[DML] Hey, I value my car, too!

["Ryan Brandys" <boiling_frog@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hey, I value my car, too!

Unlike many other DeLorean vendors, DeLorean One refuses to sell LED
door lights, improved spark plugs, or xenon headlight kits. These
parts are not original equipment, and DeLorean One worries these parts
may "reduce the value of the car? to a prospective purchaser." See
page 20 of DeLorean World Magazine, Winter 2007.

Let's put the value of concours aside for a moment and admit to
ourselves that the stock DeLorean was only 80% perfect off the
assembly line. Granted, our cars will almost never rust. Our PRV
engines have been known to crank out over 250,00 miles. Our sleek
stainless body-lines are bold and powerful. John DeLorean said they
built his car with the quality and precision of a BMW. He called it
"the ethical car."  These are all reasons why we love our cars. 

Can we also admit to ourselves that our roof seals leak, our
alternator belts break, our windows are too small, our door locks
drain our batteries, and our cooling fans fail? I strongly believe
that DeLorean Motor Company would have fixed these issues, had they
not been shut down by political pressure. Now the responsibility for
reengineering and improving the car ? falls on us owners. As owners,
we have two choices ? we can stagnate and cling to what the car was,
or we can take our cars of the future forward and explore what the car
would have been. As an owner, I feel I owe it to John to fix the few
problems that snuck through before he had time to fix them. I want to
take the dream that was pulled out from under DeLorean's feet and make
that a reality. 

If you are of a similar mindset, no doubt you've explored some of the
upgrades available from the many vendors out there. Vendors make
upgraded cooling systems, door locks, door poppers, trunk poppers,
improved alternators, stainless steel frames, and LED door lights,
just to name a few things. All these upgrades use technology that
didn't exist in 1981, or was prohibitively expensive at that time. As
technology improves, we should embrace those improvements in our cars,
take out what is now obsolete and upgrade it to the industry standard,
keeping our cars timeless into the coming decades. Some vendors may
feel slandered by the DeLorean One advertisement. These vendors
deserve our respect, because they pour hundreds of hours into
developing these modernizing kits. They work hard at keeping the dream
alive. 

What made the DeLorean unique was the way it defied convention. JZD
always expressed his interest to move forward to new technologies,
while GM and others continued to stagnate. In his book, On a Clear Day
you can see GM, DeLorean says that corporate stubbornness to embrace
the future is exactly why he left to start his own company. And, when
JZD spoke to DeLorean Car Show attendees in Cleveland, we all saw how
excited John was about carbon-fiber bodies, because they are lighter
and stronger. If DeLorean had been allowed to stay in business, would
he still be using plywood shelves, defective fan relays,
energy-wasting lock solenoids, and other substandard parts? Or would
he have pushed his car forward, closer to the perfection embodied by
the phrase, "live the dream" ? 

In my college ethics class, we learned the difference between
intrinsic and extrinsic value. The intrinsic value of a DeLorean is
the fun you get as you enjoy driving it. The many imperfections in the
design hurt the intrinsic value, because your DeLorean experience is
less joyous. The modifications I made to my car allow it to operate
more reliably and confidently than when it left the factory. If I
enjoy my LED door lights because I can leave my doors up at shows,
who's to say a "potential purchaser" isn't going to find intrinsic
value in leaving his doors up too? As the recent Barrett-Jackson
auctions have shown, old cars with updated electronics and modern
improvements generally sell for substantially more than cars with
All-Original-Equipment.

If you're worried about the resale value of your car, then you don't
value the car intrinsically, you value the car extrinsically, or as
means to an end. 

Ethics teaches us that it is immoral to treat people as means to an
end. A person should have final value, not instrumental value. If you
believe that John DeLorean's dream has final value, then you shouldn't
be greedy about the potential resale value of your car.

Any DeLorean owner who clings to the failings of the past out of a
sense of nostalgia, or intends to increase their car's dollar value by
reinstalling faulty components is a hypocrite. These DeLorean One
purists misinterpret the essence of what it means to live John
DeLorean's dream. There is nothing about living the dream that
involves backward-thinking or bean-counting. If you care about how
much money you can get in exchange for your car, then you should sell
it, and go buy a Bentley. There's no room for prostitutes in the
DeLorean community I know.

-Ryan Brandys, VIN #4190
www.deloreanmacmini.com




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