1981 DeLorean

Coupe

6 - Cyl.

Manual

SCEDT26TXBD001759

Gasoline

DeLorean Ad This 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 is originally a California car; it was likely sold by a dealer in the LA area and then later made its way up to the San Francisco Bay area. The second owner of the car claimed that it was originally owned by either a Hollywood studio or executive, and appeared in several episodes of a day-time soap opera. The car spent these early years primarily in a garage and received little use. I am the car's fourth owner, having purchased the car in California before bringing it out east with me. The car is an "early" '81 and sports the rare grooved hood w/gas flap. It is a 5-speed manual with black interior. For both myself and the previous owner, the car has been "daily driver"-capable; though still sporting low mileage, the car has received proper maintenance and upgrades to stay road-worthy. (It currently has approximately 67k on the odometer.) I have maintenance records for the car going back to 07/2003. Since my purchase of the car in 09/2006, I've invested over $10k into the vehicle, and have gotten all of the work taken care of by professionals. Outside of general maintenance and small upgrades (e.g. lights and small parts), some notable service work performed over the last five years include: * New trunk-release cable* New radiator* New right-side window regulator* New ignition switch* New battery* New radio (I still have the original Craig)* New window motors* New speakers* New fuel accumulator* New thermostat and fan switch* New fuel pump* New coolant hoses* New door seals* Converted AC to R134* New rear tires* New toll-booth windows* Wool Seat covers* New headliner* New dash* Car was lowered to John DeLorean's original specs* New relays All work performed in California was done by a specialty mechanic very familiar with the DMC-12 (he's the primary mechanic for several DMC-12's in the San Francisco Bay area). Work performed near the DC area was done by a mechanic specializing in rare and vintage vehicles. The interior has typical wear-and-tear associated with a 30-year-old car, though is looking much better than when I bought it. The leather seats show heavy wear patterns, and you may want to recover them, but in the meantime, I put some rather nice wool seat covers over them, which make the seats very comfortable and more cozy during the cooler months. When I bought the car, the dash and binnacle were cracked due to age and heat damage. The dash has since been replaced, but a replacement binnacle was not available at the time I had this service performed. (Reproduction binnacles are now available.) As noted above, the headliner was replaced recently. The stock clock still works (rare), and the replacement stereo plays CDs and mp3s. It also has an auxiliary-in cable so you can hook up an iPod/iPhone/whatever to the sound system. There is a slight dent on the front quarter panel of the car, as well as on the right front beam (see pic). I had these assessed by my DeLorean mechanic in California, as well as by other DeLorean owners, who assured me that these would not be difficult to remove. They are slight and have not bothered me thus far, however. The front and rear fascia have a bit of peeling paint on them. The only other notable external blemish on the car is some pitting on the hood (see pic), which a previous owner tells me occured when the car was stored in a garage in California for years with something dripping down on it. Several people have told me that this pitting could either be taken out, else significantly reduced, by regraining the metal (typically done at a DeLorean service center or by a specialist in restoring stainless steel). The only other non-cosmetic issues I can think of are: * The window washer jets need to be re-aligned. Last I tried to use them, they shot wiper fluid in too much of a vertical fashion, so unless you're at speed, the liquid doesn't hit the front window.* The electric control for the side mirrors doesn't currently work. I was told by my mechanic in CA that this is likely an electrical issue in which a wire got loose and unplugged, but I haven't explored the issue further. I manually adjust the mirrors when I need to.* The fuel gauge loses accuracy when the tank is low. To be safe, I always refill when I see about a quarter tank left, as I'm not convinced it's really at that level (could be more, could be less). The needle does read "full" when the car is freshly gassed up, but seems to lose accuracy as fuel is spent.* Both window motors were replaced in the past five years. I rarely ever use them because of how small the tollbooth windows are, though have noticed some hesitation when rolling the passenger window down.* All the plastic vent inserts are intact, but two are candidates for replacement - one in the driver-side door and one above the radio. The one by the radio has vertical fins that don't move in sync anymore, and the driver-side one has broken tabs so it doesn't "click" into place.I can still use them to adjust air flow, but they're not perfect.* Car was last driven on 10/15/2011, but may have a weak battery due to little use of late, so may need to be jumped. For those unfamiliar with the DMC-12, production ran from '81-'83. It was the brainchild of John DeLorean (who previously brought us the GTO), and was intended to compete for market share with the Chevy Corvette. Lotus had a large hand in helping develop the cars, which were later built in Ireland. Unique to the DeLorean is the all-stainless steel exterior body (they were not painted and do not rust) and gullwing doors (requiring a mere 17" of clearance to open). There are still five official DeLorean service centers in the United States, and a handful of non-affiliated service centers. There is still considerable new old stock (NOS) parts available for the DMC-12, while rare parts are being reproduced accordingly. (So many NOS parts were available, that DMC Houston began assembling "new" cars in 2008 and selling them for over $55k apiece.) The car received considerable recognition for its appearance in the Back to the Future trilogy. There is a very strong DeLorean community that helps owners with maintenance and organizes events. This car is a unique piece of US automotive history, and gets looks wherever it goes, with people constantly asking about it. While I'd love to keep it, I'm currently scheduled to move across the country, and unfortunately cannot take the car with me. USAA assessed the car's value at $22k. I will include a box of miscellaneous parts, the service manual, parts manual, and printed service bulletins. Serious inquiries only, please. More pictures can be found here: http://mendax.org/1981-delorean-dmc-12/