RE: [DML] "Preproduction" car on ebay?

["Marc A. Levy" <malevy@xxxx>]

I don't know if this car is anything special, but there are some odd thingsI can see from the photos. 

No VIN on the auction. Did you e-mail the seller asking for it? The VIN plate does not look stock, It has black lines on it.

The interior shot shows the door strap mounted to the door. This was an afterthought, even the early 1981 "production" cars had a strap looped aroundthe handle. There are also door guides installed... But maybe the doors were replaced at some point? The car is painted so it may have been in an accident.

There are screws in the doorsill. I thought they only did that on the early cars, but it is possible that was done by a dealer or mechanic after the fact. Not that I pay that much attention, but I don't recall seeing a car with the screws in the doorsill AND permanently installed door straps.

The throttle cable recall is also missing. Again, I am not an expert on when specific changes were made but I would expect to see this done on a car with the newer style doors. The coolant bottle does not look stock, and there is a second bottle in the front right corner, what is that?!

The exhaust looks to be the 1982 style with the tips. Why would a early carhave this?? This is a bigger question for me because when I purchased 1860 the seller gave me his stock muffler that he claimed was removed for the Legend installation. It also has tips.. But he got a whole truckload of parts from Legend when he purchased the engine, so it is possible parts got mixed up.

Why are there no photos of the nose??

If this car was really owned by a DMC employee, then it is possible he had selective upgrades done to it as they became available (door guides, straps, exhaust system, no need for throttle recall in southern CA). If you are bidding on it based on the claims of the auction, I would be sure to SPEAK to the previous owner of the car and/or get PROOF of it's history (plus youcould ask the ex-employee if he has any other memorabilia!)

Although this car is a bit odd, I would not call it "preproduction". If you ever see a prototype car there are a number of obvious differences like the pop out window, different wheels, no louvers, and different interior. The 1977 magazines had lots of pictures, Tamir's web site may have a copy.

Caveat Emptor