Interesting Delorean to be auctioned off.

[Chris Burns]

Not sure if someone just tried to mimic to look of the Gold Deloreans or what the deal is. :umm:

https://bid.repocast.com/lots/324253

Appears to be a completely original car mechanically and has the NCT Radial tires.

[Rich]

Not sure if someone just tried to mimic to look of the Gold Deloreans or what the deal is. :umm:......Appears to be a completely original car mechanically and has the NCT Radial tires.

I agree it's an interesting D in some sense or other.

I've never wondered what a gold-ish DeLorean would look like without gold-painted wheels or fascias and without a tan/beige interior. But now I know anyway.

[Chris Burns]

Here are some pics from the auction.

Made in August 1982.

Black interior, manual.

VIN 16625.

[Dangermouse]

Based off the company auctioning the car, it would appear to be a reposession, very odd for a 35 year old car with so few miles.

I wonder was the gold tinting done in 1983/4 and then the car was stored, or was it recently taken out of storage, sold and tinted by the new owner and subsequently repo'd

Maybe it is a gold stain rather than a tint.


Interesting find, Chris.

[Chris Burns]

Found the ad for the car from a number of years ago.

[blueshark66]

I wonder if there's a way to get the gold tint/stain off and restore it to original?

[NJP548]

Found the ad for the car from a number of years ago.

You mean the one that James Espey found?
52168

-Nick

[Chris Burns]

My apologies to James.

[DMCVegas]

Based off the company auctioning the car, it would appear to be a reposession, very odd for a 35 year old car with so few miles.

It's not a repo, but does appear to perhaps be a liquidation related to some sort of bankruptcy or civil judgement. Twice in the ad, the following text appears:

Lot sells subject to Court Officer approval or rejection of high bid.

It actually seems to be a pretty good car. Probably just needs either a spray, or a vinyl wrap on the facias to match the rest of the body. Whoever did that plating did a good job too from the looks of it. It's not just on the outside, but it looks like the panels were fully dipped. There's gold plating visible both on the inner sections of doors, as well as the rear quarter panels.

[Andrew]

Um...has anyone noticed the temp gauge pegged out in the video of the car running!!!??? I really hope they didn't just trash the engine in their attempt to prove that it runs!

Since that car is only an hour from my house, I might have to take a look at it.

[Domi]

I thought it was the fourth gold plated DMC, VIN1542 when I saw the ad, but no.
Wonder where is it now (1542)

[Iznodmad]

I'm not so sure I believe that temp guage. Probably just an air bubble in the coolant system giving a false high reading. If they really get that high, they are usually puking fluid underneath and some steam is rolling out at that point. I would definitely expect an obvious loss of coolant with original hoses, hose clamps, etc. This car is clearly a "lost/unknown/found again" privately done 24K gold plated car. That poor engine cover is about to pop with the weight of the louvers also being held by the very weak engine cover stay bracket.

[Rich]

About this car being - or not being - gold plated.

There is visual data suggesting this is a painted DeLorean.

First, the photos don't seem to show the 'pop', the saturated gold color seen on authentic gold-plated DeLoreans.

Maybe that's just the lighting or the photography so consider this:
In photo 10 zoom in on the inboard upper edge of the door between the hinges. It looks like unpainted stainless there along the roof seal - and I don't mean the shiny stainless seal retainer sheet, I mean where the stainless inner door panel is visible above the roof seal sheet and below the headliner.

In that same area look at the inner door section about 2/3 of the way back from the front hinge, the area that sticks out beyond the door headliner panel where the door wiring harness is. And at the forward inward corner of the door where the headliner is radiused. Unpainted stainless, no? Looks like they did color the rear inward corner section where the headliner is radiused. Either that or the lighting/shadows are playing tricks there.

Other data or hints people can share? The best answer before the auction will be at the auction site if anybody has time and a sharp eye. One area to check if there is still curiosity would be the fender flanges under the black rubber strips over the upper fender mount bolts along both sides of the trunk. Did they paint the fender flanges under there? Did they paint the normally-hidden bolt heads on that part of the fender?

https://oasattachments.s3.amazonaws.com/2/2017/6/large/8a5f336eab165b2cc0efaa3440172c56

[DMCVegas]

Good catch. Although I don't believe that it is paint.

It's very common for dealerships to electroplate brightwork and other trim pieces with gold to create faux "luxury packages". Which by the looks of it here, that most likely what was done to this car.


http://www.autoartllc.com/images/gold.jpg

Just, instead of plating some badges, they plated over ALL of the body panels themselves! So who knows how thick the gold is underneath. Which is why on the areas that are not easy to access, bare stainless steel is still visible.

You could probably sand the gold off with a burnishing tool, although who knows how deep you'd need to go in order to get an even layer of stainless underneath. At the same time, who knows how suseptible to damage the gold would be if the gold layer is too thin.

The best thing here for the buyer would be to wrap the car in clear vinyl to protect the panels. That is IF the coating is 100% even, which we wouldn't know unless the vehicle was inspected in person. If not, yeah, sanding the gold off is the way to go.

[DaraSue]

The first time I was at MW getting my car, they had one there that had been wrapped or plasti-dipped gold. I don't remember it being as shiny as this one looks in some of the pics, but then I didn't see it in outside light. The pic Rich posted above looks kind of similar to it. You could see the grain of the stainless through the fake gold, as I recall.

[Andrew]

I went and looked at the gold DeLorean earlier today. While the car had a certificate in the glove box indicating that the car is indeed 24k gold plated, the plating appears sub par at best. Numerous spots were missed in the door jambs, espicially on the passenger side. Furthermore the plating doesnt appear to be evenly applied and has tarnished in many areas.

According to certificate in the glove box, the car was used for promotional purposes and was never registered. The promotional use explains the wear on the driver's seat and the carpet on the door sill. The mileage is probably legit and from what i can tell the angle drive is connected.

The NCT's look good for their age, and both the brake and clutch pedals feel somewhat decent.

I took a number of pictures and will try to post them soon.

I cant even venture a guess on the value of this one.

[Dangermouse]

Who is the certificate from?

[Andrew]

Who is the certificate from?

The certificate is on statonary from Cooper Classics Ltd. It's unsigned and undated.

[Chris Burns]

Bidding closed at 31k!!

[Chris Burns]

https://www.hemmings.com/classifieds/cars-for-sale/delorean/dmc-12/1995068.html

[Chris Burns]

Listed at $150k.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-DeLorean-DMC-12-/162649961579?hash=item25deb1746b:g:LIcAAOSwxbtZpHT s&vxp=mtr

[Lwanmtr]

Is it actually one of the real gold cars? my understanding is that those had gold facia's, rims and interior as well.

[louielouie2000]

Is it actually one of the real gold cars? my understanding is that those had gold facia's, rims and interior as well.

No. That car is not an original gold car and has no historic value. The original gold plated cars were created for the American Express 1981 Christmas catalogue are VINs 4300 & 4301. 4300 had saddle tan interior & 4301 had black interior. 4300 is at the National Automobile Museum in Reno and 4301 is at the Petersen Museum in Los Angeles. A third gold car was created by Consolidated after they had taken over the factory. It used the spare gold panels from the Amex project and featured a saddle tan interior. This car was given the last DeLorean VIN, 20105, though it was most certainly an earlier VIN car and was completed in America, not Northern Ireland. 20105 was given away in a promotional drawing when new, and resides in Maryland today.

[Lwanmtr]

Yeah, ok..thats what I thought that only 2 were actually made.

I feel sorry, then for whoever pays 150k for that car.

[DMCVegas]

I feel sorry, then for whoever pays 150k for that car.

No one is buying this car at that price. Any serious bidders would already be doing their research and verifying that the car isn't legit.

If by chance someone with more money than brains actually did get duped into buying this thing, they don't deserve pity for being so damn dumb.

[Iznodmad]

Let's face it. The likelyhood of this car selling is almost zero. 20105 has been "for sale" for something like 20 years and nobody has purchased it. And it is a "real" one!

[Michael]

Idiots win the lottery all the time.

"Ima getin me one of dhem golden Delorians, and den we gonna put fresh gravel on the driveway to park it on"

[Lwanmtr]

I already got the fresh gravel...half way there

[Dangermouse]

Let's face it. The likelyhood of this car selling for $150k is almost zero . 20105 has been "for sale" for something like 20 years and nobody has purchased it. And it is a "real" one!

FTFY

As noted above, it recently sold at the auction for $31k, presumably, and the new owner has now listed it privately hoping to make a killing, because shiney thing. So, even if he gets $50k for it, it's still a decent profit.




I would still like to know how it was "gold-plated" with the panels still on the car. Was it really electro-plated, or was some sort of gold leaf gilding applied by hand, which is what the inconsistant finish makes me think of.

Deloman in Germany did a fantastic job a few years ago using a gilding technique with gold tint, and he is certainly not claiming it is "gold plated"

http://www.deloman.de/images/gold01.jpg

[Bitsyncmaster]

I would still like to know how it was "gold-plated" with the panels still on the car. Was it really electro-plated, or was some sort of gold leaf gilding applied by hand, which is what the inconsistant finish makes me think of.

Your correct. If the parts were electro-plated, the door edges would also be plated unless they put a cover over those areas to save money. I bet the original 2 or 3 cars the inside of the fenders are not gold plated.

[louielouie2000]

Your correct. If the parts were electro-plated, the door edges would also be plated unless they put a cover over those areas to save money. I bet the original 2 or 3 cars the inside of the fenders are not gold plated.

Yes. According to Nick Sutton's book, the inside of the panels were painted with lacquer so that the gold would not adhere to them during the electro plating process. However, due to time constraints, one door was not lacquered inside, and thus is completely coated in gold. All the DeLorean books paint a pretty entertaining picture of pulling off the gold cars. The panels were snuck into the factory in a refrigerated truck, etc.

[DMCVegas]

Idiots win the lottery all the time.

"Ima getin me one of dhem golden Delorians, and den we gonna put fresh gravel on the driveway to park it on"

http://memecrunch.com/meme/19PDB/you-got-a-point-there/image.jpg