Worth importing this '82 D as a project?

[Darren C]

Cheers Ben, £30,250 , That's a really Measly :lol: :lol: £250 I knew you were cheap Ben, but £250. :lol:

Jokes aside, I agree space can be a problem. I have 10 cars at the moment and another classic Porsche on its way in a container from California as we speak. Like the buying of the cars, if you really want them you find ways to store them.
Like you I've had many, many cars in my time and to be fair there isn't any particular car I was glad to see the back of. In fact I pretty much regret selling all of them. That's how come I have 10 cars now, just can't bring myself to sell them now.
As for reasons to sell, you're right its about circumstances not always love for the car.
In my case I just wanted another/different car and when I was younger I had no option but to sell what I had to finance the next project. That's not to say that I gave them away, I was fortunate enough to hold out for a good price well above the market value most times. For me the "penny dropped" when I sold my Porsche 930, to buy an early 356a Speedster (a real one). I loved that car, after PX ing it in for the 356a The dealer put £10K on the price of the 930, which was just about the extra money I'd paid him on top of 930 to buy the 356.
This cut deep as in my mind, I was chasing a dream: in his mind (the dealer) the two cars were worth the same retail and he'd fleeced me for £10K and put a £10K safety net on selling my 930 that the next buyer could knock him down on.
I realised then that the £10K difference simply wasn't enough good reason to part with the 930. (even thought I'd made £15K on what I bought it for) It was about Market Place Value. Which goes back to my whole initial reasons to post on this thread.
However I did love that 356a and I did eventually sell it after many years in the end for twice what I paid for it whilst the 930 depreciated.
However I now wish I still had both Cars :roll:

Sometimes it simply isn't about the money.

[Chris P]

Space has always been an issue with me. I can't bear to see cars stood out side. I can get 4 cars in my garage and i'm up to my limit.

I dream about having a small cottage with HUGE outbuildings…one day perhaps.

Also a factor for me has been after a while I get itchy feet for a new car because I have got a little jaded with the one I've got! Thats just me, the grass is always greener on the other side of the …motorway!

I don't get fed up with owning a DeLorean..they have always had a special place. Not too fussed which one, as Ive said many times…a DeLorean is a Delorean etc. As long as its Stainless steel with Gull- wing doors..it will do.

[Darren C]

Just remember the Grass only grows greener on the otherside of the fence because there's more Sh*t there :wink:

[88mph]

Darren, You seem to be totally contradicting your earlier comments.
Perhaps you could explain, why £5K is measly, but a mere £8K a reason not to have a Testarossa? :?

Darren C Wrote:they are as fragile as a house of cards, cost me £8K for a timing belt service and that's almost 20 years ago when £8K was more than it is today.

Of course, your money/costs don't effect 'real enthuiasts' is a complete nonsense. :wink:

[88mph]

Darren C Wrote:Just remember the Grass only grows greener on the otherside of the fence because there's more Sh*t there :wink:

This I agree with!! :lol:

[Darren C]

88mph Wrote:Darren, You seem to be totally contradicting your earlier comments.
Perhaps you could explain, why £5K is measly, but a mere £8K a reason not to have a Testarossa? :?

Darren C Wrote:they are as fragile as a house of cards, cost me £8K for a timing belt service and that's almost 20 years ago when £8K was more than it is today.

Of course, your money/costs don't effect 'real enthuiasts' is a complete nonsense. :wink:

The problem is, like most forum posts, sometimes the meaning or intent is lost in translation by the reader.
The point I made earlier is that a £5K tipping point was not proportional to "I love my car and would never part with it" verses "sell, sell, SELL"
The £8K on the timing belt was most unwelcome (and to be fair an extortionate price in anyones book for a £30 bit of rubber) on a fragile car that didn't live up to the dream.
You're not comparing eggs with eggs in the same context.

[TheOriginalMrP]

Darren C Wrote:The £8K on the timing belt was most unwelcome.

I've finally given up on the dream of owning a fragile Testarossa.... Had the timing belt service been a fiver cheaper, I would have probably gone for it!

:lol:

Maybe my other ambition of owning another Zastava Yugo is more doable!

[Darren C]

Very good Ben :lol:

But it's better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all

[Darren C]

Ben, I’ve had a rummage in my attic and got out my old photo album. I don’t want to crush your dream.

Here’s a picture of me long before the digital age with the Testarossa.



This photo was taken in a series by my good friends wife, just before I took my friend to see his Mother.
The Testarossa was his all time dream car, I surprised him by turning up in it (I’d just got it without telling anyone).

I took him to the Hospice to see his mother (a couple of days before she passed away).


He got to tell her about realising one of his dreams…….


This is what special cars can do. In my book that’s priceless.

[TheOriginalMrP]

That's a wicked picture, and thanks for sharing!

Makes the dream seem even more real when you find out someone kinda connected to you actually owned one...

I turned up to my best mates in my DeLorean unexpectedly, and that was a vision too. In fact, most people's faces look the same when they see one roll up... Have you ever owned a Countach by any chance?

Another childhood fetish of mine, and somebody in our village actually had one back in the early 80s when I was in infant school!

I've heard some horror stories about them too mind, in the way of servicing costs etc!

[Darren C]

Hi Ben, another hour in the attic going through boxes of old photo's for you :lol:

Very, very nearly. I’ll share a story with you (I trust you its true).

Back in 1985/86 I was working in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. I befriended a few ex-pats and we had a little British community going. Well one guy (Dave) ran a business called Foreign Toy’s. An exotic car dealership. Suffice to say we got on well. It was here that I got to drive all sorts of stuff, from Porsche to DeTomaso Pantera’s.
We had a mutual friend (Gibbo was his nick name). He was going out with a model from Miami. We went around to her house one day to pick her up, but she was out on a TV shoot as an extra. Her Father gave us directions (remember this was before mobile phones were common place) and we went to pick her up after work in Down Town Miami.
Now this is the bit you may find hard to believe….
We arrived on set to collect her but they were running late with the shoot so we had to wait at the end of the block where the barrier blocked the road. We watched them filming as a white car came to a stop and two guys got out. It was a white Testarossa, and they were filming Miami Vice! That was the moment I fell in love with the Testarossa. (I hadn’t seen the TV show as I’m not sure it was on in UK that early, so had no idea who they all were). I never got to meet them, but stood about 100 yards from the action, out of camera shot behind the barrier watching.
So, back to the Countach, we (that’s Dave really) got an invite to an open day at the Lamborghini dealership in Miami, and asked me along. This is where I took my first Countach Test Drive in a LP5000S. Here’s a photo I found that I took in the Miami showroom, you can see the tail end of an Excalibur too.



Since then I’ve driven 3 other Countach’s two 5000QV and 25th Anniversary LOL (last of line) car.
I nearly bought the black 5000QV, wish I had now as the prices have rocketed so much so I would have quadrupled my investment.
Bloody awful things to drive. Imagine wearing blacked out goggles with only a slit to look through in your Delorean, with someone covering over your rear window. The clutch is a monster, you need a leg of iron to depress it. The steering is heavy at low speed and the rear is much wider than it appears. The sill section is so wide its difficult to get in and out without getting the indicator stalk up your trouser leg (done that several times), and there’s little seat adjustment, so your just not quite comfortable in it. Also the inner wheel arch is so large to accommodate the wide front wheels turning it pushes the pedals and your feet towards the centre console. You need narrow shoes to avoid pressing two pedals together.
That said I’d still have one…… :wink:

[TheOriginalMrP]

Yes, it seems you are that true enthusiast of most of the similar 80's stuff I always loved as a kid.

The DeLorean was a big thing for me, and I literally sold everything but the kitchen sink to fund it.
I was big into Audiophile HiFi and home cinema, when DVD first came out... It was a toss up between that and a laserdisc player that became obsolete soon after, but is still big amongst enthusiasts. That, and all my amateur radio equipment got flogged with my highly modified 5 series BMW, a Convertible Peugeot, expensive nitro radio controlled toys and anything that wasn't nailed down!

Then after the DeLorean dream came true, I replaced most of the stuff I sold with better than before... So I could do it again if needs be. But it needs to be something not too far out of reach. I kinda imagined the countach would be a pig to drive!

Thanks for taking the time to rummage in your attic. It's nice to see a fellow delorean owner has owned and driven dozens of nice cars, yet still praises the D so highly... And its for that reason that I will probably stick with it for a long time....


Long live the DMC 12!

[*JB*]

TheOriginalMrP Wrote:Yes, it seems you are that true enthusiast of most of the similar 80's stuff I always loved as a kid.

There's definitely a theme emerging here. Whilst the Testarossa isn't on my dream garage list it definitely made an impression on me as a lad. But the DMC-12 and the Countach (the body kit resplendent '80s ones, naturally) are all time favourites. In spite of never hearing a good thing said about them, I'd still love to own a Countach.

That and an F40. Which reminds me, there's a roll over on the euro millions this week isn't there...?

[TheOriginalMrP]

I remember when I was 17 and just passed my test...
I had a MK 1 Fiesta Popular Plus, 957cc
A DeLorean was my dream car, A VW Scirocco was still an unaffordable alternative at 17.
A MK 2 Fiesta XR2 was my other wish.... I've had a few of these over the years and still have one now!

Why is it we follow our dreams of a younger person, and we strive to have a car the same as our fathers had?

I inherited the family Mk 5 cortina 2.0 GL, and snapped a few propshafts... (I broke engine mounts on the fiesta too, there's a pattern emerging here too - an erratic right foot!)

I still long to own an MGB GT too, but that's in the future... Or the past?

We're only here once, if you can afford it, have it!