Car and Driver Sports/GT Comparo, Dec. 1981 - DeLorean vs. the world

[Rich]

Found a link to a DeLorean-related comparison piece from Car and Driver magazine in their December, 1981 issue.

It's titled DeLorean vs. Chevy Corvette, Datsun 280-ZX, Ferrari 308GTS, Porsche 911.


LINK: http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/de-lorean-vs-chevy-corvette-datsun-280-zx-ferrari-308gts-porsche-911-comparison-test (http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/de-lorean-vs-chevy-corvette-datsun-280-zx-ferrari-308gts-porsche-911-comparison-test)

There's plenty to comment about in hindsight. Spoiler alert: The DeLorean did not rate first place - nor last place. :smile:


18366

There were also performance and spec tables in the print article, not included in the archive link - the comparison is a bit tougher to decipher without them.
C/D's rankings show up on the web in italics above the photo of each contestant and are not in the same order as written in the article.

Excerpt here:


"We have now, finally, tested the new DeLorean. After years of anticipation and months upon months of negotiations, an actual stainless-steel sports car from Ireland has found its way to the suction cup that holds it fast to our fifth wheel, where it can't hide anymore. As a second line of defense against its escape, we have brought in four of the De Lorean's competitors and ringed them around stockade-style to keep the De Lorean right in the captive perspective.

The category being sports/GT cars, it was only proper to make them jump through the sports/GT hoop. So for our De Lorean and its four adversaries, we arranged a classic three-legged trial by fire: our usual proving-grounds performance testing, a face-off at the Waterford Hills road course, and a final, furious timed attack on an impossible, real-world stretch of Ohio asphalt.

It pleases us no end to announce that John Zachary De Lorean has no reason to mount a rescue attempt for this brainchild. De Lorean and his new factory have done quite a splendid job of producing his car from the ground up...."

[pezzonovante88]

Good read. I've seen the article before, but kind of forgot. I appreciate how they point out the fact several times that the DeLorean is pretty darn good for being a brand new car/brand when compared to it's rivals which have had ongoing development and improvements over the time they have been on the market.

[Shep]

Here's some specs someone posted on these forums a while back (I never found where -- maybe back on the .com?), which include Car and Driver specs from the print article and also someone's price comparison for DeLoreans to some of the others:
18368

I have since re-typed it into a searchable (and more legible) PDF:
18369

I tried color-coding everything so it would be obvious where DeLoreans ranked, but it ended up looking like ass, so I left it black-and-white for simplicity. Interestingly, DeLoreans are the shortest front-to-back, shortest bottom-to-top, but widest left-to-right. From their specs, it also has the third-best braking performance and curb weight, only weighing 243 lbs more than the BMW 320I and 398 lbs more than the Mazda RX-7, yet still 564 lbs less than the Corvette! Try telling that to the next guy that calls your DeLorean "heavy".

[jawn101]

I've actually got this magazine in my collection of DeLorean memorabilia. It's a great read - but the the best part is the period advertising through the rest of the issue. So many cigarette ads. So campy. :)

[pezzonovante88]

I've actually got this magazine in my collection of DeLorean memorabilia. It's a great read - but the the best part is the period advertising through the rest of the issue. So many cigarette ads. So campy. :)

I LOVE looking at old car magazines for the old ads.

[pezzonovante88]

Here's some specs someone posted on these forums a while back (I never found where -- maybe back on the .com?), which include Car and Driver specs from the print article and also someone's price comparison for DeLoreans to some of the others:
18368

I have since re-typed it into a searchable (and more legible) PDF:
18369

I tried color-coding everything so it would be obvious where DeLoreans ranked, but it ended up looking like ass, so I left it black-and-white for simplicity. Interestingly, DeLoreans are the shortest front-to-back, shortest bottom-to-top, but widest left-to-right. From their specs, it also has the third-best braking performance and curb weight, only weighing 243 lbs more than the BMW 320I and 398 lbs more than the Mazda RX-7, yet still 564 lbs less than the Corvette! Try telling that to the next guy that calls your DeLorean "heavy".

Thanks for posting this!

[Shep]

Thanks for posting this!No problem! I did some more searching and came across the original posting of it. Don Camillo over in Germany (VIN 573) posted it in the Historical Documentation section here (dmctalk.org/showthread.php?3616-Original-DMC-Sports-Car-competition-comparison). Sounds like he has more where that came from! :)

[AugustneverEnds]

Good read. I've seen the article before, but kind of forgot. I appreciate how they point out the fact several times that the DeLorean is pretty darn good for being a brand new car/brand when compared to it's rivals which have had ongoing development and improvements over the time they have been on the market.

It's interesting how so many publications that tested the DeLorean in 1981 actually praised the car and stated that it met or exceeded their expectations and yet after DMC's demise the car gained an undeserved reputation as an impossibly flawed disaster. Just look through Tamir's site and note the shift in tone. Yes I know the early cars had their issues but what brand new model doesn't have some kinks to correct? I just find it indicitive of human nature that a couple of negatives outweighed the overall positives of the car in people's memories. At least now the DMC-12 is emerging from the shadow of cocaine jokes and BTTF association and being more widely appreciated for the special machine it is.