The rise and fall of John DeLorean

[Otter74]

I thought some of y'all might enjoy this engagingly-written piece on John Z.:

https://theoutline.com/post/6776/john-delorean-rise-and-fall-big-money-the-fbi-celebrities-and-cocaine?zd=9&zi=fwujj7mv

[T77911S]

got a little nervous scrolling down when he had his shirt off.

if not mistaken I think he had a lot to do with the start of the muscle car era.

[74-911]

Interesting read, had kind of forgotten about all that. Thanks for posting.

[sand_man]

That looks interesting! I will be sure to check that out!

[kach22i]

I'll be reading it all later, got off to a good start on it though.

[racing97]

Damn that was good!

[Sooner or later]

Originally Posted by T77911S

got a little nervous scrolling down when he had his shirt off.

if not mistaken I think he had a lot to do with the start of the muscle car era.

Daddy of the Goat.

[T77911S]

could not remember the car.
they talk about him in the DOC about henry ford.

[speeder]

That's a remarkably good piece of writing. Bravo!

[herr_oberst]

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing. A good companion to this is the book "On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors" which documents his career (as a firebrand!) with GM.

[pwd72s]

Had a couple of Goats back in the day...Pontiac dealers must have loved the guy.

Indeed, a well written read. Far as I can tell, historically accurate.

[dad911]

Small connection to DeLorean:

A woman who is John Z. DeLorean's personal secretary and housekeeper at his New Jersey estate was arrested Wednesday evening in a motel in Clinton Township, N.J., along with three other people, on charges of trafficking in cocaine. The arrests sent another jolt through the DeLorean trial here.

The secretary, Cynthia Lee Brady, 30 years old, was arrested when she returned to a room at the Fountain Motel after the motel manager, Ray Counterman, alerted the police that he had found drug paraphernalia in her room.

My father and uncle built and operated the Fountain Motel, but sold it in the 50's.

[URY914]

In case you forgot ...............

[tdw28210]

Here is a link to the 1981 documentary film about the factory mentioned in the article.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sueqDrq9VBw

[legion]

Sounds like after he "left" GM he was essentially a high-end con man always looking for his next victim to perpetuate his lifestyle. Well, that may not be completely accurate.

My dad essentially did exactly what DeLorean did, for many of the same reasons, just at a much lower level. My dad was essentially an IT consultant. He'd land a big contract, in the beginning he'd fully intend to deliver on the promises he made, but despite his confident reassurance and smooth sales pitch, he wasn't really capable of following through. Somewhere along the way, the pile of money he'd been given was just too tempting not to spend. Sometimes he'd even successfully go back to the well multiple times, citing unexpected "problems", without really delivering anything. Occasionally he would deliver something small and below expectations. I've now pieced together that he raised $40,000 from friends in family to get his business going in 1985. He immediately turned around and bought a Mercedes-Benz 300D for $35,000 and put $5,000 into the business, mostly to buy high-end furniture. In 1989 his grandmother died. He was executor of the estate. He convinced the other heirs to keep their money in a trust that he "invested" on their behalf. He really just spent the money. He sent out "statements" that were completely fabricated for a number of years (Bernie Madoff style), and then stopped communicating when some of the other heirs asked to withdraw some money.

[jcommin]

Legion, I'm sort of with you on this. Admittedly, he is the father of the muscle car and the GTO. A real smart car guy with a huge ego. The other guy that comes close is Lee Iaccoca. Both have been compared to each other - I don't care for either one of them but DeLorean seems to be more of a con guy. He essentially did nothing after his GM days. He builds a substandard card, builds it in a area with little of no technical or manufacturing expertise essentially to prove a point - he was above it all.

Would we be really talking about this guy or his car if it wasn't for the "Back to the Future movies"?

[legion]

Originally Posted by jcommin

Would we be really talking about this guy or his car if it wasn't for the "Back to the Future movies"?

I think that he'd be as well known as Malcolm Bricklin.

[legion]

Originally Posted by jcommin

Legion, I'm sort of with you on this. Admittedly, he is the father of the muscle car and the GTO. A real smart car guy with a huge ego. The other guy that comes close is Lee Iaccoca. Both have been compared to each other - I don't care for either one of them but DeLorean seems to be more of a con guy. He essentially did nothing after his GM days. He builds a substandard card, builds it in a area with little of no technical or manufacturing expertise essentially to prove a point - he was above it all.

I agree with you here. I think Iaccoca made some terrible decisions, but I never felt like he was out to outright rip anyone off for his own personal benefit.

DeLorean may have also fell into the mental trap that because he was right about muscle cars, he was right about everything else.

[jcommin]

Originally Posted by legion

I think that he'd be as well known as Malcolm Bricklin.

Yep, I agree.

[1990C4S]

I suspect he was always a con man. I wonder how much of the GTO was him, and how much was done by others while he took the credit. I have worked with a lot of people who rise tot he top on very little substance and a lot of bul$$t.

Those cars were hardly 'genius', throw a big engine in, sell the car. Perhaps his real genius was in flouting the corporate rules and selling what people wanted.