Thanks Thomas I'm glad you dog likes your new RC DeLorean., Re "Black cars", the most common interpretation of the Black cars, is that, as we know, the first proper "production" cars start at vin 500, With most of the earlier cars being used for a verity of testing / training purposes. When the factory got into their stride, they found a way of keeping the size of the under-bodies, more or less similar. In the early stages of production, they varied by as much as an inch! This was due to tweaking the curing/ processing times of the fibreglass etc. Don't forget, the under bodies were the only item actually "made" in the factory. Everything else was shipped in for assembly at the factory. With the central purchasing office located in Coventry, it is no surprise that many of the suppliers were very local and well used to supplying British Leyland etc. This is why we have so many "cross-over" parts in the UK. Why re-invent the wheel? If you were Lockheed- Girling and were approached by the new DeLorean "buyers" (who you had previously worked at Jag or Reliant etc) and they were wanting say, brake callipers, why not see if the Ford Cortina fronts would do, or the Jag rears? This is what we ended up with. A "parts bin" car, a modern concept. OK we had "state of the art" US air-con units and Radios,. But most stuff came from the west midlands of England. Back to the "Black cars" Andy and I have loads of pictures of them, at all stages of their lives, some were used as "training" cars, and were constantly stripped down and re-built, some were used for crash testing etc and many were placed in storage in a chicken shed near Andover in Wiltshire. Andy and I have visited and photographed the Farmer and actual chicken sheds! All will be revealed in our new book "Stainless Steel Legacy". Of course the reason they were near Andover was "Wooler Hodec" who were sorting out the RHD work. They also got the contract for scrapping the early miss-shaped under-body's cars. This is why many very early RHD cars have truly awful panel fits. (Photo's again in the new book.) Nowadays, most manufacturers "buy in" parts, but in the early 80's, most manufactures made most things from scratch. Again the DeLorean was ahead of the game, ahead of its time. Another reason why even today, in 2003, it still looks "state of the art". (to my eyes anyway). Chrusty, your secretary. -----Original Message----- From: Thomas Mc Auley [mailto:mcauleydmc@xxxx] Sent: 04 December 2003 16:13 To: doc-uk@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx Subject: RE: [doc] 'Black cars' I didn't mean paint, I just didn't go into detail as I assumed you would know what I was talking about- the cars that were used to train the workforce, and they didnt have stainless panels, they had fibreglass panels instead-would you know what happened to them? I hope they weren't scrapped BTW Chris I got that car today, its great, probably play with it for hours. The dog is fascinated at it lol. Thanks --------------------------------- Download Yahoo! Messenger now for a chance to WIN Robbie Williams "Live At Knebworth DVD" [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] DOC UK Website: www.deloreans.co.uk Unsubscribe: doc-uk-unsubscribe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx ** Unless otherwise stated, all messages posted to the group are assumed public and may be printed in the club magazine ** Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/