Re: "Preproduction" car on ebay?

["d_rex_2002" <rich@xxxx>]

Ian and List,

I talked to the current owner (Jim) and he had some interesting 
stories about it. (FYI - it is not one of the original "black cars")

He said this was one of 28 cars that were built pre-production, prior 
to the plant's completion in Dunmurry. He said that all the SS panels
on the car were formed by hand, using a "soft tool" process. 
The doors fit so badly that they had to be replaced with later model
doors.

Jim painted the car after he acquired it, to improve the look of the
car, since the SS panels did not have the "finished" look of the 
production panels. He used a four step process including etching the
panels, spraying the panels with DP40 aircraft epoxy primer, then 
spraying the panels with Glassco primer and finally painting the 
panels. The rear fascia is a pre-production piece that did not have
the letters in the bumper strip.

Jim did admit that he has done a lot of customizing to the car, which
in some ways reduces the value of it being a pre-production car. He 
said he has had it fully licensed as VIN...000020 since he has owned 
the car. He also mentioned that he has never had any problems 
emission testing the car in California.

Jim said, to his knowledge, there are only 3 remaining pre-production 
cars, including his, numbers 19, 20 (both 5-spd) and 21 (automatic).
19 and 20 are both in CA about 50 miles from each other and 21 is now
in Texas somewhere. His car, #20, was used for the original emission
testing and EPA estimates.

The guy seemed pretty knowledgeable and had a short story or two about
the replacement prototype window regulators that he helped develop
that never had the chance to go into production. (he has the actual
prototypes in the doors of #20). Other than spelling "Delorean" 
incorrectly in the ad (Deloreon), the car seems legit.


Later,
Rich W.


--- In dmcnews@xxxx, Ian Stewart <istewart@xxxx> wrote:
> Greetings list,
> 
> I just got done conducting my semi-weekly sweep of eBay for an 
> affordable DeLorean and found this black-painted gem:
> 
> Very rare car, preproduction unit chassis #20.