Posts: 990
I ordered the book many years ago and read it cover to cover within a few days. I remember thinking that its real contribution was fleshing out the corporate shell game set up by JZD's unethical attorneys so that everyone could skim a large amount right off the top. The main problem I have with that is that they used fraudulent method when a noncriminal one would have sufficed. It's like going out of your way to break the law.
Posts: 1,068
Combined with Bill Haddad's and Hillel Levin's books, the portrait of JZD painted by many others differs significantly from the portrait he painted of himself.
Speaking as someone who actually worked with the man, I wonder which one Nick thinks is more accurate?
Bill Robertson
#5939
Location: Belfast
Posts: 163
The three books you mention cover different areas of John DeLorean’s life and the company that bore his name.
John’s (auto) biography could have been more than an excuse for the public’s perception of his wrong doings. The man made an enormous contribution to the US and global automobile history during his tenure at General Motors. His story could have described this in more detail. Winston Churchill wrote “History will treat me kindly – because I intend to write it” John failed in his attempt to achieve this aim. The result being that his book was disappointing and rather sad in many places being used to point score on ex senior employees. Many of whom had devoted themselves to the man and the company. In defence, perhaps, the book was written at a time when the revenue from the book was desperately required but nevertheless hurriedly compiled with little or emphasis on the miracle of designing a car and building a factory in just less than two years. I can see at most two pages in the total of three hundred and forty nine discussing the little miracle that was called DeLorean Motor Cars Ltd Dunmurry. Perhaps by then the words Northern Ireland would be a curse on his tongue at this period of his life.
Bill Haddad’s book “Hard Driving“; at least for the period that I had knowledge, is both accurate and entertaining. It should be read by anyone interested in the history of the company. The picture Bill paints of the Hunger strike period and the mini riots is, even after all these years quite terrifying.
The most comprehensive of John DeLorean and his company was written by Hillel Levin “Maverick Mogul”. I learned a lot from this book particularly regarding John’s past and that of Roy Nesseth. I can’t fault the history of the company as known by me and my colleagues. Although written from across the water and the writer had no firsthand knowledge of Northern Ireland the book is accurate. I see no reason therefore to query his descriptions of places and events that occurred before I joined the company. If you haven’t read this book already you should do so.
There remains very little written to date about the little miracle of Dunmurry at least in any detail
Nick Sutton
Location: Houston
Posts: 707
My VIN: 16113
Club(s): (SCDC) (DCUK)
Nick,Originally Posted by nick sutton
Perhaps you should be the one to write the book! I think the Delorean community would love another book written from the perspective from one who was there. Now that time has passed there should be a wealth of information to draw from.
Location: Hasselt, Belgium
Posts: 898
My VIN: 05141
+1!!
Steering with power
Location: Fort Lauderdale
Posts: 4,740
My VIN: 02613
Club(s): (DCF)
Hear, hear!
Farrar
3.0L, automatic, carbureted
Posts: 4,784
My VIN: Banged your VIN'S mom
Been reading mine a little each day. I have to say, there is a obvious disdain towards JZD right from the beginning. I'm going to keep reading it, but I recently read this(paraphrased)
"JZD was not the reason behind the GTO's success, it was Ronny and the Daytonas that made it sell"
Now if the author continues writing stupid crap like that, then I will toss this book aside and wait for Nick's book.
Location: CLE/PHX
Posts: 2,592
My VIN: 5646,5080, 5880, 10234, 3639, 2518, 10586, 1538
"The DMC12 at its best is a low performance counterfeit of better cars and will never be the museum piece of quality its sellers claim today. At its worst individual models are seriously flawed and in some cases may be dangerous."
False. Even back then I think it was a truly wanted car after the collapse. A large percentage of the original owners I deal with who purchased these cars for well below MSRP have enjoyed these cars for 30 years and have something more valuable then other cars available at time of purchase. I have never seen a seriously flawed Delorean from the factory or one that couldn't be worked back into condition. Never one that was dangerous. The only ones i have seen that are flawed and dangerous are vehicles hacked on by PO's over the years.
www.deloreanindustries.com Every Detail Matters
Location: Las Vegas
Posts: 2,503
My VIN: 6585
I disagree, and as an owner of a DMC-12 it may sound like I'm lying when I say this, but my opinion here is unbiased.
I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Another book to read is, The DeLorean Gold Portfolio. It's basically a reprinted scrapbook of sorts as it's entirely comprised of articles from magazines about the DMC-12 itself. Now what's interesting about it are the reviews of the DMC-12 because they're all of early production cars. As an example, I think it was the Road & Track article that compared the DMC-12 to it's competition, and it had an interesting note stating that the first car they brought couldn't be used because it's alternator failed. Speaking as honest as I can and probably upsetting some people in the process, these early cars are crap compared to the later ones. The manufacturing process was different where the doors were fitted LAST to the car resulting in poor alignment and leaks. The cooling system had the Otterstat on TOP of the coolant pipe resulting in Radiator Fans that couldn't turn on. Some parts were underrated for their job, etc.
Fast forward a few months and DMCL begins cranking out cars that are not only assembled differently with improved methods, but are also built with better parts and as a results are in fact Better Cars! Before it was in storage I wouldn't hesitate to hop in my car and drive any distance or through any weather. The types of modifications that happened to later cars never really got a chance to be applied to those earlier cars that the media reported on. If those methods had been applied from the start, the media and others would have a completely different impression of the car. Because it would in fact have been a different car.
As for the "counterfeit" comment, that's like calling every car since the very first one ever built in history a "counterfeit" automobile of that one. Just because the function is the same doesn't mean it's an imitation. Museum piece? Hardly. DeLoreans have been pounding the pavement since they first jumped off their Tellus Carriers, and will be for a long time to come. More and more come out of storage for restoration and dedication to the car continues to gain devotees based upon it's own merits. Let the opposition become cherished garage queens. Every year that passes means their parts run out, while ours continue to be reproduced and improved. Their enthusiasts die off while ours multiply. And it doesn't matter if the Oil Wells run dry. We'll just switch to EV drivetrains. If the batteries run out and there's no alternative, we'll keep pushing and pulling them. And years from now when our kids and grandkids take over custodianship of our DeLoreans they'll drive by condemned museum warehouses full of those old cars that the long dead authors claimed our cars "counterfeited". And as time passes and rust seizes those engines beyond repair and the become nothing more than mummified automotive corpses, the DMC-12 will still be pounding asphalt and cement, spinning their Odometers. And peoples' memories of those ancient cars will fade worse than their paint as people who see that unblemished Stainless Steel and will want one of these cars for themselves.
Posts: 31
LMAO
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