into my garage happens in a place with the US style gun laws... I think you all know how it would have ended. Or maybe never would have happened in the first place. Is there a DMC-themed face palm emoticon yet?

[Rich_NYS]

I've been very fortunate with no problems to report....everyone near where I live so far has been very nice & respectful. As long as I can most often see the car, I'll park with the doors open for the passerbys to enjoy. I buckle both seatbelts as a psychological deterrent to keep people out of the seats (credit: Delorean03) I totally think that works.

I often take my kids to ice cream with it, and I've had multiple people approach me near the seating area to ask if I mind if they look at the car (before going into the parking lot.) I think I've lost count of the number of times in general someone asked first if they could look at or take a pic of my car.

Augustneverends once mentioned upstate NY having a lot of polite people; never would've said that myself, but it appears he's right. Everything's been good in this 'hood.

Also, when I don't have my kids with me, I usually shout "don't fuck with it" as I walk away from the car.....maybe that helps?

Jonathan, FWIW: you, Josh from Canada, Justin and all other Canadians I've met seem really nice. (But the Jerk store comment is pricelesss...lol!)

[John U]

Imagine how Michael J Fox feels. How many times has some dickhead approached him with his best Biff impersonation!

[Timebender]

I'm only 6'2. I'm shocked 6'7" fits in a delorean!

From my understanding, DeLorean designed the car to fit tall folks, as he was something like 6'4" - at least that's what I heard. So to test it I asked YellowMXWheels if I could sit in his D, and it was just right - actually more leg and headroom than my son's 1970 Camaro.
The D to me is a very comfy car.

[Tillsy]

?..Then one of them proceeds to open the driver's door. I couldn't have run out there fast enough. I slammed the door...

Why was the car unlocked?

[Shep]

I seem to be in a minority here, but I love ALL the attention my DeLorean gets. From when I drive it to when it's parked, I wish I had a motion-activated 360-degree camera so I could capture everyone's reactions to seeing it (well, and the time to actually view it all, but still). Yes I've had a few close calls, and have honked my horn a few times at guys that would've otherwise collided with me, but overall it's the attention I get that keeps me an owner. Half the time (not even 100%, it's more or less half) when I fill up with gas, I get people that talk to me about it, or ask to take pictures, I've even had a few guys who asked, then when I said "sure", proceeded to put their hands on her. Did I cringe? No, but I would have if he wanted to shake my hand afterwards since I knew how badly she needed to be washed

The best reactions I get are when I park in my front lawn of my fiancee's house (well, former house, now that she's moved in, but I still go there since her family's there). I intentionally leave it unlocked in the event that someone wants to see the inside (or, if someone is ballsy enough to open the door and take a selfie, but they won't get far hotwiring it since it's loud as hell and takes some finessing to start! ). It's a VERY busy street, so I witness things from people honking and shouting, to people pulling in the driveway to take pictures, turning around, blocking traffic, I've even had a handful of individuals that will park in the driveway, come up to and knock on the door to ask questions and see if they can take pictures. In fact, I wish more people would knock and ask about it when I park it there. It's like a win-win addiction -- I love the attention, it makes spectators happy and giddy, what's NOT to like???

It seems a lot of guys are afraid of people "molesting" their cars. In my scenario, not only is it considered a "safe" town (and being in two of their parades, I'm on the cops' "very good side"), but the more attention you get, the more witnesses there are to who did what, and the less likely someone will do something. From all the things I've read (and even reading through this thread too!), the only instances of bad things happening were either accidental, in low-foot-traffic yet shady areas (which is a concern with ANY car, but not what this thread is asking about), or done in entirely isolated areas like a storage unit. Then the fear carries over to the places where chances are it won't happen. Since I don't take risks when I park, I'm not scared of what would happen.

Besides, it's a well-known DeLorean, do you really think it'd be that hard to spot if it got stolen? I don't even have a radio, so the interior is useless to a "grab-and-dash" type thief

I mean, the bag I carry to work with $100,000 in gold inside of it is another story (kidding, of course!)