Hagerty magazine, (author Jay Leno): DeLorean, Legacy in a Briefcase

[Michael]

I authorize Michael to write all future posts for me. In first person.

It's was just last week that I truly found happiness when I discovered the little finger of a latex glove could be used as a condom. Not only was it cheaper but I could buy 100 for 2 bucks...leaving plenty of money for Zimas afterward.

[SamHill]

It's was just last week that I truly found happiness when I discovered the little finger of a latex glove could be used as a condom. Not only was it cheaper but I could buy 100 for 2 bucks...leaving plenty of money for Zimas afterward.

*Briefly scanning it*

Approved. Please represent as 100% truth and publish.

[Citizen]

The new Hagerty magazine came out for Fall 2017, with a 1-page article on DeLorean, written by Jay Leno.

Attachment 52521

I am a member of the Antique Automobile Club of America (AACA) so I get their monthly magazine. In the July/August edition, I stumbled across a Grundy Insurance ad (I say "stumbled because I don't normally read the ads, especially the fine print). In it, JZD is mentioned in a rather good light, although it is in reference to his involvement with muscle cars and not the DMC-12. I took a picture of the ad so you can click on it, but if you still can’t read it, the quote within is below the photo:

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“The Birth of the Muscle Car. – Throughout the early 1950s, Pontiac was a sleepy division of General Motors. That all changed in 1956 when dyed-in-the-wool car guys Bunkie Knudsen and Pete Estes entered its top management. They added Chief Engineer John DeLorean and marketing genius Jim Wangers to the new team and redirected Pontiac’s focus towards performance. Despite the corporate ban, GM had placed on partipating in racing activities, these men took Pontiac racing away and dominated NASCAR for years. These determined men then went on to create an entirely new class of high performance car that made automotive history.”

The ad then mentions you should go to www.grundy.com/grundy-news/blog (then go to page 2) for the full story by author William Hoffer called Three-Deuces-And-A-Four-Speed (or go directly there with this link: http://www.grundy.com/three-deuces-and-a-four-speed/ ). It briefly mentions how the GTO was named and various other notable facts, and later how JZD founded DMC. Good read, I thought.

Now contrast this with Hagerty’s article by Jay Leno about DeLorean. While this recognition by Grundy is mostly directed at DeLorean’s involvement with the GTO, I wish Jay Leno would at least give JZD credit for his muscle car history, and his (while controversial) innovative DMC-12! (ok, rant over).

Anyway, I was pleased to read about a small bit of history that put JZD in a good light. My hat is off to Grundy Insurance.

Thomas

...

[Timebender]

Update: I just got an apologetic response from Larry, and he's asking if my letter can be used in the next issue. I used some information from this thread, and I stated such in my letter.

I will send a PM to the owners' info used. If they all agree, then I can approve the whole letter for publication consideration.

Well that's pretty awesome I'd say.

[Michael]

Well that's pretty awesome I'd say.

Agreed, most editors would have probably smarted off to a lone person who dares disagree with "Leno the Great".

[David T]

Jay Leno bought his Cord from my father's good friend's widow so I know a little bit about him. While he is certainly not your typical "gear head" or car guy, I would say he qualifies. He delights in old cars. In fact, just about anything mechanical. While he doesn't do his own work, he gets involved more than just writing checks. The problem as I see it is because he is such a celebrity, anything he says the public accepts as gospel. In act, even if HE doesn't say it but allows his name to be used, it is accepted as his. So when he says something that is incorrect it gets repeated. As celebrities go, he is one of the most level-headed, down-to-earth guys there is. After buying the Cord he gave the family an open invitation whenever they were in California to look him up. When the two son's of the Cord's PO were there he invited them to his garage and cooked steaks for everyone. When NBC called him back he didn't have to go but he played the "good soldier" and did NBC a BIG favor. While I am sure he got well paid for it, he didn't have to do it. No one is perfect and Jay is in it for the money and the exposure but I see no reason to attack him. All it takes is to ask him to correct the misinformation and I am sure he will do it. BTW, I do agree he has no love for the Delorean or JZD. I think it is crazy because Johnny Carson did and Jay was a BIG fan of Johnny and owes him a BIG ONE for getting the Tonite Show. We all know the Johnny Carson story with JZD and the Delorean. You would think Jay would have one as a tribute to JZD and Johnny and a GTO too. All this shows you just how badly the Government can tarnish a person's reputation. To this day many still believe JZD is in jail for selling Cocaine.

[DMCVegas]

Personally, my dealings with celebrities have been quite a bit different. Not all, but many are very conscious about their public-image, because that is in fact their brand they have to market in order to keep themselves salable. Many, not all, but many who like to have that wholesome image will go out of their way to protect it, sometimes to the detriment of other people. More than once I have ran into a celebrity who has complained about resort staff and almost cost people their jobs because they were hellbent on maintaining their "nice guy" image, and didn't want to risk a negative interaction with an employee. And we're talking about petty stuff like not wanting to ask for more towels when the housekeeper is there asking if they need more linens, and instead complaining that they ran out of towels because not enough were delivered in the first place.

So a celebrity being nice to my face doesn't mean that they're a nice person. The community has even seen that with Quentin Wilson. Personally from what I have seen with Leno over the years, and what books have been written about his business dealings, he seems to fit that MO rather well. But still, my being jaded here isn't the point.

Leno is perfectly entitled to his opinions, whatever they may be. He has the right to have a negative opinion of the car. To say that he should automatically be a De Lorean, or DMC-12 fan because of the connection to Johnny Carson is as wrong as it would be to say he should instead hate both because of that same connection.

Trying to be as impartial as possible in this matter, my opinion on Leno is this: Jay is trying to protect his brand (himself) at any cost, so he always wants this nice guy image so that he can try and fit-in with as many people as possible. What his own personal feelings are with the DeLorean, who the hell knows (although we definitely see that by way of using a ghostwriter he's trying to leave himself a way out incase he angers people). Never the less, Jay Leno, as much as he is a gearhead, is also an older Baby Boomer. And that old generation has a very negative outlook on the DeLorean marque. His negativity towards both the car and the man come across as just trying to remain popular among the public. Albeit it strictly the older demographic while ignoring the younger ones.

Yes, I already know that I've probably offended a few other DeLorean owners just with that last paragraph, but it's the truth. While the DMC-12 itself may be a product of the "Decade of Decadence", and the company's subsequent failure made it the target of 80's hatred, those old ways are dying. Pop culture carried the torch for our cars until Generation X & the Millennials were able to step in and carry the marque. We are not the generation of gearheads who pour through junkyards and haggle at swap meets. We mail order our parts off eBay and from online vendors. We're less likely to tune a carburetor, and more willing to convert an engine to fuel injection we can tune with a laptop. We don't hang out on Saturday nights at the local drive-in to talk shop. We're here on message boards like this exchanging ideas and help 24/7. And that right there is the big thing. While in the past we took as gospel what some random guy told us as a meet because it was repeated so often, that same guy now immediately gets called out on his bullshit when we bust out our smartphones and prove him wrong before he even finishes his story.

The DeLorean is a car built in the early 1980's, but was really born on the Internet 15 years later. While in those years prior of the 80's and early to mid 90's there were people trying to play-up the DeLorean and create a faux prestige that didn't exist. That didn't help the jokes, no. But that was the problem: owners who tolerated the jokes and misinformation because it was all about trying to fit-in back then. The times though have changed. The DeLorean went from being the prototypical vehicle for 1980's yuppies (which when DMC failed, BMW stepped in to fill that role), to becoming the symbol for the modern eccentric who doesn't give a damn what you might think about them or their car. We don't want to fit in, we want to be ourselves. We didn't buy the car to impress you, we wanted to make ourselves happy.

The flip-side to this however is that this new breed of classic car owner is not tolerant of intolerance. Particularly DeLorean owners who have endured years of taunts such as what Jay Leno is pulling here. Now maybe in the past since the overall car community/world had such a negative opinion of the DeLorean for whatever reason (the lies and inaccuracies simply became taken as gospel with their validation simply being their repeated telling), publicly stating your dislike for it was the hip thing to do. That however is changed. In a world of instant fact checking now, such inaccuracies are quickly squashed, and these purposeful negative attitudes are no longer suffered. Leno may get a sign of approval from the older generation when he shits on our marque, but the younger owners now will simply not tolerate this. It's cheap, lousy humor that is now as antiquated as a minstrel show, and about as well received.

Now I'm not simply defending JZD at any cost. There are plenty of ways in which he screwed up during the course of the company, as did others. The man was far from perfect, and it is one thing to discuss those shortcomings in a factual manner. Even having an personal opinion is perfectly fine. If Leno was to say that he did not like the DMC-12 because it did not meet certain requirements he has for a vehicle, that's alright. Even if he were to say he did not like JZD, that too is OK. An opinion may be fallible since it can be based on innacuracies, but there is nothing wrong with having that opinion. HOWEVER, to go ahead and present that opinion as a fact by trying to allude, or even outright claim that he was dealing drugs by especially trying to invalidate/defame the man's acquittal isn't just wrong; it's a sorry attempt at perpetuating Leno's anti-DeLorean agenda. So while it may play well with the older readers, it doesn't with the younger ones. Not to mention this also opens up a huge realm of concerns about accuracy. If Leno can't get things right about De Lorean, what else is he wrong about? That poses a serious question to his own reputation, not to mention that of any media outlets that dare publish any information passed on from him. Which I imagine is part of Hagerty trying to smooth things out by welcoming a rebuttal...

[DMC-81]

I have an update to share. I heard from Hagerty's Executive Editor that they are running my letter (along with at least one more in their upcoming issue). I saw the proof of the page that was dedicated to the subject and it looks good. I have been pleased with their apology and responsiveness to my/our concerns with Jay Leno's letter.

[Lwanmtr]

Cool. Hope you'll post the article, for those of us who dont get their magazine.

[DMC-81]

Cool. Hope you'll post the article, for those of us who dont get their magazine.

Sure, I will. The Editor said that the issue is about 6 weeks away from hitting our mailboxes.