Delorean Model Year and Value

[mikego_34]

Hello all,

Its been a while that I have posted here, but I was looking to see if there is any correlation with model year of delorean and the money it would fetch. Another words, in a hypothetical situation where you have 3 deloreans with the exact mileage/condition but one is an 81, other is an 82, and of course the last is an 83. Which one would fetch the most money of the three years or would they all have the same collectibility/value?

[Soundkillr]

To the regular person it isn't going to matter. To a seasoned delorean guy, a certain year may fetch a little more.....

[Gregadeth]

The model year alone has no effect on value, from what I've seen.

[Dangermouse]

Ignore mileage. Ignore model year. Just look at condition

Most 83s are just 82s with an intentional typo on the VIN plate anyway.

[mr_maxime]

Side note, I've wondered if 82s and even late 81s were more desirable due to early issues being resolved.

[BladeBronson]

Essentially no difference.

To mr_maxime's question - I sold my first DeLorean 12 years ago and when I was looking to buy another 2 years ago, I was pretty picky about the exact combination of elements. I wanted a grooved hood, but with integrated pull straps and the 1 piece interior bolster panels. This would have been the last few hundred '81 cars. I ended up finding a very well taken care of '82 with a Stage II engine (flat hood).

I would probably never swap for a grooved hood (even though I prefer that look) because it's historically inaccurate for my car. I've met a lot of owners that simply don't care, and will swap any part and largely have no preference on the details. I'm kind of envious. :)

[AugustneverEnds]

The vast majority of the general public doesn't know the differences between DeLorean model years, can't see any differences and doesn't care. Some of us have our hearts set on early 81 gas flap hoods, some its successor the grooved no gas flap hood. I remember reading about one owner who simply had to have an early grooved no gas flap hood, 5 speed grey interior car. His reasoning was at that point in production the cars were going to be the very best they could be since the workforce would have been at their most enthusiastic(?) And to boot he wanted the car completely stock and original down to the Goodyear NCTs, needless to say his search took years but he eventually did find what he was looking for.

I agree with the chorus here, year and mileage are of the least importance, condition is king. I don't think the earliest cars suffer in value compared with 82s or later 81s. You have to figure if the car has been driven at all in the past 35 years those early faults would have been dealt with at some point or another. Besides the original DMC spent a ton of time and money virtually reassembling those early cars at the Quality Assurance Centers.

Obviously the gold plated cars, Legend turbocharged cars and a few other anomalies exist but that's for a different thread :smile:

[Dangermouse]

Side note, I've wondered if 82s and even late 81s were more desirable due to early issues being resolved.

There is an argument put forward that Oct 81 cars are the "best built" as that is when the workers were fully trained and experienced, but before things started to go down the pan.

However 35 years of vendor/owner repairing/tinkering have surely rendered that argument moot at this point.

[kings1527]

FWIW regarding mileage: Danny Botkin once told me a story of a 500k mile car they had serviced over the years. Zero issues with the car other than normal maintenance for a car with 500k miles up until the owner blew a hose, didn't realize it, and overheated the engine. Wasn't worth repairing vs putting a new engine in it so they autopsied the old engine and all were blown away as to how well lubricated the engine was over the years. No wear spots in the cylinders that are typical of cars after reaching 100k or so. Moral of the story: perform regular maintenance (oil changes, valve adjustments, etc) and don't overheat it. After that, mileage doesn't appear to be a big factor. Especially, mechanically speaking.

[DMCVegas]

There is an argument put forward that Oct 81 cars are the "best built" as that is when the workers were fully trained and experienced, but before things started to go down the pan.

However 35 years of vendor/owner repairing/tinkering have surely rendered that argument moot at this point.

That right there sums it up perfectly.

Some sub-par cars that came into the hands of owners who addressed their issues became better than factory built. All while some pristine specimens that were the best the factory ever produced and could have lasted an eternity have fallen into disrepair and are worse off.

Late '81 always seems to be the most popular year since it contained the highest number of desirable options. Especially the "unicorn" combination of a Gray 5-speed w/Gas Flap, console clock, integrated door straps, & light wheels, along with various engineering revisions (a moot point anyways). Yes, only two of those items are official "options" a buyer could order, and the rest are nothing more than production changes. But they're the little things that new enthusiasts immediately recognize when first studying the marque. True, there are also some very nonchalant production variances with the very, very early production cars. But those usually are only coveted by the most hardcore of DeLorean collectors. Plus there is a psychological stigma about years as well. People tend to perceive that the 81's were built by a prosperous company by happy employees, while 83's were built after JZD was arrested, and were assembled by somber workers that glued the cars together with their tears.

And I bring up that last point for a good reason. DeLoreans are, when cared for properly, damn good cars. And proper care isn't like some sort of complex maintenance regime like a Ferrari or a Bugatti. We're just talking about oil changes and brake jobs like on a normal car. But like a normal car, we're now dealing with 35+ year-old used cars. Unless you buy something verified as fully restored (which is going to cost you), it's going to need work of some sort. But the thing is that whatever work you put into the car is going to make the car just as good, if not better than when the car was brand-new. Plus, we don't care about numbers matching. So you could put a gas flap bonnet on an '83, or piece together whatever other sort of custom options you want to build the car you want with no problems.

[David T]

Bottom line, all things being equal, the model year doesn't matter at all to 99% of 1st time buyers. More important is condition, mileage, accident history and # of previous owners. The general public will not know about model years or running production changes. To them they all look the same (unless it is painted).

[mr_maxime]

while 83's were built after JZD was arrested, and were assembled by somber workers that glued the cars together with their tears.

that made me laugh

[Sidaries]

I'd like to say, that however you will not see in the price a Delorean's model year, there are big differences in the cars. If it comes to maintenance or restoration, it is a lot easier to restore a '83 car, than an early '81. In the production of the Delorean, there were more than 2000 production changes, and the current warehouse stock of parts are for the late '82-'83 cars. For an early '81, many of the parts will simply not fit. This is why I bought a late '81, which was the most desirable Delorean model for me.