Re: DeLorean for 17year old

[Ian Stewart <istewart@xxxx>]

(sincere apologies for length of message)

Hello again, list,

I felt I should reply to this topic since I'm a young person (probably 
considered very young at 15) looking for a DeLorean. Like a lot of 
people, I was first introduced to the car by the Back to the Future 
trilogy. The car quickly joined a red Porsche 911 at the top of my 
"must-have cars" list. However, since I was about 7 or 8 years old at 
the time, I was more than happy with the back seat of my mother's VW 
Vanagon (an awesome vehicle in its own right, but there's a Vanagon list 
elsewhere. :)) More lately, using the modern miracle of the Internet, 
I've done a lot of research on the DeLorean at sites such as dmcnews and 
Tamir's excellent site. I've heard reports of people getting 30 MPG in a 
D, and for now economy is more important to me than performance (I'm 
still saving up for that 911). However, the "coolness factor" is still 
extant, and the DeLorean has been and always will be tops in that 
category.
Like a lot of people (especially those in my age bracket), my 
primary concern is the cost of the vehicle. Using this as a basis for 
reasoning, it is almost completely illogical that I'm looking for a 
DeLorean. However, I'd be willing to put in the copious amounts of time 
and money (well, as much money as I can put... college looms, after all) 
to restore one, and I really think that'd be a better experience than 
buying a perfect condition concours car or even a decent-quality daily 
driver. At the same time, I've heard plenty of horror stories about cars 
that were completely screwed up, but the owners still wanted nearly 
$10,000 for the car. The car I'm currently looking at (I've posted about 
it before) is a very short distance from my house, at a truck yard. It's 
been there for a while and obviously doesn't run, but externally appears 
to be in good condition. It needs a bath badly, but the stainless 
doesn't appear to be dented or have major defects. I still need to take 
a good, close look at the car, which will hopefully happen soon, but I 
hope to buy it anyway. At the very worst, I can always sell it to 
another DMC enthusiast who does have the means to restore it, depending 
on the actual condition of the car.
Another worry is the cost of insurance, but I have a strong sense 
that insurance companies would give me a hard time and high premiums for 
everything except a Yugo with a three-cylinder Mazda rotary engine.
All in all, I think that a DeLorean is a very worthy automobile for 
my personal use (at least on the weekends, when I can use it to attract 
females and offers of money at the local shopping mall). It's a tad out 
of reach for most teenagers, but I still think it'd be a good 
investment, since the rarity and curiosity of the cars will most likely 
cause them only to increase in value.

Ian Stewart