I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when it comes to buying a Delorean, it’s all about the service records. Low miles mean nothing with these cars if you can’t prove it was cared for and not just abandoned in a barn somewhere. This 1981 Delorean DMC-12 is the finest Delorean I have featured on here today because of the care the current and previous owners put into it. It has been serviced throughout its life and had $8,000 worth of service and upgrades just in the past few years. I would take this Delorean with nearly 40,000 miles on it over any 2,000 mile DMC-12 any day. You know that the current owner cared for and maintained this D and would make sure any problem was looked at by a skilled technician and not just ignored until it got worse. This car is located in Astoria, which is basically New York City, so it may have been exposed to some salty road conditions, as their appears to be some surface rust and corrosion on the underbody. It doesn’t look too bad and can probably be cleaned up if you’re planning on really pampering this car.
I’m going to level with you right now: Delorean never produced a blue version of their famous car in the factory. For some strange reason, some owners have decided to take that beautiful stainless steel finish and cover it in ordinary blue paint so their Delorean will look like every other car on the street. This particular Blue Delorean model is the 1982 Delorean DMC-12 with low miles (see what I’ve said before about low miles on a Delorean) and a manual transmission. This car also has a red pinstripe and some paint chips (because it’s freakin’ paint on stainless steel!). The owner has the CarFax to prove that this particular Delorean was painted blue as an original dealer option at a Delorean family owned dealership, but I remind you again that this was not an official color option and you won’t find any part of the VIN that identifies it as a blue car. If you want a blue Delorean, this is the cheapest way to do it, because it’s got a buy-it-now price of $21,000 and it’ll probably sell for a lot less than that, and painting one of these cars the right way (as this one is) would probably cost at least $10,000.
Out in the godforsaken deserts of California sits this 1982 Delorean DMC12, a beautiful stainless steel covered wonder just waiting for a new owner. With under 8,000 miles, I extend my warning that I tell all potential Delorean owners: don’t be fooled by low miles. Unless you can get extensive service records to prove that not only are the miles really that low, but the car has been cared for and not just abandoned, don’t pay a premium for a low miles Delorean. Everything rots out on this car if it’s just sitting around (except for the stainless steel, of course). These cars need to be cared for. With 6 days remaining, the current bid on this less-desirable but rarer automatic transmission Delorean is over $16,000.
I’ve decided it’s going to be Delorean day here on Damox, so here’s our first look at a Delorean auction. It’s a 1983 Delorean DMC-12 (the only car model the Delorean company ever made). It is the more popular manual transmission model, just like the one seen in the Back to the Future movies.
This car can be had for less than $28,000, which might seem like a deal considering it has less than 5,000 miles on it, but buyer beware! The fading of the taillights tells me this car has probably spent plenty of time in the sun, and all Delorean owners know that these cars do not do well sitting around and not being driven. The fuel lines “gunk up” and the various other fluid systems generally need to be replaced. Also, the odometers on Deloreans are junk, so don’t trust a low miles car unless it has documentation. I’d rather have a 50,000 mile Delorean with full service records than a 5,000 mile Delorean with nothing.
What you’re looking at here is one badass Chevy Camaro with bored out Chevy 468 engine and a Weiland blower popping out of the hood. This car started out as a 1969 Chevrolet Camaro SS X-11 before undergoing a full rotisserie restoration and rebuild about 10 years ago. No this car has got to be one of the meanest 69 Camaros on the streets. What makes this car even greater is the auction listing for it. I’ve never seen such rambling and ranting in an eBay auction. The guy goes on for a full paragraph about what a terrible company Moser parts is and how he’d never do business with them again. Apparently they sent him some parts that were broken and refused to replace them. Alright, that’s kind of low, but I don’t think I’d be bringing it when trying to sell a car. Also, the use of capitalization to convey emotion WORKS VERY WELL!
As Ferrari transitioned from the classic “Ferris Bueller” Ferraris into the “Don Johnson” Ferraris, there were some models stuck in between that are both classic and modern. Such is the 308 GTSi. From the front and side the styling on the 308 was very much modern Ferrari, but there are still some clear elements of the classic Ferrari design in the rear. These Ferraris had the 8 cylinder engine but were very “drivable” in a way that people who love to squeel tires and feel some G’s can appreciate. I think you’ll find that a lot of the more compact sports cars today from exotic manufacturers like Lotus have body types very similar to the 308, which says a lot for a 30-year-old car. The 1981 Ferrari 308 GTSi is on the auction block with a buy it now price set at a modest $28,000. I think these cars are right on the brink of becoming classic collectible Ferraris. Perhaps when the world pulls out of this economic depression we’ll see the turning point in these car prices.
Few words can explain this car. During the transition period between the 1960′s muscle cars and the 1970′s big luxury cars, there was the Chrysler Imperial. I think that name says it all. This car was meant to be so much more than just a luxury ride. It’s a majestic car that should be driving on a freshly rolled out red carpet, not dirty pavement. The Imperial only has two doors, but can we really call a car this massive a coupe? Even the hood ornament is unique on this car, with a bird spreading its wings in a circle that strangely reminds me of imagery from Nazi Germany. Perhaps Chrysler considered itself the Fourth Reich at the time. The 1974 Chrysler Imperial pictured above is a rare beauty that will probably sell for less than its retail price back in 1974. That’s kind of sad considering how high scrap metal prices have been in the past year, and there’s plenty of metal on this car. Be sure to check out the pictures of the original factory shag carpet. I’m pretty sure a species of bear went extinct due to the production of this car. How unfortunate.
The Cadillac Brougham Delegance is based off the Fleetwood model line. It’s no secret that I love these big cars from the 1970′s. They remind me of the movie Casino. Something about these cars just makes me want to keep a metal baseball bat in the back seat just in case I ever run into Joe Pesci or his brother in a remote corn field somewhere. In all seriousness, this was a weird time for cars. Nobody wanted the gas guzzling muscle cars of the previous decade, but everyone still wanted really big cars that really didn’t fit with the prevailing economic conditions of the time. It’s quite possible that all of America was on coke at the time and were acting irrationally. As The French Connection taught us, these big cars had a lot of places to hide “stuff”. These luxurious cars have retained almost no collectibility, which explains why the 1978 Cadillac Brougham Delegance pictured above is up for auction with a starting bid lower than what I paid for dinner last night.
It may be hard to believe, but Bentley was once the economy brand of Rolls Royce. Bentleys lacked some of the bells and whistles and were designed for the rich, as opposed to the filthy rich who got to drive Rolls Royces (or, more accurately, who got to ride in Rolls Royces driven by their butlers). Bentley really emerged as a quality luxury brand in its own right about a decade ago as the entertainment community started to embrace these luxury cars. Rappers were rapping about Bentleys, and movie stars were showing up at the Oscars in them. Bentley found its own niche by becoming the uber-luxury car that people would actually want to drive themselves as opposed to sitting in the back and shouting at some poor British man in a suit where to go. Bentley is now Rolls Royce – with performance. The 2000 Bentley Arnage pictured above is the perfect car for your security team with its black paint job, and its on the auction block starting at $30,000, a fraction of the original retail price.
After being usurped by the Impala as Chevrolet’s flagship model line in the 1950′s, the Bel Air became sort of a lesser version of the Impala into the early to mid 1960′s. The 1964 Chevrolet Bel Air shown above would probably confuse many people into thinking it’s a second generation Impala rather than a Bel Air. Lowriders and LA hip hop artists might even consider pimping one of these rides out and rapping about it. These cars lack the collector value of either the 1950′s Bel Airs or the 1960′s Impalas, but who cares? The look really cool, and when you’re driving down the street, isn’t that really what matters the most?
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