Re: [DML] The COMPLETE DeLorean crash test videos, report and more.

["content22207" <brobertson@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Actually Motor Trend December 1981 found the frame to be a significant design weakness.

Given that the poor thing can't even be exposed to rain water without damage (sans exterior protection), the mild steel chosen for its construction was a very poor choice. When was the last time you heard of an F150 frame rusting in two?

The epoxy coating was another poor choice. The frame is extremely flexible, but the epoxy coating is totally inflexible. The inevitable result is cracks in the epoxy, leaving the mild steel underneath vulnerable even to condensed water (a northern DMC vendor and I just had an interesting conversation about the massive amount of frame rust he's seen on cars stored indoors for a decade or two simply from condensation). To be brutally honest, we would have been better off if DMC had painted our frames rather than epoxy coating them. 

These crash test posts miss the big picture -- most DeLoreans are never going to be involved in a collision. Even if the frame is the hottest thing since sliced bread in a collision, we're stuck with their weaknesses in simple day to day use. 

Who wants to spend $25K (or is it $30K now?) on a car you can't even drive half the year? No wonder nobody was buying the damn things even when new. 

Bill Robertson
#5939


--- In dmcnews@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, Farrar Hudkins <fhudkins@...> wrote:
>
> I think I would rather have a frame which is flexible than one that is too
> rigid. From what I understand, a vehicle frame doesn't just carry the load
> above it -- it absorbs engine and driveline torque, endures shock loading,
> and accommodates twisting on uneven road surfaces. I think the DeLorean
> frame was probably the best of all possible options at the time -- rigid
> enough and yet flexible enough to perform adequately, not heavier than it
> needed to be, and self-sacrificial in the event of an accident.
> 
> Farrar Hudkins
> #2613
> 
> 
> [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
>




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