DeLorean and Donald Trump Connection

[DMCVegas]

That is correct, yes.

[DMCVegas]

Most towns like golf courses. It keeps large areas from getting developed and swamping the school system with kids.

Ah yes, the fear of children which was/is the byproduct of the book, The Population Bomb. I can tell you for a fact that it goes allot further than just reducing the labor on school districts. Golf courses were also apart of community planning that helped block out schools entirely to keep children out as a somewhat crude means of population control. Something that Douglas Coupland wrote about and documented. But that is a whole other topic for another time.

Golf overall has been in severe decline though. The courses are too water dependent, and the sport itself is just way too expensive. It's why so many courses & clubs continue to shut down each year, and the trend now is to rip out the greens for more homes, as well as parks for families such as down in Arizona. I mean, Top Golf is fun, but it's also far cheaper too. But still, it's a sport in decline. So at this rate a new course is pretty much just cannibalizing the membership of another.

I can't speak as to why the judge would not accept JZD's plan but it would have saved his house and paid off the creditors. In the end everyone got screwed when the golf resort's deal went bad. Cell towers do not generate all that much income. Depends on the # of carriers and how much they have to invest to get it built and all of the permits and such. A typical tower has about a 1/2 dozen or so carriers so you might see $10,000 a month. That might sound like a lot but put that # next to the tax bill for the place and it will look small by comparison. What can make a LOT of money is one of those new electronic billboard signs. With all that frontage on Rt 78 that is what I would do! Right now all you can see is a big flagpole and a big American flag. An equestrian center makes sense too, that area of NJ has a lot of horse farms. With all of that acreage you could have a big riding academy. I guess Trump isn't into horses, only golf.

It has been said that JZD had a great relationship with his neighbors and the town of Bedminster, even allowing fox hunts across his estate. A cell tower was certainly needed, and on the backside of the property against the interstate it was as least invasive as possible. So while billboards would have been profitable for JZD, I doubt that his neighbors would have appreciated it. And angering them was probably the last thing he wanted to do.

Like I say, there was a pattern with JZD and his elusiveness post-DMC with his finances. Many things I totally understand. Split up LMC to be it's own individual corporation, and then sell the land under the facility to another corporation so that LMC had to pay fees for leasing the buildings and property to take the tax deductions as an operating expense. Then have a management company that controls both, but it just gets so convoluted. Here you can start to see how they were pulling teeth dealing with the man during the lawsuit: https://www.scribd.com/document/3176...-10th-Cir-2007

Seeing what LMC Holdings had been going through for almost 7 years prior, it is a possibility that the judge decided to avert those problems for the creditors. There also is no mention of the sale prices of De Lorean's 9th & 10th floor apartment at 834 Fifth Ave., NYC. But it too had some sort of artwork inside you can see here. So I can potentially see where the judge may have been coming from. Most importantly though is that the idea you speak of would have required money. Something that given the state of the property you describe, was missing. Who knows how long it would have taken to secure investors, if at all.

I myself though don't necessarily look down upon what JZD did. He pretty much went from industrialist to economic survivalist for the most part.

[David T]

JZD and his lawyers certainly knew how to create shell companies. There was the American DMC, the UK DMC, the builder of the cars DMC, the holder of the cars in the US DMC and so on. Probably over a dozen if not more holding companies, domestic and foreign. Usually used to limit liability but also useful for taxation purposes. There were the corporate offices in NYC, the QAC's the plant, the equipment, Logan, and who knows what else. It was an empire. In the end he was just trying to hold together what he could. By then he lost DMC and all of it's assets, his wife, and he owed a massive amount to his lawyers (his largest creditor that he tried to wipe out with the bankruptcy). When he lost the estate he lost his single largest asset. Although the government didn't win in court they did succeed in taking everything away from him. Little wonder he never considered the car a big achievement. It wasn't till much later in life when he did and came to DCS in Ohio.
As for golf, yes it is in decline but in recent years it has had an upsurge due in part to personalities like Tiger Woods and more TV coverage. As I said, the Japanese LOVE it and come to the US from all over the world to play here. JZD was a popular local personality and was seen all over the area even after he lost the estate, he continued to live in the area. When I go to car shows people come up to me to tell me stories about how they took car of JZD's dogs, or did his dry cleaning, or worked on the estate, etc. For all of the things he went through he still remained hopeful and pleasant to everyone. Not everyone in his position would have been able to, falling from so high.

[DMCVegas]

Tiger Woods certainly did help give a boost to the game of golf overall, but it has subdivided itself now into two categories: Full sized courses, or driving ranges. The full sized courses are what is dying in the industry. The prices are way too high, and that's the stuffy culture that I speak of. The driving ranges on the other hand are really starting to flourish. In particular Top Golf. Much more fun and welcoming atmosphere for everyone involved. But i digress.

JZD himself, yes, is an amazing example of endurance and optimism. If he was angry and bitter at the world, he certainly didn't show it save for one particular instance from the post-arrest Playboy interview. I have a copy of Sex, Lies, and Super Speedways, a partial audio book of Smokey Yunick's autobiography as narrated by John Z. De Lorean himself. Over the course of 6 CDs, JZD's voice noticeably changes. He starts out in his familiar well-spoken, slow to think before he speaks mannerism. But eventually that polished layer gives way to his natural speaking style. Aside from finally being relieved to hear JZD actually use profanity, the most shocking thing was to hear that Michigan accent when he pronounced his own name as: "D'lurean". Whether that was his "faith" that got him through, or that he was just the perpetual salesman that protected his brand until the end, who knows. I lean towards the latter, but he certainly was a helluva man to endure.

Getting back onto track, there is an AP story today about Bedminster, and how Trump loves using De Lorean's old mansion to welcome guests. Apparently he feels that it gives him some faux-European flair akin to 10 Downing Street.

I've no idea what JZD's opinion of Trump would be, although of course he would rather have retained ownership of Bedminster. But certainly it's current use I'm sure would have been an absolutely braggadocios pedigree to show off.