Delorean Owner's Handbook / Manual

[Ron]

Edit by Sean:
A more accurate version of the manual can be seen here:
http://dmctalk.org/showthread.php?27...andbook-Manual

[Chris Burns]

Thanks for posting!

[DMCH James]

Attachment 7227

My first project creating a PDF back in 1995 - good times, good times...

James

[Ron]

My first project creating a PDF back in 1995 - good times, good times...

James

Good Job too!!!
THX!

[ccurzio]

I wouldn't rely on this for anything other than casual glances. The text is completely cut off at the end of page 22. No idea how many other pages have the same problem.

[DMCH James]

I wouldn't rely on this for anything other than casual glances. The text is completely cut off at the end of page 22. No idea how many other pages have the same problem.

A little background - in 1995 or so when I created this (the PDF's file creation date is 8/28/1995), I used an 82/owners handbook because at the time I had an 82, I didn't even know there was a different one for 1981 cars. In hindsight, this worked out better as the line art illustrations in the 82/83 book were easier to reproduce than the halftone photographs would have been at the time (with grayscale scanners and Photoshop still in their infancy).

I worked in the electronic prepress department of a printing company in Phoenix, and in my free time re-created the handbook using Quark Xpress and then made a PDF of the Quark document. Later, I created some negative film and then positive paper images of the files - I still have these and they are dated October 27, 1997. We used these films as the "masters" for the owners handbooks we have printed here at DMC - all of which have complete text on page 22.

I posted the PDF on the dmcnews.com site back then (when I ran the DML) as a password protected file, offering the password to unlock/print the file for $15 as a way to offset the then much larger costs of running the DML (remember when domain registration was $75 a year?). After coming to work for DMC (Texas), I passed control of all this to Dave Swingle and at some point in 1999 (?) a revised version without the password protection was uploaded to the DMCNews site. Further inspection of the file posted earlier in this thread shows a modification date of 4/15/2008.

After reading "Accipter's" message, I pulled out these files and confirm that the text was all there when I created/uploaded the original file "back in the day".

James

[stevedmc]

James might be shocked to hear me say this, but for just a few dollars you can get a nice reproduction copy of the handbook from DMCH. I forget the exact cost but I got my reproduction handbook and sleeve for about $20 from DMCMW.

Although it didn't cost much and isn't a fancy item, I do enjoy the thing. The sleeve is nice for holding the handbook and my insurance/registration cards. And the handbook really does look great.

Edit: It looks like I was slightly wrong. Its $15 for just the manual or $25 for the manual with the pouch. Its still a great deal in my opinion.
http://store.delorean.com/p-9198-rep...ion-valet.aspx

[Michael]

I have seen pics of an original manual and if given the chance to pick one up for a reasonable price I would love to have one. The reproductions that DMC makes are very nice and will fool the casual observer, but the originals are much thicker with full color pictures, not to mention spiral bound.

I'm sure DMC looked at the cost of making a 100% reproduction and decided to go with a stripped down version to make them more affordable. Every original manual I see is 100.00 and up. I think my max would be in the 65-75 range.

[stevedmc]

The reproductions that DMC makes are very nice and will fool the casual observer, but the originals are much thicker with full color pictures, not to mention spiral bound.

Yeah but for $15 I think DMCH did an excellent job.

[DMCH James]

I have seen pics of an original manual and if given the chance to pick one up for a reasonable price I would love to have one. The reproductions that DMC makes are very nice and will fool the casual observer, but the originals are much thicker with full color pictures, not to mention spiral bound.

I'm sure DMC looked at the cost of making a 100% reproduction and decided to go with a stripped down version to make them more affordable. Every original manual I see is 100.00 and up. I think my max would be in the 65-75 range.

The 1981 manuals have *ONE* color photo, the cutaway of the DeLorean car. The rest are all black and white photos. They are also spiral/coil bound along the top edge, with diecut tabs to break up the various sections. Coming from the printing industry, I can tell you that even back in 1981, this version was A LOT more expensive than the 1982 version that replaced it that is simply lineart drawings, a single extra color here and there and a "saddle stitch" (stapled center binding).

James