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How can a Delorean have more questionable engineering than one of the early 5 speed M3W's?

I don't believe it!!!

The DeLorean didn't have questionable engineering, it just got lots of hate on launch. Overpriced and under-powered compared to its competition. The original design would have wow'd, but what came out was a pretty body with not much to back it up.

Here is an extract from the December 1981 Issue of Car and Driver reviewing the Delorean.

“It pleases us no end to announce that John Zachary DeLorean has no reason to mount a rescue attempt for this brainchild. DeLorean and his new factory have done quite a splendid job of producing his car from the ground up. The bugs it bears lie at the easy-to-eliminate end of the scale, and with 3000 DeLoreans -- and counting -- built by late summer, it is obvious that the car is now ready to account for itself.”

The review went on to compare the Delorean with some of its competitors as follows:-

“Growling around the DeLorean you will find the Ferrari 308GTSi, the Porsche 911SC, the Datsun 280-ZX Turbo, and the Chevrolet Corvette, each representing a very different answer to the same poser of a problem, that of how to get the most driving and viewing pleasure out of a given number of modern dollars. With prices ranging from $17,500 to $56,650, the DeLorean's $25,600 fits right in the middle.”

The Delorean was finally ranked 4th ahead of the Corvette but was the slowest in the outright speed tests. It just did not cut it in performance.

Four recalls of early production models in 1981 & 82 highlighted the engineering faults.

The main compromise was the location of the engine.

John Delorean wanted to fit his golf clubs in the car behind him so the engine and transmission was moved back beyond the rear axle against the wishes of Colin Chapman (Lotus) who was now lead engineer on the project and wanted a mid engine configuration.

At the outset, there were extensive waiting lists of people willing to pay up to $10,000 above the list price; however, after the collapse of the DeLorean Motor Company, unsold cars could be purchased for less than the retail price.

Below is the review by RoadandTrack at the time which again appears very fair.

https://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/classic-cars/reviews/a27099/1982-delorean-dmc-12-road-test/

Here is a recent Review

https://youtu.be/gzTe3dIfv-c

An American car with a Swedish motor and a French gearbox put together by an Irishman was always going to be a problem.

Imagine doing it today – Donald would go off like a frog in a sock......

Acknowledgement – “DeLorean, Stainless Steel Illusion” by John Lamm – The Newport Press

You are quite right to ask KBMOG. I did not want to be so obviously disrespectful of the early new range M3W's

The commentary on this forum is pretty clear.

Oz, there’s a new The Essential Buyer’s Guide out to the Delorean DMC-12. Obviously, you’ve already got yours but it might contain some useful info. According to the review in Octane it is “full of detail on the multiple trouble spots”....
The book ID is ISBN 978 1 787112 32 2.

Thank you Shaun. The Essential Buyer's Guide for the "D" is like the wonderful DaveW publication for the modern trad Morgan, essential reading....

I had an early '81 DeLorean. My S/N was 750 and I think they started the customer VIN's at 500. You had to open the trunk to access the gas filler up front. In the later models they had a little filler door in the hood.

It did draw a crowd just like the M3W's do, but as all have said it was NOT a great car. 14" tires/wheels up front and 15" tires/wheels on the rear. It had numerous issues and I think my car was not "fixed" before I bought it at 32k miles for $12.5k. This was in '88 when I bought it. I drove it for a couple years and sold it for $12k and felt lucky to get that much. Mine was really just a daily drive that I had bought that would not rust. It was NO collector car at the time I bought it.

The clutch fluid would boil and when in major traffic the clutch would not disengage properly. Traffic was then a bear. Add to that VERY poor visibility, it was not fun to drive.

But I can say that I "had" one...

Well it sounds a dog to drive Dan

The gearing was very highway friendly. As I remember, at WOT I could get to 85 mph in second gear. But there was not enough grunt to the motor to pull that high of a gear.

Don't get me wrong, it was fun to drive as it got the "looks"...

Don't go to a drive through though as tall cups will fit vertical through the gullwing side windows.

So to sum up great for pulling the ladies but a crap drivers car