The DeLorean DMC-12 Is An Outlier's Legacy
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- Опубліковано 15 жов 2024
- “There was a guy who lived up the street from me who had one,” Geoff Ombao remembers of his boyhood. “And every time he drove by, it was like watching Santa Claus driving the ice cream truck.”
Santa’s ice cream truck, in this instance, was a DeLorean DMC-12, a stainless steel, gullwinged car that-thanks to the Back to the Future film franchise-would be forever associated with time travel in the popular imagination. For Ombao, however, the car’s appeal lies in the marque’s short-lived, tumultuous history.
On pace to become the youngest head ever at General Motors after kickstarting the muscle car era, John DeLorean elected to leave behind the security of Detroit and strike out on his own. For years, he had nurtured dreams of building a new kind of car and, after finally settling on Northern Ireland as his base of manufacturing operations, he set about making this fantasy a reality.
The result was underwhelming, both in performance and in sales. In fact, the DMC-12 might have faded into history as a mere footnote had Robert Zemeckis not cast it as a time machine in "Back to the Future" (1985), a film which made an international superstar of Michael J. Fox and cemented the DeLorean’s place in popular culture. This celebrity also helped to overshadow John DeLorean’s legal troubles, which involved charges of drug running (he was eventually acquitted) in an attempt to finance his failing enterprise.
For Ombao, who is now enrolled as a automotive design student at Art Center in Pasadena, the DMC-12 is thus more than simply a piece of automotive trivia. It is proof that, often, it is the outliers who leave the most lasting legacy.
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Petrolicious.com
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Just won Ebay auction on 1981 Delorean. Will fly to Redmond, WA and drive back to LA in Delorean this weekend, for 19 hour drive. The seller is confident that it will make the trip without problem. I am 52 years old and owning a Delorean someday was in my heart for more than 30 years.
Did the car make the trip ok?
I have owned my DeLorean for over 11 years now. I love it. After hearing this man's passion I love it even more. This car has a story to tell, not many cars do.
This guys story is awesome. Shows it's never too late to pursue what you really want to do. Great video.
amen!
really inspirational to me :D
Moby Dick I peeled an orange about an hour ago :)
Realistically, only a few people can achieve that. Most of them will fail and some even became homeless pursuing their dreams.
hellss yea
You guys are probably the most underrated channel out there. The directing of each episode is perfect and you find people who have amazing stories and give a lot of detail in such a short time but elegant way.
...brilliant, ...brilliant, très agréable reportage, superbes vues et commentaires passionnés et intelligents. En plus musique parfaitement choisie. MERCI 🛸💥🎯
Beautiful photography and atmosphere. Every frame is art. I own one of exactly the same model year, bonnet and ride height, and very nearly ready to drive after a long restoration. Very encouraging to see the car has such a following.
i love the sharp lines on the delorean. especially the perfectly flat hood. still looks so damn futuristic.
6:33 Surprised that I haven't seen anyone mentioning this yet, but it's awesome that you shot this car in front of the very same house that was owned by Back to the Future 1's Doc Brown in 1955 - and in the same angle as in the movie.
A small subtle reference in a video which just aches for direct BTTF references. Thank you Petrolicious for being so tasteful :)
Finally!! A Petrolicious video about The DeLorean DMC-12!! Thank you, guys!!
Hats off to Geoff Ombao for pursuing his passion. Many never take the risk to do what they really want to do in life. Geoff is living his dream
Nice car and amazing story.
Please keep this car forever!!!!!
Heard the DeLorean tale many a time. Still as enthralling now - all these years later. Great video Petrolicious.
The cameraman and director of this video did a fantastic job, the last time I saw this type of work is in/on 80's film and tv shows, it really brought out the beauty of the car and the scenery, it's very emotional to watch, it brought it all to life, the car looks stunning in the night light combined with the camera angles, it conjures up so many memories and feelings from times gone by.
This is by far the best car video I've seen on YT, it sent my body into a tremour of nostalgia, Thank You Petrolicious.
I agree a whole lot! Even the soundtrack is simply perfect - has a hint of Blade Runner here and there.
Car was ahead of its time
A DeLorean, 80's remix electro tape, and cruising down the highway at midnight is my ultimate dream.
Damn these views of L.A. are superb. It reminds me the movie Collateral. Great job !
my thoughts exactly!
That's a good movie.
it reminds me of drive
+Froseization the first Terminator too!
10/10 for another brilliant film...
changed the way I viewed John Delorean. Mr Ombao thanks for the education .. and good luck with the new career!
i don't get why there is ppl who thumb down this video... The LA vibes blended so well with DMC, i can feel the present... Will watching it again for sure!
I have a special place in my heart for cars from the 80's this car has a distinctive look. The Toyota Supra of this area has similar proportions
. The SAAB SPG of the 80's was unique. I can't think of any modern cars that stand out from the pack the way these cars did.
Awesome video thank you!
I have some friends with Deloreans and have ridden in them on occasions. They are not fast cars, but drive very well. Like diving a go kart on the street. 0 to 60 in 9 seconds sounds like nothing now, but in 1981 that was about average. The fastest car in 1981 went 0 to 60 in 6 seconds. For a car that had to be produced by a certain deadline, built in war torn Belfast Ireland, and built during some the worst economic times in the US it wasn't too bad. The engines are quite reliable and to be honest I prefer reliability over speed any day. The problem is that people didn't drive them much back in the day, because they were afraid they wouldn't be able to get their cars fixed or get parts. Parts are readily available now and more people are driving their Deloreans now.
Same dream as me growing up....Always wanted one...wanted to be just like John, have my own company and make my own cars...28 now, almost have enough for the car saved, but sadly i never could afford to pursue my dream of having my own company.. But hopefully owning the car that started it all for me, will fill some of the hole in my heart.
This video has really spectacular shots of the DeLorean. Well done.
This guy is so passionate about his car he's sweating just talking about it... Amazing
I would love to have a DeLorean one of these days!
Well done and I'm glad they didn't focus too much on the BTTF stuff - the car is a lot more than just a movie prop. It's an absolutely striking design (one of my ALL TIME favorites). I sold mine last year due to lack of use and the fact that it just got too much attention (not for me), but I will certainly miss it. Maybe I'll buy another one some day...
And to those who don't think it's fun-to-drive; you have to experience it for yourself. No, it does not have blistering performance, however, as Geoff mentions in the video, it offers a very visceral driving experience and feels very unique relative to more modern cars and even it's contemporaries of the time. That on it's own is fun. They are great cars in their own unique way.
It makes me sad that you sold it :( I've had my 83 for 16 years now. Love it more every time I see it, even after all this time :)
But, you're right, cars need to be driven and loved, not left sitting to rot.
I'd sell mine too if I couldn't enjoy it....like when I'm on my death bed :)
I'd be happy knowing it went to a loving "forever" family! :)
I was proud to have sold three of them new at the time the seats and interior were very comfortable we had some great mechanics who could work out the bugs mainly electrical and now are worth more than they paid for them.
"The first batch had issues...but they ironed them out quickly..." is very true. Unfortunately the 1st batch got all the press due to the hype preceding it. First impressions, as they say. Hence, the reliability myth is still alive and well because nobody cares that the rest of the cars were decent...obviously...since they are still on the road over 30 years later. Reliable cars aren't newsworthy.
I've had my 83 for 16 years so far. Most I've had to do to it is clean the fuel system after I had it stored for a 5 year stint. I have utterly tortured the car. I even delivered pizza in it for 2 years. Sheer torture.
But it just keeps on going. Turn the key, 1 crank and it's alive despite being over 30 years old.
Just goes to show you. Part of basic maintenance is driving regularly.
With the average DMC, the main area to address is the stock cooling system. Once the cooling is sorted out, drive the thing from NYC to LA.
The stock cooling fans drew MAJOR amperage and could/would fry the circuit. Spend a couple hundred dollars and a Saturday afternoon installing modern low-draw fans. Done. Drive it forever.
Then undo the early 80's Oil Crisis EPA stranglehold from the engine, bringing it back up to the intended 200HP. 0-60 in ~6 seconds. Not to shabby for a 30 year old car.
That's such an entertaining thought - Someone orders a pizza then 30 minutes later a DeLorean shows up outside their house and it turns out it's being used as a pizza delivery car. Over here in the UK the only cars that get used to deliver pizzas are little rust buckets driven by 19 year olds. But on topic; it's a real shame the DeLorean Motor Company couldn't have held on for just a few more months - Most of the kinks had been sorted out and the markets inevitable recovery would have pushed the company back into profitability, John DeLorean had some amazing concepts for DMC including a four door DeLorean. My opinion is that General Motors bribed the DEA to entrap John DeLorean, DeLorean was a potential serious threat and he had also completely embarrassed them by leaving so dramatically. I hope one day I will own a DeLorean - The car has more history from several years than most car companies do from several decades.
Chris Howlett
Oh I got a rust bucket to relieve the D of delivery torture.
A 1994 Passat VR6 GLX. I loved it as much as I hated it.
delivering pizza in a Delorean, you're a fucking legend hahahah
Miles Freeman
I started parking it around the corner or a few houses down from the address, otherwise every delivery was a 10 minute Q&A.
Very few people know the true story, fewer know of his work with Pontiac in the 60's, and only a handful are people in my age group (early 20's) so I'm very glad this video shows Mr. Delorean's story. He had a heart attack while he was designing his next car.
THE GAMBLE HOUSE (Or Doc Brown's house)! GREAT scene choice! Just a shame it only lasted for a couple seconds!
Some things worth of note here for those interested in buying a delorean. Modern options like electric power steering or backup cameras are available nowadays. Heck even automatic transitions exist
RIP John DeLorean 1925-2005
Wonderful video and very gracious DeLorean owner! Thanks for sharing!
We love to share our cars. I let people sit in mine all the time and play with the doors.
I love this car, I live in Italy and I hope to can buy it very soon, this video is very very cool, congratulation.
Thanks!
Yes! At last Petrolicious does a video on a DMC-12! I had a chance about 2 years ago to spend some time behind the wheel of a DMC-12 that underwent what the modern Delorean Motor Company calls a "Stage II Conversion." At first I thought I was star stuck, but what amazed me the longer I drove it is just how much of a "Driver's Car" it was; adequate power, great handling and braking! Great lines too!
Am I the first to spot the gamble house? The iconic home of Doc Brown. Great little Easter Egg guys!
Haha same! Just commented about it actually!
I thought that was it when I saw it. I wasn't mistaken :D
Your De Lorean and your video are excellent. I admire how you've kept your D original (ride height, no stainless inserts on the rear bumper, no modifications or gimmicks otherwise, etc). The stainless and trim look amazing. Please tell me what you use on the black trim to make it shine so nicely against the stainless. Do you use anything to make the stainless itself shine so nicely? Your De Lorean looks simply awesome. It should be mentioned to all DMC owners that a high zinc-phosphorous (ZDDP) engine oil MUST be used in these engines for their longevity, namely the valve train, since these engines are flat-tappet. Many owners themselves don't realize this. Castrol GTX is no good for these engines today. Just ask Castrol!
Thanks! I'm kind of a stickler for originality. :-) I use vinyl dressing on the black bits on the car... typically Meguiar's, or Mothers, but I'm not particular. I just wash the stainless like any other car (or just use Windex when I'm lazy). :-) Cheers!
@@LACarDude I'll keep that in mind. Thanks!
Beautiful opening shot, reminds me of the music video for Kavinsky's Protovision.
Great story and mindset I salute you sir
Thanks!
Hero move changing business and chasing the dream. Awesome!
Cool car. Keep it for as long as it inspires you.
Petrolicious... You guys rock!
thanks for the lesson Geoff! I really wanted to know the history behind the DeLorean. I always thought it was only popular because of Back to the Future
Awesome!!
Love DeLorean 😍😍😍😍
DeLorean was much more than just this car, he single handily designed and got Pontiac to build the '65 GTO and the Firebird that came out in 1969 1/2 (yes it came out mid year, so its called a '69 and a half). In addition, when Pontiac came under the GM umbrella and while both were sharing a lot of platforms. Pontiac was forbidden from having more or even the same hp than GM for the same engine. This mentality kept going till the 90's. So DeLorean solution was to have to build the Firebirds with the engine sitting lower inside the frame, thus lowering the center of gravity to improve handling, better suspension, ect. He's way of getting around the GM bs.
Hey! I still have my Motor Trend Magazine with the Prototype Delorean featured in it. (Full color center page with an aircraft.)
.
Art Center is the Best; and is very Hard.......My hat is off for Ombao.
Love these so much. I will own one, one day. Glad to hear it's been reliable for you, what with all the haters saying their terrible.
I somehow feel like GM has something to do with the cocaine scandal.
Hmmmm me too.................not like it didn't happen before.........Tucker was accused of fraud.....which I find absurd...better to get into banking...lol.....and the EV1 a GM creation........ while the bean counters were drunk on SUV behemoths the engineers produced a remarkable feat..... whereupon the parent company ate its young with the "help" of the feds....
ya, like what they did with tucker....
How? What proof is there? Everyone looks upon the tale of DeLorean with rose colored glasses. The car wasn't a threat at all to GM. What was revolutionary about the DMC-12? Tucker at least had a car that was a head of its time; the DMC was woefully underpowered, very expensive, and slow--that's what screwed it. Sorry guys but the DeLorean was a good idea that was implemented very badly, that's why it failed. Not a grand conspiracy by GM.
2xDeuce well, GM had a chance to have a good designer/visionary car builder that decided to be a competitor. GM always hade car that bizarrely break down after warranty expiration, especially with there low budget cars, even today. So I'll just let history give me the hints that all point atthe same direction. After all, the man's reputation got spoiled with the cocaine scandal, even if all his buyers had a nose full, no one wants to be associated with snow. Call me paranoid or a aluminium foil covered conspiracy weirdo, but I think its a good possibility. Unfortunately, no one can prove it wrong.
Just say it you are making things up. It was obvious from the get go that the car would fail. But never mind that: Let us make up a narrative instead.
Great edit, You gotta love Delorean. I remember having a look at one at a dealer years ago, we all took it in turns opening up that door, so cool :-)
Wow great story! Very inspiring!
Although this is in L.A... I'm just waiting for that Hotline Miami tune to pop up and him pulling over at a club... And if you have played Hotline Miami... you know what happens after that.
Amazing car and story behind it. It will always be one of those cars that is kind of like Lamborghini Countach. If we get real, nobody wants to own either of those, but still.... I want both of those pretty much more than anything else.
A well done video. He's living the dream.
Relaxing video.
Žilvinas Deveika delorean asmr
The government is not playing by the rules. Someone paid someone so that competition would not grow.
It's a shame they treat talented people like this. Someone creates, and for this they destroy him. Thanks to the author, such a beautiful car.
The design of this is just lasting forever...
While watching it I thought of Michael Mann... Fantastic again, Petrolicious make the best car enthusiast videos all around
Such a nice car, well filmed. keep it up
This guy tells a great story and its true to every word he says. Its funny hearing all the negative comments coming from people who think they can get the facts about the car from reading what someone else wrote. As a ownerand restorer of these fine machines, i will say yes, they are not fast, but quick for what they offer. They handle great for how they're set up. They may look the same but I can assure you that each car has its own character trait! Talk trash how you want but that is from people who will never ever get to see how they really are, and its sad cause your trashing something you know nothing about or could appreciate. Im 40 years old, owned mine for 13 years, been in the DeLorean community for 26 yrs now and the fun my family and I have with this car is unreal! Might be slower than you, but i can tell you that at a car event, the DeLorean will steal the show! And all this coming from a man who saw the movie as a kid, fell in love with the design, performance and the story, bought a abandon wreck of a 82 DeLorean and built it himself! I daily mine for the most part! Drive it across several states and get plenty of smiles per mile all the while! Love this guys story!
What the heck, you can never watch too many Delorean videos.
Great story, Great owner. Follow those dreams, rage against the conformist machine!
Very well done video Sir. Keep it rolling, from 11196 in StL. atb
A fantastic car. Colin Chapman made a revolutionnal concept. The De Lorean is international with a british design, french (and swedish) motor. The assemblement was made in Ireland and in the USA.
Such a shame for the production and logistic because of mismanagement which was wasted the model.
The vantage for the De Lorean is the parts are available while others cars. Fortunately, "Back to the futur" make famous the De Lorean which is collector and wanted by amateurs today.
It's too bad brushed metal never really took off. It looks amazing. Some people even paint their DMC-12s now, which I think is reprehensible...
They usually do that because they were in an accident and it is hard to repair skin panels. I guess some people can't be bothered.
Theres one in my neiborhood a guy has its painted highlighter yellow and its slam'd lowered with big rims but doesnt do no justice to that original look!
Seems no one can get the soundtrack of this.. What is the song listing Petrolicious??
Pretty awesome. Most of it was shot within a few blocks of my apartment, dope.
There was one on my street growing up too but was owned by an old lady which kinda took the cool out of it
i love this car!!! BTTF 4EVER
Can we get an update on this guy today ? Is he working as a car designer now ?
Another great vid. Thanks. That low, upward, rear 3/4 view just really sets that car off! Just for a stir, what wheels would you put on it now?
Well done! Still my dream car! I'm planning to get one with a Stage 3 engine one day :) Again, well done!
Did you get it?
Well done!
Great car in an awesome city! The city of angels is the place to be!
I knew Mr. DeLorean quit GM to make his own car, never knew he was set up tho! GM must've had a hand in that. Low blow Government Motors.
great video! great scenes for this car!! nicely done!
love the song as well, does anyone knows the name of the song?
On behalf of Northern Ireland, I can say,... when the cars left they were all perfectly fine!
that sums it all up... they were "fine". Gotta love that "that'll do" shed build mentality...
i doubt someone from Northern Ireland would want an Englishman speaking on their behalf
Who is English?
MrBab91 you, my limey friend. Can see your bad, tea-stained teeth from here.
Hmm, not a limey. Born and bred in 'Norn Iron'.
Gotta love that LA skyline!
"it was like watching santa claus driving the ice cream truck by" hammy
hammy? auto correct... hhhmmmmm*
if you have a nice car that you really like you should make it part of your living room...or make your garage your living room :D
6:32 ... hey is that the house of doc in the film. .. if it is coool .... love this car i want one so bad
So bizarre that he was set up like that. I was telling people this story yesterday and I was utterly baffled as to why they went so far out of their way to create a drug dealer out of nothing when there are so many REAL drug dealers out there. And we PAY for that kind of shit with our taxes!
pure dream!
Maan I always wanted to be a car designer But ended up in the graphic design route, loved it but I feel like I'm always missing something hmm... You sir inspired me, maybe I'll take on the car design route someday.
Wow I never knew Delorean's story that was pretty interesting. Wish there were more interior shots tho, that's one of my gripes with the way these videos are shot. Also what city was this in?
name of music in the end ???
I am surprised more cars don't try using stainless bodywork.
Hey, I'd really like to know what the song from the beginning of the video is ?
:)
Great shots of the city of Los Angeles. It has some professional movie atmosphere. Although, I'm not a fan of the car, I have nothing with cars from the 80s.
Back to the Future came out in 1985, just 2 years after DeLorean went bust.
+scanspeak00 - Supposedly that was intentional. LOL. Everyone thought DeLorean was going to do time, so they figured let's make his car go through time.
It sucks they're worth $30k+, I should have bought one a few years back. One of my favourite cars of all time. Since I was a child and I'm 30.
What is the first song here?
which is the name of music you hear
What's the name of the soundtrack
Im in 10th grade now honors classes, i take architecture and technical drawing. My passion is to create things for people. Cars are deffinitly the most important thing in my life, but i dont know if i should study architecture like everybody else or go into the competitive field of automotive design. Does anynody have any advice for me?
neither if you want to earn money. the problem with both thinks is, it's an art form. if you want to study s.th. in this direction think about industrial desgin. there you learn to desgin a lot of stuff (household, trains, cars, buses, factories ...). as you see, you will have a lot more possiblties.
Does anyone know the name of the song that runs from 3:40 to 6:50?
Can't get it out of my head.
Darude- Sandstorm.
Mr. B Natural Thanks, i appreciate your effort.
Mr. B Natural
no its not
Anton Johansson Also wondering the name of the background music? No it is not "Sandstorm".
Greg Vallecorsa so is it still by Darude?
***** you guys make AMAZING videos! you guys truly love cars and the emotions that come from them.
Can it get any better?
More cars should have brushed stainless steel body panels.
Well... Cyber Truck is coming...
I like his license plate.
Did the "12" in the name really mean that it was initially going to sell for $12,000?
Yes
I would love to see them do a episode on the Mazda RX500 '70. But i think they are very rare