Delorean Motor Company (DMC) Texas threatening to sue Delorean owners now

[louielouie2000]

I keep reading where folks are saying DMC Texas doesn't care about owners. In my 21 years (off and on) as a DeLorean owner, I've never experienced that. When I was purchasing my latest DeLorean last month I called DMC-Texas because I knew they performed extensive service on the car last year. Not only did Sarah explain the work they performed on the car, she walked me through the full inspection report line by line. All total I was on the phone with her for nearly an hour... not because I was peppering her with questions, but because she wanted to make sure she captured absolutely everything and I had a full understanding of the car. During the few conversations I had with her and James, never once did they try to upsell me on one of their cars or pressure me into using them for service. I can honestly say I don't think I've ever had a better customer service experience in my life. I've only ever had 100% positive experiences when ordering parts from them over the years, too.

That being said- do I agree with everything DMC-Texas has done? No... I have a distaste with much of their public relations pushes over the years (aka "new DeLoreans"), among other things. And while I don't care for naming themselves DMC, claiming copyrights, and going after those who infringe upon them... I also get it. They bought all the parts & the DeLorean name in the mid 90s when the cars were a joke in the collector world and the cars were worth nothing. Kinda like how some artists/bands put out eponymous/self-titled albums, DMC-Texas was basically letting the world know that by buying all the parts from KAPAC, they were starting a new era for the marque. In the ensuing 25 years they have had countless parts reproduced or reengineered/improved. They rolled out numerous performance upgrades to the cars years before anyone else. I can't imagine they'd be able to do all of that just by selling parts & service alone (even if they did get the deal of the century while buying the parts). Given how small the DeLorean community is, it's pretty amazing all DMC-Texas has been able to pull off. They've stayed in business for 25 years through shrewd (if controversial) means; the original company didn't even produce cars for 25 months.

So while yes, some of their shorter term actions have appeared unfortunate at times, DMC-Texas has been a pretty fierce guardian of the marque for a very long time. All of their publicity, trinkets, marketing, performance parts, etc have helped keep a car that has been dead for four decades very much alive in the consciousness of the average person. What would have happened if the parts were scattered to the wind 25 years ago; sold off piecemeal to various companies with no stake in the game? I think DMC-Texas efforts are largely responsible for making the car such a hot collectible today.

[EngineerGuY]

I keep reading where folks are saying DMC Texas doesn't care about owners. In my 21 years (off and on) as a DeLorean owner, I've never experienced that. When I was purchasing my latest DeLorean last month I called DMC-Texas because I knew they performed extensive service on the car last year. Not only did Sarah explain the work they performed on the car, she walked me through the full inspection report line by line. All total I was on the phone with her for nearly an hour... not because I was peppering her with questions, but because she wanted to make sure she captured absolutely everything and I had a full understanding of the car. During the few conversations I had with her and James, never once did they try to upsell me on one of their cars or pressure me into using them for service. I can honestly say I don't think I've ever had a better customer service experience in my life. I've only ever had 100% positive experiences when ordering parts from them over the years, too.

That being said- do I agree with everything DMC-Texas has done? No... I have a distaste with much of their public relations pushes over the years (aka "new DeLoreans"), among other things. And while I don't care for naming themselves DMC, claiming copyrights, and going after those who infringe upon them... I also get it. They bought all the parts & the DeLorean name in the mid 90s when the cars were a joke in the collector world and the cars were worth nothing. Kinda like how some artists/bands put out eponymous/self-titled albums, DMC-Texas was basically letting the world know that by buying all the parts from KAPAC, they were starting a new era for the marque. In the ensuing 25 years they have had countless parts reproduced or reengineered/improved. They rolled out numerous performance upgrades to the cars years before anyone else. I can't imagine they'd be able to do all of that just by selling parts & service alone (even if they did get the deal of the century while buying the parts). Given how small the DeLorean community is, it's pretty amazing all DMC-Texas has been able to pull off. They've stayed in business for 25 years through shrewd (if controversial) means; the original company didn't even produce cars for 25 months.

So while yes, some of their shorter term actions have appeared unfortunate at times, DMC-Texas has been a pretty fierce guardian of the marque for a very long time. All of their publicity, trinkets, marketing, performance parts, etc have helped keep a car that has been dead for four decades very much alive in the consciousness of the average person. What would have happened if the parts were scattered to the wind 25 years ago; sold off piecemeal to various companies with no stake in the game? I think DMC-Texas efforts are largely responsible for making the car such a hot collectible today.

Can't disagree with you there. I think by in large, DMC Texas has been fantastic, I don't have any BIG issues, aside from this, as it would set a precedent moving forward in a negative manner towards ALL websites that have "delorean" in the name.

[DaraSue]

This kind of thing isn't actually new. It was at least two years ago that the "delorean" tag (and pretty much every tag that could refer to a DeLorean) got blacklisted from the art merchandising site Society6, and at least a year or two before that, I was told by James that even club logos that used any recognizable variant of the DMC logo would likely be C&Ded. He cited the need to defend their trademark especially with their plans for the promised new DeLoreans (I know, I know...)

Personally I've generally had good experiences with DMC franchises and found Stephen and James to be personable and helpful the times I've spoken to them, but the heavy-handed tactics with people who are trying to sell their own original art and photography or run not-for-profit owner/enthusiast clubs aren't something that really promotes goodwill or community spirit. It would be nice if they could work out some kind of low-cost licensing for those who want to sell original artwork or rent their cars for a profit, because that's basically free advertising for DeLoreans and the people who run and patronize these businesses are owners and enthusiasts who are current or potential future customers.

At the time I talked to him, James did mention that they were working on some kind of waiver for clubs but I don't know what ever came of that.

[dtavres]

At the time I talked to him, James did mention that they were working on some kind of waiver for clubs but I don't know what ever came of that.

I hope no owners or clubs are dumb enough to give credence to Fake DMC offering "waivers" when it comes to our cars.

[SonnyV]

Agreed.. But back when SonnyV happened (Recall, I am the guy who discovered and disclosed it) the community was a lot "smaller". We only had the DML. Now we have dozens of forums and information outlets. It may help extend the memories, but again I agree it will fade eventually.

I remember the SonnyV incident well.

I'm totally NOT James. That's 100% legitimate.

[DrWin]

Went to buy something from DMCH this morning and viola... Page is under construction - tag line is "Delorean Motors Reimagined". Is the remanufactured cars now a reality? Inquiring minds wants to know.
Skærmbillede 2022-02-10 kl. 08.01.41.jpg

[MrChocky]

Went to buy something from DMCH this morning and viola... Page is under construction - tag line is "Delorean Motors Reimagined". Is the remanufactured cars now a reality? Inquiring minds wants to know.
Skærmbillede 2022-02-10 kl. 08.01.41.jpg

Oops. Likely a genuine mistake. Hopefully they are fixing the numerous errors on the site - I send a list of a bunch of them some weeks ago that they don't seem in a rush to fix (broken links, missing
images, grammar). I can say they've redone the cars for sale page:

https://store.delorean.com/cars-for-sale/for-sale.html

[BLWNAWY]

...they are bullying DeLorean owners and small businesses ...

Since I no longer have a horse in this race I thought I might enlighten some newer owners on my experience with DMCH and how they helped put me out of business.

In 1986 on a whim I bought a damaged DeLorean and set out looking for repair parts. I bought a few from DeLorean One but was very put off by their attitude. Using the List of Dealers found in the glove box I tried South Tacoma Chevrolet, who had everything I needed but didn't want to have to go through boxes that were in storage. "Why don't you just buy it all?" asked the parts man, and for $500 I got their entire inventory - $12,000 worth including front fenders, fascias, and hundreds more pieces. About a week later I was able to re-sell just one of them, a 5-speed transmission, for $900, and a business was born. I started Specialty Automotive while still working full time as an engineer, and drove to 48 states with that dealer list, eventually picking up some 29 dealer inventories of parts (and 2 more cars) over the next 18 years. I was able to sell below retail due to my bulk buying, and believe I served my many customers well. As all parts vendors did, I established a good working relationship with the KAPAC warehouse, buying at wholesale the pieces not found in my rapidly growing inventory.

In 1996 I went through a nasty divorce and for a few months lost access to my inventory, which obviously had a negative effect on my business. And in early 1998, I believe, word came around that KAPAC was looking to sell. I considered jumping in, but not having a couple spare million at hand, had to watch while DMCH took over and moved everything south. For a while I was able to continue buying at wholesale from them, but that was soon to end. Stephen informed me that even though I was strictly mail order, I would have to sign on with them as a satellite and open a drive-in repair shop in order to continue getting parts wholesale. Since I was by then living in the country near a town of 1500 people, owning the only DeLoreans for many miles around, and still working at a full time job, this was impossible. Even when I lived in Olympia there were only 5 or 6 in town and I owned 3-4 of them! The volume I sold meant a lot of potential wholesale sales for DMCH, but apparently that was not good enough for them. I struggled on for a few more years but you can't buy at retail and sell at retail and keep in business.

Finally in late 2003 I put my business up for sale, and long time friend Toby Peterson stepped up and the rest (DPNW) is history. Living in the eastern Seattle suburbs, Toby was able to open a nice shop and partner with DMCH. I attended his first open house, as did Stephen, and was not too surprised to observe who seemed to be running things. Toby was able to make that "marriage" work for quite a while, but eventually he, too, was forced out of the DMCH family and now operates very successfully on his own. I'll let him fill the blanks there, but doubt he will as he still has to deal with them.

So while my divorce (I got my house, business, and cars) and subsequent move certainly affected my business, the heavy-handed edict of DMCH was the nail in the coffin. I retained ownership of BLWNAWY for another year but wanted to move on to other interests so let it go. Eleven years later I ended up buying it back, restored it again, and let it go again. I think this time I'm done, but who knows? At current prices affording another D is unlikely. Of the 7 DeLoreans I owned in 18 years, and one 11 years later, all but one cost me $10,000 or less. Try doing that today.

[BladeBronson]

I started Specialty Automotive...

It's been waaay to long ago for me to remember the sequence of events, but there was your Specialty Automotive and also John Hervey's SpecialTAuto, both serving the DeLorean community with confusingly similar names (which is the original topic of this thread). I'm curious if you have any insights from that experience that might benefit either the community, DMCH, or deloreanrental.com in this situation?

[dtavres]

...but not having a couple spare million at hand

Here's the article in Forbes where Fake DMC says they paid "...less than $1 million. The retail value of those parts, Wynne says, is $35 million."

https://www.forbes.com/forbes/2005/0919/090.html