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Comment by pmiller2 | Hacker News Reader

I considered buying a Delorean once to drive around. I was at a point in my life where I didn't really need a car for transportation, yet, being a single guy, it was socially easier to have a car. So, I figured, why not make a statement?

Besides the obvious visual "wow" factor associated with the car and the Back to the Future franchise, they're surprisingly inexpensive for such an iconic car. The main problem with them is that Delorean Motor Company didn't really follow the concept of "model years," instead changing things as they went along, so restoring one to original condition is practically impossible. I was also not a fan of the aluminum engine block, since, if it ever got just slightly too hot, there's a good chance it would be ruined forever.

My second choice vehicle, BTW, would have been some kind of van painted up like the Scooby Doo Mystery Machine. :)

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> The main problem with them is that Delorean Motor Company didn't really follow the concept of "model years," instead changing things as they went along, so restoring one to original condition is practically impossible.

I've heard there is a new car company that does something similar (not having precise model years) and also offers a car with gullwing doors.... I think it starts with a "T".... I wonder if they'll be hard to restore when collectors look back in 20 years.

Teslas will be effectively impossible to maintain. On the upside there are way fewer moving parts to go awry.

There will be some forum on the internet where a bunch of guys are reverse engineering them, much as they do for 6502 based systems now.

That's when I will probally buy one. I was just thing about this the other day. I was thinking when they get to the used market, and guys start modifying them; that's the day I'll put on my dielectric gloves and put that charging station in my garage.

Right now, a vechicle I can't modify, and work on is just not my style. If I had disposable income, it would probally be a different story.

Exactly why I'm hesitant to buy one. I mean, I was paranoid enough when buying my Macbook Pro (omg, it's all soldered!), so a Tesla is probably not for me in the long run.

I would gladly lease one though, but it seems impossible here in Denmark.

That's one thing I really liked about the first Honda Insight (lightweight two-seater hatchback hybrid - looks like a space egg). Picked one up last year for dirt cheap because I have a long commute. Got 70 mpg (mostly freeway). Great thing was I could also work on it pretty easily. Even worked fine without the hybrid system (they're all old enough where the batteries are crapping out) So sad when another car totaled it.

It's really not that big a deal these days with computerized inventory systems at parts shops. Even within a model year, there can be multiple versions of the same part as things get redesigned to improve reliability or for value engineering. Parts guy will just ask for the VIN and get the right part that way.

I think the battery will be impossible to reengineer. No factory will exist anywhere to make those tiny old pathetic, flammable things.

> hard to restore

Especially if you want the original programming. ;)

My father got one back in the early 2000's from the estate of a collector and I've gotten to drive it a few times. You definitely get a _lot_ of looks and comments. I found it to be a supremely uncomfortable car. It's particularly nasty in the summer-- the AC is underwhelming and the windows offer very little ventilation. His is a manual transmission and it feels under-powered, viewed in the context of a daily driver. Viewed in a "sports car" context it's definitely under-powered.

His car is fairly low mileage (under 30K), but it needed a substantial amount of electrical retrofit (the stock relays had a propensity to short-out, apparently) and the torsion bars on the doors needed to be replaced.

They are definitely iconic cars.

> They are definitely iconic cars.

It's pretty amazing that such a bad car, built in such small numbers, became so beloved. By almost any objective measure, it just sucks.

I got to see one and talk with the owner a couple of months ago. He says one of them most common questions he gets is whether anything happens when you get it up to 88MPH. His answer is that it cannot achieve 88MPH!

I'm hardly immune, of course. I love them too!

I think it must be because of Back to the Future. It's like being able to buy the Millennium Falcon, in terms of owning the star of a beloved movie. Even if the real-world item sucked, we'd all love to own one.

It was John too. I was a young guy at the time, but I heard him in an interview and he said something, I was thinking at the time.

I forget the exact quote, by he said aomething like, 'I'm tired of only seeing only guys my age, with my income driving a nice sports car. I would like to give young guys the thrill of driving a sports car.'

I just liked him as a person, and he came across as someone I could trust. (I didn't trust most adults back then. Even now, I don't trust many of my peers. Crazy huh?). I did like the design of the car, and I really liked the stainless steel body.

Even though I liked the car; I remember thinking even if I did have the money I wouldn't buy it. I wanted an old 356 Porsche. I finally found one I could afford. My friend talked me out of the $2000 sale. He said, these old Porsche's rust from the bottom up, and eventually you can't close the doors. He was a car dealer, so I didn't buy the vechicle. He was probally right, but my dream car is still the 356 rust free Porsche.

I was so glad when he beat the cocaine rap.

If you haven't read it, the autobiography of his career at GM "On A Clear Day, You Can See General Motors" is worth a look. Some very nice stuff in there, and corresponds well with what others have said about the company.

There's a company that basically makes a "Stage 2" DeLoreans, fixing pretty much every single problem with that car, but it would cost you pretty penny.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3L1LPQlao3I

Venturi pushed the old PRV V6 engine to more than 400HP on some of its sport cars, this engine had its problem but in the De Lorean version is probably nigh indestructible.

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