MikeWard Wrote:

SteveyP Wrote:Who knows for sure? I do remember him on Watchdog having bought a dodgy Rolex on ebay. He thought he had bagged himself a bargain, but ended up with a Turkish fake and no refund. Very sad he was too :lol:

I wonder if he quipped the 'we're not, talking quality here, far from it.' line about the watch too :wink:

Quote:Quentin Willson's Motoring Column: Utter carbage; DE LOREAN'S DE-LOUSY.

SPENT a couple of days with a De Lorean DMC 12 - you remember, John De Lorean's "ethical" sports car from the Eighties.

I can exclusively reveal that it's a complete crock of c**p.

I couldn't believe how badly-made, slow and generally uncomfortable it was. I know cars have got better in the years since, but this thing must have been a crushing disappointment from day one. The Belfast-based operation managed to chew through more than pounds 80 million of British taxpayers' money and promised to be one of the greatest employers in Northern Ireland.

The whole enterprise lasted just a few years, and when the receiver was called in the assets amounted to a big fat zero.

The longest period De Lorean ever spent in Belfast was three days, preferring his plush New York penthouse office.

Originally billed as a $12,000 car, when it hit showroom carpets the DMC 12's sticker price had ballooned to $26,000, pitting it against established titans such as the Porsche 911 and Mercedes Sports, next to which it was comprehensively hopeless.

Alcatraz

And it didn't have any of the great innovations De Lorean promised. No airbags, no plastic monocoque and no serious performance.

Instead of a dedicated De Lorean engine, it borrowed the asthmatic 2.8 V6 out of the Renault 30. De Lorean made much of being the consumer's friend and lambasted General Motors for being cynical. Look round the DMC and you'll spot scores of little cost-cutting tricks.

Those celebrated gull-wing doors should have had two gas struts instead of one. That's one of the reasons why they never work properly.

The alternator's too small to power all the electrics, especially the air conditioning.

And, instead of having door windows that roll all the way down, there's just a little pillar-box slot which makes the cabin feel like Alcatraz with carpets.

In my two-day tenure, the thing overheated three times, the battery went flat overnight and those miserable doors locked me in for 30 minutes.

Victims

De Lorean's path is littered with casualties. Apart from the British Government, dealers lost a fortune, as did owners and suppliers.

Sammy Davis Jnr kissed goodbye to half a million dollars and Johnny Carson lost $1.5 million. But the greatest victims of all were the 2,000 Irish workers who did their best and tried their hardest.

So if you've ever considered investing your money in a classic De Lorean, forget it.

Owners' clubs try to whistle up prices and there are fond fools who've given as much as pounds 15,000 for their De Loreans, an investment they haven't got a cat's chance of recouping.

No, if you want a classic, buy an MGB, an Austin-Healey, an E-Type, a Jag Mk II - but never, ever, buy a De Lorean.