EARLY FEARS ABOUT DE LOREAN REVEALED

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EARLY FEARS ABOUT DE LOREAN REVEALED
Growing British government concern at the viability of the De Lorean Motor Company which was about to begin production in west Belfast is disclosed in the declassified files.



John De Lorean wanted a joint advertising campaign
In August 1978 the Labour Government had announced that the project to produce the stainless-steel, gull-winged sportscar would go ahead, with the Treasury providing £56m out of a total cost of £65m.

JCB Lyttle of the Stormont Department of Commerce said that at a meeting in New York, John De Lorean had raised the issue of a joint advertising strategy with the Northern Ireland government in order to showcase the province's engineering tradition.

The proposal did not impress Reg Browne of the Northern Ireland Development Agency in New York, who warned: "We have been the butt of some ridicule because of the massive speculative nature of the investment and my advice to the department would be that we should allow De Lorean to get on with his own campaign."

Mr De Lorean wrote to Dr George Quigley, a senior Stormont official, declaring that he had assembled "one of the finest teams in Europe" while the site and technical programme were "on target". However, he stressed the importance of a joint advertising campaign with the British government and De Lorean each contributing $5m to launch the car.

In his reply Dr Quigley expressed delight that the project was "moving ahead" but privately warned against the government becoming too closely identified with the De Lorean product before it had proven itself commercially.

The lingering suspicion surrounding the industrialist re-emerged under the new Conservative government in November 1979 when Stormont Commerce Minister Giles Shaw joined Mr and Mrs De Lorean for dinner in New York. At the meal, De Lorean surprised his guests by raising a totally new business proposal involving British government funding.

According to the report, "Mr Shaw made it clear to Mr De Lorean that while he would continue to defend the car project in the House, he and his colleagues were looking to Mr De Lorean to focus his energies on making a success of the project before the government considered supporting any other proposals from him."

The enterprise minister also ruled out a joint advertising campaign with the De Lorean Motor Company.

The De Lorean company went into receivership in February 1982 with the loss of 1,500 jobs in west Belfast.

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