Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com Autoblog http://www.blogsmithmedia.com/www.autoblog.com/media/feedlogo.gif Autoblog http://www.autoblog.com en-us Copyright 2009 Weblogs, Inc. The contents of this feed are available for non-commercial use only. Blogsmith http://www.blogsmith.com/<![CDATA[eBay Find of the Day: DeLorean twin-turbo prototype engine]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/19/ebay-find-of-the-day-delorean-twin-turbo-prototype-engine/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/19/ebay-find-of-the-day-delorean-twin-turbo-prototype-engine/http://www.autoblog.com/2009/08/19/ebay-find-of-the-day-delorean-twin-turbo-prototype-engine/#commentsFiled under:

DeLorean Twin-Turbo PRV-V6 Prototype Engine - Click above for image gallery

Between 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 aluminum stainless steel wonder? In 1980, after an aborted attempt at fusion power, the ambitious auto executive turned to Legend Industries to develop a twin-turbo version of the PRV engine, and this is what they came back with.

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!


Gallery: DeLorean Legend Twin-Turbo Prototype Engine


[Source: eBay Motors]

eBay Find of the Day: DeLorean twin-turbo prototype engine originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Aug 2009 16:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It doesn't take a genius to figure out why Hollywood is working on a film about a car company going kaput. You might wonder, however, why three different factions are working on another movie about John Z. DeLorean. Brett Ratner is collaborating with producer Robert Evans on one pic, and Face/Off producer David Permut has another version in the works. Now Time, Inc Studios becomes the third horse in the race, working from material published in Time and Fortune magazines and an unpublished memoir penned by DeLorean himself.

While Ratner's project has name recognition associated with it, Time appears to have the in-house material and the blessing of John's son Zachary, who is executor to the estate. Still, with three studios on the case, the DeLorean film's production isn't assured, even though one producer said, "It's almost like an updated Citizen Kane story of the great American entrepreneurial hero, and how it all went wrong." If the DeLorean biopic ever does get made, it'll probably be like Tucker, but with more women, more cocaine, and more stainless steel. Which isn't a bad thing. Thanks for the tip, Neil!

[Source: The Independent]

Studios fighting for DeLorean biopic originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 12 Jun 2009 12:16:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments]]>celebritydeloreandelorean movieDeloreanMovieentertainmenthollywoodjohn deloreanJohnDeloreanlifestylemoviemoviesFri, 12 Jun 2009 12:16:00 EST<![CDATA[eBay find of the day: 1964 Pontiac Banshee Prototype XP-833 Coupe, again]]>http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/28/ebay-find-of-the-day-1964-pontiac-banshee-prototype-xp-833-coup/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/28/ebay-find-of-the-day-1964-pontiac-banshee-prototype-xp-833-coup/http://www.autoblog.com/2008/03/28/ebay-find-of-the-day-1964-pontiac-banshee-prototype-xp-833-coup/#commentsFiled under: , , ,


Click above for a high-res gallery of the 1964 Pontiac Banshee

The very cool 1964 Pontiac Banshee prototype is being auctioned off, again. Back in November of last year, the super-cool and svelte vehicle was put up on eBay with a Buy-It-Now price of $1.3 million. It didn't sell, so it's back up... with a cool $2 hundred-grand tacked onto the price.

Powered by Pontiac's OHC straight-six engine, the Banshee was intended to compete with the just-introduced Ford Mustang. As an extremely unique piece of automotive history, there are surely a few people out there with very deep pockets who would like to get their hands on the car that GM thought was too close to Corvette territory. Because GM had already committed to the 'Vette as its halo-car, it squashed the Banshee program before John De Lorean, then head of Pontiac, was able to get the Banshee into production.

Look closely and you'll note that many of the design elements introduced on the Banshee prototype were stolen carried-over to the 1968 Corvette, along with the tail-end of the Banshee ending up on the new-for-1970 Pontiac Firebird and Trans Am. We're big fans of the Pontiac Banshee prototype, and current owner Len Napoli, a Connecticut car dealer, is understandably aiming to capitalize on the unbelievable deal he got when he snatched the car up for a mere $214,500 at the 2006 Barrett-Jackson auction in Scottsdale. That, as they say, was well bought, indeed. In a December 2007 conversation with Automotive News, Napoli said that he hadn't gotten any offers at his then-$1.3M asking price and that he'd like to see the car go to a museum. If you have a museum and want to add the Banshee as an exhibit, it's there for the taking. Just bring money.

Gallery: 1964 Pontiac Banshee Prototype XP-833 Coupe


[Source: eBay via Car Scoop]

eBay find of the day: 1964 Pontiac Banshee Prototype XP-833 Coupe, again originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 28 Mar 2008 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It'd take a special kind of person to draw inspiration from the life of John DeLorean, who despite creating two highly iconic sportscars, is also remembered for his shady business dealings and narcotics wrap. Leave it to a Welsh guitarist and a Hollywood producer, then. Gruff Rhys, know to some as the front-man for a band called Super Furry Animal, is collaborating with Los Angeles music producer Boom Bip (seriously, we couldn't make up names like those) on an electro-pop album called Stainless Style, inspired by DeLorean's life's work.

The album is due to hit the shelves of music stores all around Wales the world in late February. The duo calls themselves Neon Neon, and as our British compatriots point out, likely won't feature any covers of Huey Lewis' The Power of Love or any of the other songs we know from the Back to the Future trilogy...just the car on the cover.

[Source: WhatCar?]

DeLorean inspires pop album originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Jan 2008 07:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Kathryn DeLorean appeared on the DMC talk forum as Dmckid recently and asked, "Do you have a question about JZD?" That would be John Zachary DeLorean. Members, would you believe, did have lots of questions about DeLorean, the man and the machine whose fortunes and iconic status are inseparable. Kathryn has taken the time -- in between midterms, it appears -- to address them as she can.

She says some things you might expect: it wasn't easy to grow up in a famous household that had to regularly deal with legal hassles, and the other kids weren't always kind. She even says that there aren't many memories of things that happened before she was nine years old, perhaps because she blocked them out. But she also reveals some unexpected things: DeLorean wanted to be a professional musician -- he played the clarinet -- but gave it up and went to night school for engineering. And it turns out she is not happy at all about the return of custom-built DeLoreans by the new DMC, though she doesn't say why.

Her father's favorite accomplishment is not the DMC. It's the Pontiac GTO. But the biggest accomplishment of all, for her is the man himself, who she says was "my best friend, my best teacher, my hero and remains the inspiration in all I do." Head on over to DMC Talk to find out more about the real DeLorean.

[Source: Winding Road, Photo: Josh Haldeman]

Delorean's daughter speaks: Doesn't like DMC revival originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 07 Jan 2008 13:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You may remember a post we did back in January about the DeLorean Motor Company selling flux capacitors and hover conversion kits on its website. The fictional for-sale items were a joke that got a lot of attention for the Texas-based company that's been selling old DeLorean parts and making new ones since 1995. That business has been going like gangbusters, so much so that the company has announced that it plans to begin selling new DeLoreans next year for $57,500. They will be built by hand at the rate of one to two cars per month, and be nearly identical to the originals. The company will update the interior as well as provide stronger, more modern engines, and it may go further to address other shortcomings of John DeLorean's original design.

[Source: Jalopnik]

DeLorean revival officially confirmed for next year originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 21 Aug 2007 12:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Apparently John DeLorean was into more than just threatening the Big 3 with his DMC-12 stainless steel-bodied sports car. Winding Road uncovered a patent filed with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a unique monorail design that shows a pair of tracks suspended on either side of a divided highway. The elevated monorail would also allow an additional lane of traffic to flow beneath it. The DeLorean monorail, of course, was never built, and John DeLorean left this mortal plane in 2005. So unless someone else cares to pick up and carry the late, great almost-automaker's torch, it will remain filed away in the USPTO's archives where Winding Road found it.

[Source: Winding Road]

John DeLorean and the monorail that never was originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 24 Jul 2006 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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