Everyone knows and loves the DeLorean in Back to the Future. But people rarely know much about the DeLorean itself. Today I'm not going to go into details. But I wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's day by talking about the DeLorean's Irish roots. Only about 9000 DeLoreans are said to have been built. All of which were built in Northern Ireland. Where?
Dunmurry, Northern Ireland to be exact. Dunmurry is located between Belfast and Dublin (closer to Belfast). The town is known for industry and also residential. It is considered a neighborhood of Belfast. Gotta love Wikipedia right? When considering possible locations for the factory DeLorean had debated between Northern Ireland and Puerto Rico. However Northern Ireland's Industrial Development Agency (NIDA) made DeLorean an offer at the last minute. This offer was intended to help bring jobs to Northern Ireland.
In October of 1978 DeLorean broke ground to what would become a 6-building complex over 660,000 square feet in area. The factory opened later in 1981 with over 2,500 employees. Of which many were new to the work force. Due to some issues with new workers, quality control was a major issue. There were reports of ill-fitting body panels being the most common. However several training standards were used to help aid these new workers. Included special black "mule" cars without the stainless steal panels (just fiberglass). These cars were used only for training and were never marketed.
Just as the plant workforce was becoming experienced things took a turn for the worst. Costs of producing the new car were exceeding sales and profit was little or none. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in late 1982. This would be the end of the Northern Ireland plant. An end to the DeLorean production. At least until recent light of the company making a come back. More on that later. Till then stay green my friends may luck be with ya!
References: DeLorean Museum, How Stuff Works
Anything left to sit and collect dust is never a good situation. Especially when it's a famous movie car. After decades of wowing fans on the Universal Studios Back Lot Tour, the "A" Back to the Future Delorean car is in need of major dose of TLC. As you may know this car was one of the premium cars used in all three films. But don't worry there's hope! According to a recent article over at BTTF.com. Bob Gale writer and co-creator of the Back to the Future franchise is heading a project to restore the car to museum quality. Bob has in-listed the skills of BTTF Delorean replica masters Joe Walser, J Ryan and Terry Matalas. We're looking forward to see how these guys make the magic happen. Learn more about the project and how you can help at BTTF.com. Remember the FUTURE is what you make it!
Glad to see everyone enjoyed our first Car Town TV and Movie Car Templates post. The game has really taken off. There have been a lot of cool additions to the game. Including a few base cars for popular tv/movie cars, Bandit Trans Am, 1969 Dodge Charger and 1981 Delorean DMC-12 to name a few. Along with these great expansions came more incredible fan created art. Submitted for your approval our second round of Car Town TV/Movie Car Templates!
Looking for a great way to spend the weekend? Let me correct myself. Car nuts are you looking for a great way to spend the weekend? This weekend Barrett Jackson fires up it's auction floor in Las Vegas! The famous auction company will put on their annual charity auto auction event Sept. 23th - 25th.
After looking through the line up, I've spotted a few interesting rides for our community. None claim to be tv/movie cars. But there are several clones and special edition cars of interest. Including two 1981 Delorean DMC-12s, one with an after-market turbo conversion. Several Bandit Edition Trans Ams. Not to mention one Trans Am with the Year One package. A replica of the famous 1957 Chevrolet 150 "Black Widow" NASCAR Sedan will be auctioned at no reserve. If you're looking for something to do while watching, Revell produced a great model kit of the Black Widow not long ago.
Granted once your car has been on Barrett Jackson isn't it an On Screen Car? It would be an honor to own anything that's been driven across that auction floor. Now just because you can't be there. Doesn't mean you can't watch it on tv. Not to mention they now on live streaming of the shows (also on Speed Online). Going once, going twice... I'm outta here.
Delorean Motor Company has announced that they are accepting pre-orders for the new Hot Wheels 1/64 scale die-cast of the black DMC-12. Similar versions painted silver and gold have been available for the past few months. Pre-orders are on sale now in packs of 12 only. Items will not ship until the die-cast model is release in September 2010. I've been checking out some of the great Back to the Future Time Machine conversions of the popular die-cast popping up on Flickr.
HOT WHEELS DELOREAN (BLACK) - 12 PACK
If you think you missed out on the silver and gold editions, have no fear. You can still find them on Amazon.com!
Everyone knows and loves the DeLorean in Back to the Future. But people rarely know much about the DeLorean itself. Today I'm not going to go into details. But I wanted to celebrate St. Patrick's day by talking about the DeLorean's Irish roots. Only about 9000 DeLoreans are said to have been built. All of which were built in Northern Ireland. Where?
Dunmurry, Northern Ireland to be exact. Dunmurry is located between Belfast and Dublin (closer to Belfast). The town is known for industry and also residential. It is considered a neighborhood of Belfast. Gotta love Wikipedia right? When considering possible locations for the factory DeLorean had debated between Northern Ireland and Puerto Rico. However Northern Ireland's Industrial Development Agency (NIDA) made DeLorean an offer at the last minute. This offer was intended to help bring jobs to Northern Ireland.
In October of 1978 DeLorean broke ground to what would become a 6-building complex over 660,000 square feet in area. The factory opened later in 1981 with over 2,500 employees. Of which many were new to the work force. Due to some issues with new workers, quality control was a major issue. There were reports of ill-fitting body panels being the most common. However several training standards were used to help aid these new workers. Included special black "mule" cars without the stainless steal panels (just fiberglass). These cars were used only for training and were never marketed.
Just as the plant workforce was becoming experienced things took a turn for the worst. Costs of producing the new car were exceeding sales and profit was little or none. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in late 1982. This would be the end of the Northern Ireland plant. An end to the DeLorean production. At least until recent light of the company making a come back. More on that later. Till then stay green my friends may luck be with ya!
References: DeLorean Museum, How Stuff Works
