Basically when JZD went to Lotus Engineering(Porsche was the orignal place he went to)anyway Lotus just outright scrapped the orignal engineering plans for the DMC,and whipped out the Lotus Engineering Drawings/blueprints...and used those for Reference ONLY(not to copy it point to point)and used the tried and proven engineering that went into the Lotus Esprit,and made the required changes to (Reasearch and Development) engineer the basic concept of the backbone frame layout to fit the Delorean,along with the wiring and suspension,and fitting of the(JZD's not Lotus's ideas)Gullwing doors,and the infamous idea of the Damn Golf Bag in the passenger compartment(behind the seats) and engineering the Delorean to be a rear enginned car VS the Esprit being a mid engine car.They also used/engineered the same two piece body concept,except in the case of the Esprit,it was finished off as THE FINISHED Body and PAINTED VS the Deloreans two piece body was unfinished(and unpainted)and was covered with the Stainless Steel Body Panels.Basically it was a way for the Cash strapped(at the time) Lotus to cash in big time(by "conning" JZD into buying into using the Lotus Esprit Engineering),by not having to totally R&R a new engineering concept for the Delorean,and therefore using DMC as their Cash Cow and "milking it" for all it's worth.(ie:Getting as much as you can out of the deal,just as JZD did to the British Goverment) Hope that explaines it somewhat CBL --- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, mike.griese@... wrote: > > The Esprit does not have an identical frame. They share the > center backbone and trailing link suspension layout, but > the front suspension mounts and engine cradle are completely > different. There is a lot more torsional rigidity in the Esprit > frame than in the DeLorean, which is the main issue with > adding significantly more horsepower. The DeLorean would > flex too much, compromising handling. > > The reason you can't buy a new Esprit is because it couldn't pass > crash testing anymore. The car had been brought in on waivers > since the late 80's and Lotus finally couldn't get them renewed. > > -- > Mike > > > -------------- Original message from "Wilson Hitchings" <canon20dfan@...>: -------------- > > > > OF COURSE we'd bring all the wiring up to current USA specs. New > > computer & internal electronics. > > > > Ya know, I don't think it's all that wild a notion to re-use the > > existing frame. To my untrained eye, the Lotus Esprit has the identical > > frame & chassis...in fact, a Delorean seems to be an Esprit with gull- > > wing doors. Is anyone challenging the performace of a Lotus? Safety > > certification? OK, do it. Is anyone NOT buying a Boxster or Lotus Elise > > because it doesn't have 8 airbags and a mini-van safety rating? All it > > has to do is PASS. > > > > Please send your donations for a new DMC production plant to...me! > > > > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] > To address comments privately to the moderating team, please address: moderators@xxxxxxxxxxx For more info on the list, tech articles, cars for sale see www.dmcnews.com To search the archives or view files, log in at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/dmcnews/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:dmcnews-digest@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx mailto:dmcnews-fullfeatured@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: dmcnews-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/