"Lost in Transmission" - Rutledge Wood new series, with a D

[Shep]

I'm sorry, but didn't he hate DeLoreans? Wasn't he selling them or putting them in storage for 40 years or something?

If it's the Chad I'm thinking of, he "liked" DeLoreans, but loathed the BTTF connection so much that he sold his car over it. Guy was a complete and total douchebag drama queen, having the same old used and abused arguments time and time again. Frankly I'm glad he's gone, I honeatly can't remember anything useful he contributed, just flame wars and trolling.

[Rich_NYS]

Chad is a good guy and has owned about 4 DeLoreans. I think he'll represent the community well on this show.

[DMCVegas]

Chad is a good guy and has owned about 4 DeLoreans. I think he'll represent the community well on this show.

I'll second that. I've met him in person, and from my personal experience Chad's a nice guy. I know that there was a couple of offline things about him, but I can't speak to those things. He wasn't keen on the whole BTTF thing, which I understand, and unfortunately got picked on by people here because of that. At the time we had a problem with certain trolls that are now banned, and in the effort of trolling everyone else they took his side, but took things way too far overboard. And I say that because if not for the trolls, I really do think that everything could have been worked out. But it got pushed too far because of some people that just wanted to fuel the fire for their own amusement. Since the trolls were the only ones who actually sided with him, he fell in with that group and since wound up over to DMCToday.

He doesn't live too far from me, just a few miles up the highway where I've seen him driving before.

[Farrar]

Chad gave me a transmission for a wedding present, and has offered me a free engine block to help get my car on the road. I don't know him terribly well and I haven't met him in person, but I have spoken with him over the phone once and he seemed like a nice guy. He even offered to help me rebuild my engine since I haven't done it before. Not something I would expect from a near-stranger. I understand he's had his troubles with some parts vendors, but I'm not asking about it and I hope it's all in the past. The DeLorean community is a small one; we need as many friends as we can get.

[Rich W]

The DeLorean community is a small one; we need as many friends as we can get.

Agreed. Chad is a devoted DeLorean enthusiast, but certainly not a purist. Chad likes the DeLorean for what it is and was before BTTF and he dose not hate BTTF.
Although he has a bit of a thin skin when dealing with BTTF jokes, he enjoys the DeLorean car and it's history. He has always been a helpful DMC club member.

I do not think the primary reason Chad sold his other DeLorean was because of BTTF jokes, but rather, he was in a tough situation and needed to reduce debt.
Most of us have been there, at one time or another, and I think Chad made some tough decisions and now he is "back in the game". (this time with a carb)

When Chad started looking for a DeLorean project last year, I offered him a "Do It Yourself" project, where he could select parts from my numerous project cars,
and have a "base" to start a new project. Chad got a "better" offer with a whole car (former Sandy Hurricane "victim" car), so he decided to go that route.

I say "Good for Chad". Follow your dream, even if you have to start over small and refurbish a project DeLorean over several months or years. It's a good start.

[Rich W]

Attaching a few 'Behind the Scenes' photos of the filming of the "Drive Around" location of the Stage II DeLorean,
one of Rut's Favorite Places in the whole world (or at least the whole Southern US) ... Goober's Gas and Grocery.

GGG.jpg

Ruts_Van.jpg

D_and_Ruts_Van.jpg

Rut_in_Stage_II_D.jpg

[Shep]

If it's the Chad I'm thinking of, he "liked" DeLoreans, but loathed the BTTF connection so much that he sold his car over it. Guy was a complete and total douchebag drama queen, having the same old used and abused arguments time and time again. Frankly I'm glad he's gone, I honeatly can't remember anything useful he contributed, just flame wars and trolling.

Oops, just fact-checked this one -- mixed up the name with someone else entirely. No wonder I didn't recognize the paintjob...

Aaaaand I'll show myself the exit now

[DMCVegas]

Although he has a bit of a thin skin when dealing with BTTF jokes, he enjoys the DeLorean car and it's history.

I'm not going to comment on Chad in a way where I paint an image of him, or something where he isn't here to speak out for himself. Especially not about his personal life which is absolutely none of my business or anyone else's. All I can speak to is myself, and things that I have personally seen and experienced.

One of those things is indeed unsolicited criticism. Back in 1998 or so, there was a DeLorean owner that created a GeoCities page about his car. It was a quick rundown of how he came across it on a used car lot, picked it up, and had fun with it. He also had a little write-up on what it was like owning a DeLorean, and he had one of the most prolific things I've ever read about DeLorean ownership. Something that when I've been asked about what it's like to own and drive one, I share with everyone:

You cannot be an introvert and own a DeLorean.

It's absolutely true. You WILL get attention just about everywhere you go. Of course it's the car, not you. That goes without saying. But one of the things that I was never prepared for was the negativity you encounter. Now I don't think that most people are purposefully cruel. I just think that they want to start up a conversation about the car, and in order to identify with the owner want to relate to them something they know about the car. Which as it's been said, the DeLorean is the car that everyone knows, but knows nothing about. So it's either a BTTF reference, a cocaine joke, or worst of all some piece of misinformation they've gotten along the way.

It's not easy to take a car that you love, and in turn put a lot of love, time, effort, and money into only to have some jackass make a demeaning comment about your car. It's not that it's just a car and we should shrug it off. It's that it's an attack on your work. And then things escalate from there when you try and correct someone and you end up defending yourself because in reality it's the other person who is insecure and can't stand to be corrected. I've heard cocaine jokes where told people that I didn't think it was funny, and then they'll attack me by telling me that I'm too young to know what they're talking about. The tons of misinformation about the marque, JZD, or the car itself from hidden drugs to helicopter engines. Try and correct that, especially by pointing out that they've never even sat in a DeLorean let alone driven one so they're obviously not any sort of authority, and they'll become hostile and try to keep up with the nasty comments as the only way that they can defend themselves. Not everyone is like this, no. Some people apologize when corrected and feel embarrassed, others ask genuine questions about the car, and I'm more than happy to talk to someone that wants to ask me a question. Or best of all, someone has a personal story to share with me about a past experience with a car. And it's great too when it leads to all other sorts of conversations. And I always start out every conversation friendly. How it ends is up to the person I'm talking to.

Now I too have been told I'm thin skinned. I'm not. Truth is that I just don't like stupid people, and worst of all ones that toss out back-handed comments or otherwise insult me. Why would, or better yet, why should I tolerate that? Most people don't see this since most DMC-12s are garage queens. But when you enlist one as a Daily Driver, you get this kind of negativity on a daily basis. And it's hard to put up with. And the one place that should have been a safe haven for Chad, the DeLorean community right here, was not. Hell, I would even say that we pretty much betrayed him. He was trying to sell a car on eBay, and got flooded with BTTF jokes. Yes, it seemed funny, but Chad asked to please stop it. As he said, this was a sale of property going on, and he didn't like people interfering with it because it was pretty much toying with his finances. And he was absolutely right. Then it just became a dog pile with the justification that he had "thin skin", so the problem was that he couldn't take a joke, not that we were all screwing with him and his money making him feel unwelcome so we could get a cheap chuckle. Oh, no. Which was not right at all.

[Rich W]

Attaching a few 'Behind the Scenes' photos of the filming of the "Drive Around" location of the Stage II DeLorean,
one of Rut's Favorite Places in the whole world (or at least the whole Southern US) ... Goober's Gas and Grocery.

Just to clarify, this part of the filming was only one day (with an optional second day, if the weather did not cooperate).

There was only a light rain (drizzle) during most of the filming that day, so the second day of filming was not required.

As in most TV show filming, there is no guarantee what footage will be used or how the host/narrator will present the footage.

Do not expect this episode to dis-spell all, most, some, few or none of the DeLorean myths that have been out there for years.

It's a TV show, but let's hope they made it a good one.

[Lou and "Boo"]

1. Chad's a great guy.
2. I personally found the Sandy flooded Delorean and set things up between Chad and the seller. I met Chad at that time and from that and my online and phone conversations with him I can verify my first statement.
3. DMC Today is not full of trolls by any means, just folks with a different outlook on Delorean ownership and no tolerance for unfair moderation.

Just my two pennies.