De Lorean EuroTec

Britain's Greatest Machines with Chris Barrie. National Geographic Channel June 2009.

This is the first 10 minutes of the programme. This episode was about the 1980s. It starts with the DeLorean, featuring a few cars that might be a bit familiar to some of you!



EDIT: SUPERCEEDED BY THIS VERSION:

A big thanks for posting this. NG channel on this side of the pond isn't carrying this series yet.

A very reasonable review, I thought. Where was it based - PJ Grady's? Somewhere where there was a frame on display.

But why did they keep the removable radio facia - didn't they trust Chris?

Gee got that up quick !

It was a great programme to watch and Im sure we will hear from those who had a part in helping to make this.

Well done everyone involved !

Mike

Hi

The workshop part was filmed at DeLorean Cars in Kent, using Jay Flanagans car (currently for sale) which was formerly owned by Martin G.....yes I noticed the stereo fascia missing...plus the passenger door not shut fully...apparently the cameraman is at fault for that!! ...also the car looked a bit dirty....as for the engine bay shot...why didnt the producers use a clean one!

The car you see being driven around a few times, and through the cones etc is me driving my car...what actually happened was that they had really finished filming...and I asked if I could go for a real burn around the place...anyway I started going round throwing into a couple of corners and stuff and then noticed the cameras were being set up again and the producer was waving me on, they were lucky as the sun just started setting which glowed on the stainless.

There were more scenes filmed with me and Brians BTTF car, and also Brian being chased by a VW campervan and Chris B in full Doc Brown outfit...but sadly didnt make it to the final edit.

I think really its a shame they couldnt have included Pilot 20, the company did have PJ Grady's contact details but obviously ran out of time..but I think maybe a missed opportunity.

The car "in bits" is my #4 car, #1484 currently in the process of a massive project, and they were very insistent that we NOT clean it. They wanted one that represented what they're like after nearly 30 years.

They had Neil's spotless and painted engine to film but declined.

The other two cars used for cutaway shots were Rob Williams' and Neil Harkett's #4426 (my old #2 car).

By coincidence, this program featured all 4 of my former cars.

I closed the door for the director who did the filming in Jay's - he must have re-opened it and closed it again after then! The car wasn't dirty - Jay keeps it spotless, but #1458 always looks more grey than other later cars.

What also didn't make the cut was a whole section on how the car's constructed and how the doors work. That in itself is annoying given all the flannel stills with muzak, and even one or two shots used twice

Still, it was a pretty good review from a genuine petrolhead.

Any americans seeing it might wonder who Chris Barrie is - check out either of the Tomb Raider films, or the TV show Red Dwarf.

Great video about the car
Also, I liked the small part where we can see old computer such as the Sinclair ZX Spectrum

Martin - who's car did he drive at the end then? The one that "goes a bit"?!! I assume that wasn't stock

On the HD broadcast it did seem to zoom in on some dirty panels - looked like track dirt from a wet day, but still - normally we're used to seeing shiny ultra clean! The Jag was pretty dirty as well though. And the centre console at 5:12 looked a bit "work in progress"

By coincidence, this program featured all 4 of my former cars.

Yes good point

Also featured then two cars built on the same day?

Whilst it's always nice to see the D getting some exposure, from a professional perspective, I have to say that's a pretty shoddy piece of programming by normal broadcast standards.

Normally I would say that the utter lack of pace of narrative is due to not having shot enough content - but yet it seems plenty more was shot that wasn't used. So either that extra stuff didn't work or the editor didn't have the nous to be able to work it in. But probably the director's fault.

Then the editing itself is appalling. It's like they got the work experience kid to do it. What's with the 15 seconds of stills occasionally with no explanation or VO? There was room for so much more interesting content about the D that simply wasn't used. And the action montages were flabby too.

There we go, rant over...

I'd just like the opportunity to do something professionally about the D. It'd be a hell of a lot better than that! (Yes before you say why don't you go out and film your own, it costs money to do it properly! )