Delorean on Cover

[David T]

Just got the latest Griot's Garage catalog. Someone's beautiful '82 Delorean is on the cover. Could be in the Lemay museum. The Tacoma, Washington area.

[BLWNAWY]

Just got the latest Griot's Garage catalog. Someone's beautiful '82 Delorean is on the cover. Could be in the Lemay museum. The Tacoma, Washington area.

Very likely. The museum has a close working relationship with Griots and is only a couple miles away. They have two DeLoreans, don't recall the years. I worked there for 3 years and worked on both cars, but management had little interest in keeping them up. It's very sad to have a new facility full of close to 300 classic cars being run by a bunch of non-collectors. Out of the 20 or so employees only two of us even owned any old cars, and I was the only one who had actually built or restored my own. It was so frustrating I walked away from what should have been a dream job. Retirement is good - I highly recommend it.

[Citizen]

They have two DeLoreans, don't recall the years.

Could those have been 15314 and 16300? Both are 83's.

...

[BLWNAWY]

Could those have been 15314 and 16300? Both are 83's.

...

Yes on 16300; the other one is 5659. The '83 was donated along with several hundred other cars from the Harold LeMay collection. The other was donated by an elderly Tacoma doctor who used to drive his Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing to work in Seattle daily. I remembered this because he was a former Specialty Automotive customer. When I went to pick up the D I asked him about it, but unfortunately it was already gone.

[Dangermouse]

I'll have to respectfully disagree with Darryl on this one

5659 was/is a Black/Manual
15314 is a Grey manual
16300 is a Grey manual

From a recent photo of both cars on display together, you can see that they are both Grey interior cars




Of course, it is entirely possible that they have 3 DeLoreans.....................

[David T]

I don't know about this museum, but most will take just about any car in for display. Many owners do it so they don't have to store the car or carry insurance on it. Some have arrangements with other museums and trade cars like traveling exhibits. All museums like some turn-over to keep the collection fresh so repeat visitors see different things. If a museum winds up with too many of a certain display they trade among each other to even things out. They rarely refuse anything so it is possible they could at any one time have multiples.

[louielouie2000]

I'll have to respectfully disagree with Darryl on this one

5659 was/is a Black/Manual
15314 is a Grey manual
16300 is a Grey manual

I wouldn't use the VIN chronology as gospel- it has plenty of errors. Owners seem to mix up their interior colors all the time, especially in for sale advertisements. Also, I can't say I've ever seen a 5000 VIN series car with a black interior. Black interior 81s seemed to go extinct after VIN 4200 or so. Black interior cars didn't seem to surface again until the mid 1982 model run when DMCL switched carpets. Of course for every hard and fast DeLorean production rule, there are dozens of exceptions, though.

[Dangermouse]

Good point.

In the video, the guy talks about a 1983 car and a 1981 car, so maybe I am wrong to say Darryl is wrong .

And the grooved hood would point to a 1981, but of course it could be a retrofit.

[BLWNAWY]

I'll have to respectfully disagree with Darryl on this one

5659 was/is a Black/Manual
15314 is a Grey manual
16300 is a Grey manual

From a recent photo of both cars on display together, you can see that they are both Grey interior cars




Of course, it is entirely possible that they have 3 DeLoreans.....................

Those are the VINs I have written down. I drove and worked on both but honestly do not remember their interior colors. I will check with my contacts there and verify the numbers. Is it possible your info on 5659 is incorrect? Yes it is possible they have 3 - I left in 2013 and have not been back - but unlikely as they didn't really want the first two, and talked about selling at least one. But they never turned down a donation because it could always be sold. Also, the second grey car could have been on loan to them. I will find out.

[Rich]

....Also, I can't say I've ever seen a 5000 VIN series car with a black interior. Black interior 81s seemed to go extinct after VIN 4200 or so. Black interior cars didn't seem to surface again until the mid 1982 model run when DMCL switched carpets. Of course for every hard and fast DeLorean production rule, there are dozens of exceptions, though.

FWIW this list shows VIN 5659 was delivered black:
http://deloreaninfo.com/wp-content/u...ist-061210.pdf

And you are correct, very few of the 5000-series (like 3 or 4 of them including this one) list out as black instead of grey, notwithstanding that about half the cars on that list in that series have no interior color callout.

So everybody's right.