True "cost" of a Delorean DMC-12

[Darren C]

I was wondering about the “true” cost of a Delorean and whether the current market value reflected that. After a little investigation I found some interesting data that I thought I should share.

In January 1981 the £ (GBP) was very strong to the $ (USD) at an exchange rate of 2.4USD to the GBP.
Great time for JZD to start production in the UK and sell in the US

The car we are told sold for $25,000 USD when new. This would have been a price set early on and pre-production or at least just as the first cars were being assembled we have to assume.
$25,000 USD equated at the beginning of 1981 as £10,416 GBP

This is at a time when the average UK house was £24000.
So a Delorean cost 43% of the average UK house.

Some of the first cars sold for $10,000 USD above the $25K, making them a staggering £14,582 GBP

Now….if you look at a chart for 1981 USD to GBP you will see in December 1981 the exchange rate had dropped from 2.4 to 1.82 USD to GBP. This was one of the largest single year drops in the last 30 years!

So by the end of 1981 a $25,000 Delorean related to £13,736 GBP. In effect JZD was getting 32% more than initially anticipated for each car sold!

By the end of 1983 the exchange rate was 1.5 USD to GBP so the very few last Deloreans being auctioned off (based on the $25,000 USD sale price) equates to £16,666 GBP.

All of this does not consider the rest of the shenanigans that was going on.

Ok what does this mean to us…..well in 1981 a Delorean cost 43% of the average UK house.
Today (2014) an average UK house is £180K, so a Delorean new today would be £77,400 at start of 1981 and £104,00 by Dec 1981.

Food for thought

[Admin-bloke]

Food for thought? ??

Pie
Pizza
Curry
Yorkshire puddings

mmmmmm

[Darren C]

Tart

[Dangermouse]

Alternatively, $25k in 1981 has a relative buying power in 2014 of $67,000 in todays money.

Which converts to 42,000 quiddies at todays exchange rate, and a pie

[jerzybondov]

My feeling is that a new DeLorean in 1981 was analogous to something like a Jaguar XK today - about £60k worth. But of course we are relatively wealthier now, so you could argue that in terms of distance from the common man it is indeed closer to the sums Darren mentioned...

[A Van]

Very interesting Darren, good post

[Darren C]

Cheers Al. Thanks Jez, you’re spot on.
Since a car is the second most “expensive” purchase after a House, it seemed to be the obvious constant by which to compare. Dermot’s comparison of $USD then to $USD today is valid but due to exchange rates, cost of living, wage variations,” bang for buck” etc, its not a stable comparison like an average house then and now is. It’s about perceived cost, so % of house value is an easy one for everyone to relate to.