I remember the DeLorean community from the late 1990s quite differently. DMC Houston purchased the Kapac inventory in 1996 and began discovering the amount of remaining parts was far more extensive than anyone had supposed. When they unveiled their Stage Engines, new build cars, & new headquarters in 2001 it seemed like a new era of possibility. Let’s not forget in the late 90s there were very few NLA parts, too. You could buy new old stock binnacles, seats, Island Twin Turbo kits, etc. There were also quite a few parts/service providers that have also since disappeared such as DeLorean One, DeLorean Motor Center, DMC Joe, Specialty Automotive, Bauerle Automotive (or do they still work on DeLoreans?), Byrne Heninger, even the DeLorean Owners Association had a retail operation that sold cosmetic, gift, vintage, & apparel items. Yes, some of those businesses became the basis for DMC Texas franchises... but I’m not entirely sure that’s a good thing? When you join the mothership you have to assimilate & your specialization goes out the window.
I won’t deny that Hervey was initially a breath of fresh air with his affordable cross referenced & modified parts, though. And I definitely agree that John shifted the paradigm of how to approach repairing & upgrading DeLoreans. He threw out all of the old dogma that existed in the community (I can’t overstate how overpowering it was back then). Sometimes he proved his doubters wrong; sometimes he failed miserably. When John first hit the scene I bought several electric components from him... each failed within a year or so. But he always tried to make it right and was always quite friendly, helpful with technical assistance, & very quick with shipment. I hated hearing he lost those attributes later on.
One instance I’ll never forget was when John stopped and helped me when my DeLorean stranded me on the side of the road at DCS ‘04. He almost immediately figured out it was the RPM relay; and he fashioned a makeshift jumper to get the car moving. He didn’t even try to get me to buy one of his relays he had back at his booth at the show. The quality of his components pushed me away from John pretty quickly, but I too am glad he shook things up in the community. In his own way, I definitely think he fostered a lot of innovation and probably inspired some of the newer independent & forward thinking DeLorean vendors too.