eBay Find of the Day: DeLorean twin-turbo prototype engine
DeLorean Twin-Turbo PRV-V6 Prototype Engine – Click above for image galleryBetween the sports cars and his jet-set lifestyle, John Z. DeLorean was a man typified by excess. So would it come as any great surprise that he wasn't perfectly satisfied with the meager 170 horsepower output of the Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 in his self-titled
While we figure the turbo upgrade ought to be good for 1.21 gigawatts, official output numbers weren't released when DeLorean introduced the DMC-12 turbo prototype to the National Automobile Dealers Association in January of 1980, nor have they been disclosed since. But fitted with the pair of RHB52 turbos from Ishikawajimi-Harima Heavy Industries (IHI), the gullwinged sportscar was said to be capable of accelerating to 60 mph in 5.6 seconds on its way to a time-space continuum-ripping 146 mph. (We can hear Doc Brown yelling it right now). That's a significant improvement over the stock DeLorean's claimed 8.8 second 0-60 mph run – which was, incidentally, actually clocked by Road & Track at 10.5 seconds – still perfectly adequate for outrunning Libyan terrorists in Volkswagen camper vans.
Only two of the engines were believed to have been built, and one of them is up for grabs right now on eBay. The engine comes mounted with its transmission to the original rolling display stand used by DeLorean to demonstrate the enhanced powertrain. Although the engine was at one point installed and used in owner Ed Bernstein's De Lorean for about 3 months, the manual transmission remains factory-fresh, as Ed's car had an automatic. At $1,500, bidding at the time of this writing had yet to reach the reserve price, but if you're keen to park this piece of history in your livingroom, we suggest you act fast, because you can't actually go back in time to place a bid once you've missed it. So check out the listing and the images in the gallery below. Thanks to Gabe for sending in the tip!
[Source: eBay Motors]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
mike 4:44PM (8/19/2009)
aluminum? how did you get job with Autoblog???
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BIG 4:57PM (8/19/2009)
http://skepticalteacher.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/facepalm1.jpg
dukeisduke 4:48PM (8/19/2009)
The DeLorean was stainless steel over SMC (sheet molding compound). Not aluminum.
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FotoGenetix 4:48PM (8/19/2009)
is it Mr.Fusion compatible?
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Eric & Yahoo 4:49PM (8/19/2009)
Twin turbo PRV? Sounds like a Renault Safrane Biturbo...
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Benfolio 5:00PM (8/19/2009)
Fresh out of this guy's basement to the engine bay of your beloved DeLorean for the low low price of....... wow. Wonder what the reserve is.
I love that all his previous sales have been coins, and one DeLorean licence plate frame.
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onedownfiveup 5:10PM (8/19/2009)
Aluminum? So how many car enthusiasts proof read your article? Seems you know more about movies than cars.
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Frankrijk 5:15PM (8/19/2009)
@ Eric & Yahoo : yes your're right. The only twin turbo PRV ever produced was the Safrane's one. It produced 268 HP, and was prepared by Hardge (german company). It has been produced from 1993 to 1996
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welles 5:50PM (8/19/2009)
Not to pile on, but the horsepower rating of the US-spec DeLorean was 130, not 170.
Road & Track briefly drove the Legend-turboed DeLorean in '83, just as Legend (which also did the Fiat Spider Turbo) was going into receivership.
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Shiftright 6:03PM (8/19/2009)
I remember reading that a one point Delorean was looking at the Callaway Twin-Turbo Alfa V6 that was putting out close to 300 hp from a 2.5 liter.
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RLQ 6:56PM (8/19/2009)
It will make a good table stand. :p
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fixitfixitstop 7:24PM (8/19/2009)
How about some engine specs in the writing rather than a bunch of silliness?
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Kaveh 8:04PM (8/19/2009)
Nice, imagine if they had the Twin turbo in it back in the day.
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RWD 8:03PM (8/19/2009)
Additional random Back to the Future reference here!
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Bird 8:18PM (8/19/2009)
Call me when someone shoehorns a crate LS9 and a suitably beefy drivetrain into the DMC. That'd be something else.
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Qumefox 5:23PM (8/20/2009)
This engine is a fake by the way, originally created by legend industries as a display only. It was a b27 block with no internals vs the b28 the delorean used. If you compare 28 year old pics of the original motor with the current ones, you'll see the manifolds, intake, and turbos are all different from originally pictured., as well as things like the intercoolers are entirely missing. The display, as confirmed by former LI employees, also didn't use the turbos or intercoolers that their several running prototypes used... See this thread for full details. http://dmctalk.com/showthread.php?t=14073
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