Ok, I kind of wonder....

[Silverbullet]

With like 9200 total made... and all the left in a field, parted out, crashed and totaled, made into time machines, and sitting in a garage with crap piled on top, and not run in lots of years.... How many Deloreans still run and drive on a regular basis? I have see estimates... but they seen to just keep being totaled... https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/VehicleDetails.aspx?auctionID=0&itemID=15883169&RowNumber=0&loadRecent=True#

I would guess it is Less than 6000... thoughts??

Craig

[DeLorean03]

That one looks eerily similar to the one that was featured in a "snapshot" at DMCH's facility only about a month ago.

[DMC5180]

With like 9200 total made... and all the left in a field, parted out, crashed and totaled, made into time machines, and sitting in a garage with crap piled on top, and not run in lots of years.... How many Deloreans still run and drive on a regular basis? I have see estimates... but they seen to just keep being totaled... https://www.iaai.com/Vehicles/VehicleDetails.aspx?auctionID=0&itemID=15883169&RowNumber=0&loadRecent=True#

I would guess it is Less than 6000... thoughts??

Craig


It's really anyones guess. Here's mine:

Drivable maybe 1500-2000.

Driven regularly or (seasonally) World-Wide 800-1000. This is probably being generous.

The most to ever be at a DMC EVENT About 150 (DCS Gettysburg)

[Michael]

I have wondered the same thing...how many are left that are actually drivable and road worthy? My guess was about the same as above, maybe a bit more optimistic. I wondered how many cars would 5 DMC franchises need to stay in business and stay in the black. Considering how few miles most of these cars get driven, and considering some may be going through restoration. I then took that number, divided by 2 and multiplied by the number of Bricklin cars that are thought to be left. After considering the BTTF constant and dividing by Pi, I threw all that away and pulled a number out of my butt.... 2,000-2,500 roadworthy cars left.

[Rich W]

I would guess it is Less than 6000... thoughts??

Craig

Knut did some statistical analysis on this topic, every few years,
up through the mid-2000's and I supplied registered DeLorean data
for several states, including Illinois. Back when this data was still
easily available, I was very surprised by the results of gathering it.

Based on only registered DeLoreans per state, we found that about
1/3 of the registered DeLoreans were "known" to local DeLorean clubs
and therefore the "unknown" numbers must be significantly higher.

With camera phones and other digital cameras much more wide-spread
in the past decade, there has been much more "exposure" of wrecked
and damaged DeLoreans, not necessarily more wrecked/damaged cars.

Even as a few years ago, the "existing" number of DeLoreans at 6,000
or 6,500 appeared to be way understated, seeing that the decommission
rate averaged less than 50 cars per year for the past two decades.

The statistical analysis seems to support numbers that are closer to
7,000 to 7,200 as a conservative estimate as of 2012, so unless things
change significantly, there will be "over 6,000" left for many more years.

As for the "active" DeLoreans, which is much more subjective, meaning
drive-able vs. ready to drive cross-country without problems, these
numbers are probably be between 1,500 and 3,000.

[uhhair]

Here are some simple facts about the Delorean community:

1. Most owners are not on DMCTalk/DMCToday.
2. For every owner in your state who is part of a local DMC club, there are 2 owners who aren't.
3. Plenty of owners want nothing to do with the DMC community.

Because of this, there are hundreds of owners out there who are relatively unknown to the DMC community, and only come out of the woodwork when they decide to sell the car.

Also, I agree with Rich, the numbers are probably much higher than people anticipate. Nevermind the fact that DMCH and others buy VINs and basically rebuild cars with all new or NOS components that have been "lost" to time for years, but the rate of DMC's that die every year now is pretty low.

While I do agree that for every drivable D, there is one rotting away in a garge/barn/field somewhere, they are still owned and the vast majority are savable and repairable.

I'd put the number between 6-7k still in existance, with have that being in a drivable state.

[Tillsy]

1. Most owners are not on ... DMCToday.

No kidding - 100ish members represents diddly squat ;)

[Silverbullet]

So.... How many D's do you ever see driving in a year... not counting going to an event, or a DMC location... So far, in the wild, I am at Zero...

Craig

[ALEXAKOS]

Zero in 39 years!!!!!
And I have been around the western world.


Sent from a mobile device. Please excuse typos etc

[Jonathan]

Some thoughts on the posts here:

I'm older than the DeLorean and I have NEVER seen one in the wild. Granted I can go see one anytime I want in my garage, but I am also at ZERO in terms of unplanned D sightings.

I looked at doing some statistical analysis on the number of cars out there and agree with the 1/3 idea. The Ontario club had/has about 60 when I recall seeing only 20 listed in the DoD (at the time). We knew of 60 in the province at the time, but there could be more and likely is. Not sure it is another multiple of 3 though as 180 out there doesn't sound likely to me. The Internet and communications have helped find some lost ones, but many of those are included in that 60. The DoD at the time had about 1,100 cars total in it. So is there about 3,300 cars in existence? Maybe.

Of the 60 in the club that I know something about, I can only think of about 10 cars max that have known issues that would stop an owner from driving it wherever they wanted. Not saying some owners would drive their car all over the countryside even if it is in good working order, but that's a different category. For me, I put the number of driveable/mostly restored at a higher percentage of the total than some have mentioned. Not 90% of them or anything, but more than 25%. Maybe 60-70% of the cars out there? For everyone we see reports of getting destroyed, there are quite a few others getting brought back from the dead with a new owner.

The thought about how many cars would need to be around to keep the DMC franchises in business made me think of something else. When I was a kid, I had a Ferrari keychain, a Countach poster and plastic model, and a Corvette hat or sweater. I have never owned any of those cars though. I know a $10 hat might not be putting a lot of royalty money in the hands of Chevrolet, but I think these brands are also seeing a sizeable revenue stream from things other than new owners or current owners buying parts or hours of service.

I like the DMC luggage, but would only see myself with the laptop bag or iPad case maybe. Others might want the whole thing or none. And likely plenty of folks out there who don't own a DeLorean and never will, might still want to buy that sort of thing. Could be a great conversation starter in an airport when someone chats you up about your DMC bag. Or shirt, or iPhone case, or Christmas ornament. Heck, how many car brands out there do you think could get away with making a pair of Nike sneakers modelled after the colour of the car and the taillights? I'm not so sure they would be lined up out the door to buy them if Nike brought out a nice yellow pair of Oldsmobile Cutlass styled shoes.

I think some of the non-traditional revenue streams keep many businesses in business. I know some pharmacies out there look to make more on selling perfume and jugs of milk than they do prescriptions for example. If the name of the brand helps sell something, then go for it. Even the Ferrari Technic Lego sets were a huge hit but if you took away the Ferrari labelling, they aren't as popular as just some red and yellow bricks.

And just one last thought... I know the DeLorean One guy got a bad name for being a dink, and part of that was the "what's your VIN?" demands, but if part of that was to ensure the parts only go to those who need them for cars, then maybe that's not so bad. I don't see it happening yet as a problem, but if some people see that a really neat book end or possible DIY office lamp from a (reasonably priced) $150 authentic DeLorean taillight means some day I can't go buy one for my car because they are all gone and became conversation pieces, then maybe I get nervous about the DeLorean brand getting popular. Until then I'm thrilled to have lots of choices from people in business in large part to help us with our cars.

[yellowmxwheels23]

[QUOTE=uhhair;128851]Here are some simple facts about the Delorean community:

1. Most owners are not on DMCTalk/DMCToday.
2. For every owner in your state who is part of a local DMC club, there are 2 owners who aren't.
3. Plenty of owners want nothing to do with the DMC community.

Not one owner that showed to the San Diego British car day was or is on DMCTALK.
They have their little club they stick too.