From James Espey via Talk
As the Vice President of the DeLorean Motor Company and a founding board member of The DeLorean Museum, I was asked last week by a member of the media to confirm the statements issued in the press release regarding this DeLorean, in particular the claims that "John Hine DeLorean" was the original purchaser and he gifted the car to his wife, Cristina Ferrare.
By perusing factory records and reviewing the "window sticker" provided in the auction listing as proof of this, I am certain that this was not originally purchased by John DeLorean, nor was the car ever gifted to his wife, Cristina, by him.
The DeLorean Museum is in possession of an "Original/Current Owner List as of 02/16/83" that was donated to the Museum by a former employee of the original DeLorean Motor Company. This list indicates that the vehicle in question, with Vehicle Identification Number SCEDT26T9BD006452 was original owned by a Donald ****** of Pauma Valley, California through Jim Finney DeLorean in Carlsbad, California,
Further, close inspection of the window sticker reveals that it is a poorly made reproduction of the original. Indicators of this are found in the poor quality of the EPA and Department of Transportation logos on the left and right side of the page near the bottom and the incorrect DMC logo (without outlines) at the top. The price is also incorrect, as all 1981 models had a manufacturer's suggested retail price of $25,000 - not $28,650. The fact that data is put on the form with a typewriter rather than with the impact printers in which all other window stickers of 1981 models were produced is yet another indicator of this being a reproduction.
I am in a unique position to look for these anomalies in the reproductions as in 1997 I created the master document that was used to create the window sticker in regards to this car. The link to this document, which can still be found online, is here:
http://www.dmcnews.com/files.html and the document itself is attached for reference.
Here is a link to where I originally posted the file for the world to use -
http://www.dmcnews.com/backissues/au...es/dml272.html Still further evidence is in the name typed on this window sticker in reference to the car you have on consignment - the name "John Hine DeLorean" - John DeLorean's middle name was "Zachary" and I think it is unlikely that someone would get the name of the man who founded and owned the company incorrect.
For further reference, I have attached a photograph of an original 1981 window sticker so you can see all the differences.
And last but not least, The DeLorean Museum is in possession of several list of company-owned cars, several of which were assigned to the custody of John DeLorean during the life of the company. It's curious why the owner of the company would purchase a car for his wife when he had several at his disposal that were replaced every few thousand miles with later production models.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg dml screenshot August 1997.JPG (54.8 KB, 26 views)
File Type: jpg original 1981 window sticker.jpg (93.8 KB, 29 views)
Attached Files
File Type: pdf sticker.pdf (52.2 KB, 7 views)
James Espey, Vice President
DeLorean Motor Company (Texas)
http://www.delorean.com