DeLorean's weekly planners on eBay!
As one of the more colorful characters in recent automotive history, when John Z. DeLorean passed away in 2005, he left behind quite a legacy and quite a pile of paperwork. Among the many lingering items related to his business and personal life are some of his weekly planners. Two of them, from 1981 and 1982, are now up for bid at eBay. EBay seller 'dmctrustee1' had received all of the company's records after its bankruptcy filing, and now offers these two diaries that will give the winning bidder of this online auction a peak inside what it might have been like to be a jet-setting millionaire playboy with his own car company at that time.
The early '80s were the heyday of the Back to the Future-starring De Lorean DMC-12 stainless steel gullwing wondercar. The car was more show than go, but it had its fans, as did DeLorean, the man. He was credited with being the father of the muscle car for getting the original Pontiac GTO past the beancounters back in 1964.
De Lorean was also well known for his high profile 1982 arrest on charges of drug trafficking, which greatly impacted the demise of his DMC car company. Although he successfully defended himself against these charges by proving entrapment, the stigma stuck and the company never recovered. So whoever ends up with this pair of planners will get to see such entries as varied as the Friar's Club roast for Burt Reynolds at the Waldorf and his frequent Harrod's shopping trips. Should be fascinating, and a bargain too. Bidding is set to close on September 30 and so far the high bid is only $103.51.
[Source: Winding Road]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
James 8:05PM (9/27/2006)
I read about the history of Mr. Delorean in one of the Uncle John's Bathroom Readers and found his history very interesting. He had a lot of great ideas and was really ahead of his time by a bit, and then there were the drug issues (never a good way to go). I'll swing by eBay and see if I can pick this up before too many people start bidding for it.
James
http://www.CarTV.com
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Seabass 8:40PM (9/27/2006)
Journal entry September 8, 1981:
Picked up the "product" from the docks. Enjoyed it. Watched "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" for the umpteenth time. Damn, that movie never gets old.
Journal entry January 19, 1982:
Took clothes to laundrymat. Forgot to pay some guy named Pablo from South America. I said I'll pay him next time.
Journal entry March 29, 1982:
Pablo came to my house. I gave him a DeLorean, and in return he gave me his friend's head in a plastic bag. I felt that he was a little mad.
Journal entry October 19, 1982:
Whoops. Misplaced powdered sugar for "happy dust". I don't think I'm in trouble for it. Hang on; there's a knock at the door. Oh, it's the feds. They're nice people. I'll let them in.
Journal entry October 20, 1982:
Well, I guess the feds aren't so nice...
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Stoneman 9:42PM (9/27/2006)
Journal entry November 1, 1983:
Damn. Earl on the top bunk is looking funny at me again. You know what that means...
Stoneman
http://www.stonemanautoreview.com
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risingsun 10:07PM (9/27/2006)
I think a bigger factor than his clandestine trafficing was the decision to build the cars in Ireland, with an entrance for protestants and an entrance for catholics. That's just asking for trouble.
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AdmiralSenn 9:24AM (9/28/2006)
Actually the mixed-faith work thing worked pretty well for him. I haven't heard that he had problems with it. The dual entrances were more for geographic concerns than anything else - one side of the factory faced the Catholic neighborhoods and the other faced the Protestant neighborhoods.
And you jokers aren't funny.
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DOCed 5:09AM (9/28/2006)
Actually, there was NEVER any trouble between Protestants and Catholics at the DeLorean factory. Protestants and Catholics worked side by side on the production line and got on very well with each other by all accounts.
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Josh Haldeman 9:20AM (9/28/2006)
Seabass, with your comments, you single handedly demonstrate how most of the country bought right into the bullshit charges against John. Why is it such an easy story for most people to swallow that a genius engineer and intrepid business man such as John DeLorean would actually have a hand in a stupid drug deal that threatened and ultimately destroyed everything dear to him? It doesn't make any sense to me. GM and Margaret Thatcher want you to believe the drug story about John, because if you don't, they end up look like the bad guys for setting it up and knocking him down. It's a damn shame John was setup like he was. We stood to gain a lot from him as a society had he not been forced out of the auto business!
-Josh
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Jeff Gilleran 4:43PM (9/28/2006)
What brought Delorean to his knees sadly was the change in the value of the britsh pound.
The DMC-12 For, "Delorean Motor Corporation 12 thousand"
Was meant to be sold for around 12 thousand dollars.
The plant in Ireland was immediately inundated with massive cost increases that made being profitable in the US very difficult.
The typical prices for some very nice cars from other US manufacturers were in the 12-15 thousand dollar range (Deloreans obvious target) and then the sudden price increases happened right in the middle of the 1st model year (1981) made Delorean have to rethink pricing.
Many Deloreans went for the 20K range as a result.
Obviously, the DMC-12 was a hard sell.
Not that the cars werent Innovative, but performance overall was a sore point, and there also were other teething problems with assembly and part quality early on.
Simply put, you could easily buy a better car for less money.
It had less to do with "Drugs" and more to do with economics.
I also read a statement that said Delorean was working hard to get a buyer in Canada for the company back in 1982, but it fell through.
Sad.
Still think the Delorean is a unique car, and you can still get parts for them at 2 major warehouses whom bought all the extra Belfast Ireland plant parts.
One in Texas, and one in Florida.
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doofus 10:38AM (9/29/2006)
I can't wait to see some of Malcolm Bricklin's day planner entries someday. Maybe some thoughts of the "Bricklin Safety Sports Car" and his thoughts on why CR hated his then imported Subie 360. Maybe we'll see an entry on his Geely brand.
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