Anyone fancy some amateur detective work?

[TBRM]

All

My father worked for DMC from 1979 until Oct 1982 and was going through some old pics today to see if he could find any that Chris P might like to put in his forthcoming book. While searching he found 3 pics of one of the cars outside our house in Bangor, Co. Down. The car in question was registered in the UK (registration no. XOI 8743) and was a factory demo car that some of the managers occasionally borrowed to take home at the weekend and show off to their families. The pic would have been taken around May '81 and is the car I remember sitting on the parcel shelf of when I was 4 years old. As the pic was taken around May '81 and the car has a gas flap hood it is clearly an early production car but unfortunately all the pics are external so I don't know what the VIN is. We assume it was never exported to the US as it was a UK registered demo car so I guess it would ultimately have been sold by the receivers. I would give anything to know what happened to it so I have been searching the internet, DVLA UK and NI websites and phone numbers today to try and track it down but no luck. I know this is a long shot but does anyone know what happened to it or alternatively have any good ideas how I could track down its current whereabouts (or its fate)?

There's a pint in it for you...

[Rich Hanlon]

Have you tried Chris Nicholson? He has had some uber-early cars so might have some idea...

[Chris P]

Hi Richard's,

From looking at the external pictures, I dont think its "uber-early", just early. I have photo's of other "Factory" , XOI cars and some more RIA one's (all will be in the book) .
The club is currently assisting a TV company filming the restoration of a ( post factory) RHD car....this is very similar in appearance , gas flap etc . July 81, Vin 2498., reg number URC 652X. Any info on any of these cars would be gratefully received.

[Dangermouse]

Richard, as Dangermouse is a detective after all:

XOI 8743 was one of the cars auction off in 1984 by Henry Butcher at the factory. It had 9750 miles on it at that point and was noted as "vehicle no. 796"

I would assume that to mean VIN 00796?

However that VIN is reported to be in California last year and Washington state back as far as 1994. Not impossible obviously.

But VIN 00769 is still in the UK (possibly the Barmouth Wales car?), so was there a number transposition in the catalogue? Who knows?

Can you post the pic please?

(Just pour my pint in an envelope and send it right over )

[Chris P]

Aghhhh. The Barmouth car is definitely vin 522 ( now mine) ....I had it down incorrectly as 769, my mistake.....goes back years!

So it looks like as if XOI 8743 is indeed 796 then. I wonder if it still has that same number? I'll check what records I have.

[Stuart Rees]

I came across some info on this car, XOI 8743 on ebay a couple of years ago, the following documents were for sale by DMCSELLER which gives a bit of an insight as the document states Don Lander was driving it one day in Co. Down...

The Car is indeed listed in the Auction Catalogue and the VIN seems correct as VIN 796 is not listed by the Delorean Museum as having gone to America, VIN 769 DID go to America and has a Warranty card & Buyer Info which it would not have, if it was shipped after 1982.

http://www.deloreanmuseum.org/ownerinfo500-1000.asp

Although the DMC Texas VIN List shows it was last in WA in the States, although unusual, a UK car could have been exported to the USA at a later date by the owner.

http://www.citizenkidd.com/DMC/pages/vi ... instop=999

Dermot, how do you know 796 is in California....

















Call me Penfold...

[Dangermouse]

That's a great letter, Stuart

00769 was on ebay a couple of years ago from Indiana, a listing that also included a photo of the VIN plate (which is also on the txdmc.org site). As I was mistaken about it being the "Wales" car, and there is a warranty car, I think it is safe to say that it was exported in the normal way and was probably one of the first cars sold. My theory of number transformation was just a red herring.

00796 is listed in the Butcher catalog as being in NI in 1984. I have an Autocheck report (Carfax/HPI) for that vin that shows it registed in WA in the 90s. Then a couple of years ago a guy on DMCTalk in CA bought it in bad condition, did a little cosmetic work to it and sold it on in 2012. I'll admit my assumption is that it is still in CA, but it may not be.

Pertinent to this conversation is that it appears to be in the USA from at least 1994.

[TBRM]

That is some astonishingly good detective work there everyone. It makes me very happy indeed to see that the car I was in 32 years ago is still around.

Dermot Dangermouse, you asked me to post the pics that my father took but to my eternal shame I can't work out how to get them into the body of my message. Could someone tell me how to do it please?

[Rissy]

below the box you type your message reply into, you will see another smaller box for attachments. just "choose file" and locate your photos on your hdd, and then select. I think you can add up to 4 or 5, but only one at a time....

easy peesy

[Dangermouse]

A little bit more.

00796 seemed to have been exported to Canada where it had a 240km/h speedo installed and the cats removed. It then moved to WA in, perhaps, 1994. Sat then from 1997 until 2011 when it was bought for less than $8k as a non-runner. Resold in 2012 to new owner.

Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it from that period.

[Chris P]

Thats great work folk,

if someone could cast some light on vin 2498, that would be great.

I'm trying to attach a picture.... breaking new ground for me!

[Chris Williams]

That's great work guys, and after 6 years ChrisP has finally managed to up load a picture :wink: :wink: only kidding Chris
Chris

[Stuart Rees]

Chris P Wrote:Thats great work folk,

if someone could cast some light on vin 2498, that would be great.

Hi Chris, The DMC Museum (DMC Texas) has a Warranty Card & the Name/Address of its first owner in the US. You may be lucky to trace its history from there.

http://www.deloreanmuseum.org/ownerinfo2001-2500.asp


As for #796, Interesting to know it went to Canada but I'm not surprised it left the country. Only 2 cars from the factory auction have never left the UK & Ireland!

Factory Auction Cars

VIN 717, 3557 miles (LHD)
VIN 513, 70 miles (LHD)
VIN 796, 9750 miles reg number XOI8743 (LHD)
VIN 529, 534 miles (LHD)
VIN 534, 381 kilometers (LHD)
VIN 510, 3763 miles (RHD)
Pilot Car 25, 372 miles (LHD)

Current location

VIN 717 France
VIN 513 Ireland
VIN 796 Canada (Cheers Dermot :wink: )
VIN 529 Netherlands
VIN 534 Germany
VIN 510 Australia (Now returned to the UK)
Pilot 25 Ireland

[Rich Hanlon]

Is this the 'Culloden' auction or was there another?

[Stuart Rees]

Rich Hanlon Wrote:Is this the 'Culloden' auction or was there another?

Rich, There were at least 2 DeLorean Auctions in NI. The Factory Auction in May 1984 & The Culloden Auction in September 1982.
The Culloden Hotel Auction sold the DeLoreans that were 'Confiscated' by NIC (Northern Ireland Carriers) to get the money owed to them by DMCL. Two Transporters on their way to the Docks were told to Immediately return to the Depot with the cars as the news of receivership hit the airwaves.

The Culloden cars are in the VIN 11### Range

Lots of Auctions followed in England which included the Wooler Hodec RHD Cars...