Jalopnik bashed DeLorean, again

[Citizen]

Just stumbled on this this morning. I hate posting this negative stuff, 'cause it seems to promote it. But it is relevant to us and important for us to know what's being said. See #1.

http://jalopnik.com/the-ten-worst-ca...own-1725561697

Personally, I think we, as a DeLorean community, have done a lot to counter all the negative publicity about the car.

Thomas

...

[JohnZ]

I like the last sentence, though: "But who cares, it’s a fecking DeLorean"

[AugustneverEnds]

"Lack of available replacement parts", err since when?? "Awful reliability", people have been driving these cars for 34 years so are they really worse than anything else?

[jmettee]

I don't think it's that negative. Read the title a different way & concentrate on 1 word: "The Ten Worst Cars We WANT To Own".

Anyone who is honest with themselves & has owned or worked on these cars can fairly state that a DMC is not the best example of performance or engineering, even for its time in 1981. BUT they are an icon, they have a great shape/visual design, & can still be good cars. There's a reason so many were just parked & left to rot....because people were tired of fixing them or didn't know how (there's the reliability issue).

I love my car & wouldn't think of selling it. It is a blast to drive & talk to others about. But it's fun in its own way. Even my S10 truck would give competition to the DMC when it comes to driving performance. All the daily drivers I've had would probably be better in performance & handling. But, you can't replace the character of the manual steering, low/sleek design, driving posture, etc. etc. etc that the DMC has. So the DMC really isn't a great performer, but it IS desirable for other reasons & that makes it a car that people want to own. We all know why we love our cars, & I don't think anyone who owns one will say it's because of how fast it is or how well it handles the curves.

[mr_maxime]

Anyone bashing a delorean is most likely shitting on an icon for attention. "Remember that car from the 80s? Well it sucks. LOL! See how funny I am?"

They fail to realize how what makes the delorean unique help it. Stainless and fiberglass dont rust. How many classic cars are now just rust buckets? Unless it's painted, you have much better idea what the car looks like than almost anything else. At worse, you have paint hiding body filler. Poor reliability is such a cope out and so is lack of parts. The reliability has a lot to do with the age now and the lack of parts is from the age as well as being an orphan car. Had DMC stuck around and made more cars neither of those would have been as much of an issue.

Most of those people writing these articles have never driven a delorean. That's like reading a critic review for a movie someone never even saw. I get that there's a reputation, but it's almost entirely built around misinformation.

[Jonathan]

As Reggie Jackson of the NY Yankees once said, "they don't boo the nobodies."

+1 on what Justin said. Our cars can often be a very large PITA. But blah, boring or run of the mill they will never be.

And, yea, Jalopnik isn't exactly known for publishing anything for its educational value or excellent writing style. They act like a radio shock jock that will post whatever they think is going to get people to click on it. You don't really think anyone would click to see what one of the Kardashians had to say if they knew the article wasn't going to fill their screen with a big set of tits, do you? Jalopnik is the online automotive version of the grocery store check-out gossip magazines. Nothing more.

[refugeefromcalif]

I don't think it's that negative. Read the title a different way & concentrate on 1 word: "The Ten Worst Cars We WANT To Own".

As much as I like the other 9, (I own one of them), I can't imagine Wanting to own a Yugo GV...

George

[Nicholas R]

Why the hell is the Mitsubishi Mirage on that list?!

At least every other car on the list has some uniqueness to it. But the Mitsubishi Mirage is about as run of the mill as cars get.

[DMCVegas]

Why the hell is the Mitsubishi Mirage on that list?!

At least every other car on the list has some uniqueness to it. But the Mitsubishi Mirage is about as run of the mill as cars get.

That's an interesting statement. Back when Gran Turismo partnered with Jalopnik to set up a voting poll to see what vehicles would be included in DLC Packs, the game designers kept complaining that people were choosing "normal" cars like the DeLorean, the Fiero, the Mustang, and other common vehicles instead of outrageous exotics. They couldn't understand why people were lusting over cars that they, the average person, could obtain rather than the hyper-expensive ones that we couldn't. I guess that despite the commonality and price point of normal cars, they do indeed sell the best because it's what we as consumers really want.

Which having said that, yes, I came *that* close to buying a Mitsubishi Mirage myself. I like it.

[louielouie2000]

I don't think it's that negative. Read the title a different way & concentrate on 1 word: "The Ten Worst Cars We WANT To Own".

Anyone who is honest with themselves & has owned or worked on these cars can fairly state that a DMC is not the best example of performance or engineering, even for its time in 1981. BUT they are an icon, they have a great shape/visual design, & can still be good cars. There's a reason so many were just parked & left to rot....because people were tired of fixing them or didn't know how (there's the reliability issue).

I love my car & wouldn't think of selling it. It is a blast to drive & talk to others about. But it's fun in its own way. Even my S10 truck would give competition to the DMC when it comes to driving performance. All the daily drivers I've had would probably be better in performance & handling. But, you can't replace the character of the manual steering, low/sleek design, driving posture, etc. etc. etc that the DMC has. So the DMC really isn't a great performer, but it IS desirable for other reasons & that makes it a car that people want to own. We all know why we love our cars, & I don't think anyone who owns one will say it's because of how fast it is or how well it handles the curves.

This. Jalopnik fawns over the DeLorean like no other publication/blog/news outlet ever has. They clearly LOVE the car. But they are also very realistic about the car's shortcomings. That's just the way Jalopnik rolls. They blast cars for their idiosyncrasies while lauding them for the often intangible things that make us love them. Kind of like the way best friends always tease & pick on one another.

A good example is Doug DeMuro's review of the Lamborghini Jalpa a while back. Subjectively he LOVED it; objectively he ripped it to pieces. It's possible to be enamored with something that is entirely flawed. In fact, it's often those quirks which make objects & people all the more endearing in the first place. Part of the DeLorean's allure is it's idiosyncrasies. Objectively, the DeLorean could not hold a candle to it's contemporaries in any way. They all accelerated, stopped, handled, hauled, and comforted better than the DeLorean. Subjectively though, the DeLorean has a presence that few cars in the history of the automobile can touch. And that's what Jalopnik is getting at here.

Further evidence of this is Jalopnik's favorite cars: Miatas & brown, manual, diesel wagons. Obviously neither of those cars win the numbers games in any real world comparison. It's simply the way some cars can make you feel.