Lifted Time Machine: 1981 DeLorean DMC-12

Time Traveling Monster Truck

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There’s a point at which project cars can just spiral out of  control. It’s almost as if you become consumed with just fixing anything before you run out of daylight that you turn your head to one of the few remaining areas you haven’t torn apart, hoping maybe your electrical work will turn out OK or that finicky wheel bearing will come out. In the case of this DeLorean DMC-12 found here on eBay, it appears everything has gone haywire with the exception of fitting some knobby tires and slapping it onto a Ford Bronco frame. 

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The seller says all the hard work is done. It just needs a little finishing and some cosmetics. Seriously, go read the ad! I can’t believe he actually typed those words into the description. I looked at this photo and I wished this was an actual time machine so I could return this vehicle to a condition that didn’t involve a cornucopia of engine harness wiring strewn about the cabin. They didn’t even bother to re-install the radio. This is just mortifying.

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One of the Delorean’s few redeeming qualities was its mid-engine design. Well, not anymore. Perhaps there’s some sort of engineering advantage I wasn’t aware of when converting your DeLorean to a front-mount engine setup, but this eliminates any shred of faith I had in this seller’s ability to build a compelling project. None of this makes sense. The lift kit, fine – it’s different, it’s eye-catching and probably draws a crowd.  But this was the utter destruction of a car that, like it or not, is still considered collectible. The original engine has already been sold off, so goodbye provenance.

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The electrical spaghetti in the interior, the engine relocation, the unfinished bodywork – all of this combine to thoroughly extinguish any value this DeLorean once had. It makes the opening bid of $9,999 enormously laughable. Similar to my complaints about honesty in listings for cars like last week’s Volvo P1800, this DeLorean owner seems to suffer from the same delusion that other enthusiasts want to pay him for the privilege of finishing what he’s clearly given up on. Good luck with that!

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Comments

  1. Joe

    The lift and 4X4 come in handy when you travel back to the future. You never know where you will land.

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  2. Mark W

    To each their own. My opinion: ”What a shame”

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  3. car guy

    Wow, I can’t believe I saw that, some things you just can’t undo! . What an ambitious plan, with a low mileage deloren going across Barret Jackson, north of 50,000 grand I am sure this project gone bad , will find a buyer.

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  4. PaulG

    Cue the Styx song: “Too much time on my hands…”

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  5. mark

    Wow, Am I the only one that notices the car battery attached to the drivers side interior door panel?

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    • mark

      I read the sellers description in the ad. It actually contains this sentence: ” We have driven this aprox a mile”.

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  6. Jim

    Cool, a DeLorean parts car and a bronco chassis. I hear they are resurrecting the 1982 DeLorean at $100,000 each. Same pos car, just more expensive.

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  7. mark

    I am thinking this is a vehicle that Mr. Haney would sell Mr Douglas if the old 60’s TV show Green Acres was still on.

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  8. Dairymen

    The words “pig” and “lipstick” come to mind…

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  9. Duncan

    Wow- McFly crashed in Mississippi and this guy started to rebuild the wreckage

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  10. Jim Mc

    This sounds terrible to say but, I didn’t even have to guess before I looked at the ad. I knew.

    Mississippi.

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  11. Dylan

    I bet they wish they could go back in time and tell themselves not to ruin a Delorean.

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  12. Frankie Paige

    We have a Meff problem here too.

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    • Donnie

      ya and low QI um I mint low IQ

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  13. Mark S

    Ruined two vehicles I guess they’re down to a pile of part. What a wet dream this was. I don’t like to bash a seller but all I can think of is idiot rapped in a moron.

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  14. Ken

    Rednecks and brushed stainless steel just don’t mix.

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  15. Bubba Smith

    What a shame…poor DeLorean…like them or not they are rare and collectible. Hope someone buys it right, returns it to its original height and puts an LS in it :)

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  16. Kincer Dave

    Wow this is a shame and I don’t even like Deloreans.

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  17. Ed P

    This car would be worth a fortune if he had a numbers matching flux capacitor to go with it.

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  18. James

    The seller stated that they have ‘other interest’ now – bet that interest is to unload this failed ‘experiment’ and get something for all the money and effort expended.. Someone also has expressed interest in some of the body parts and the comment was ‘silly’… Hmmmm,, hope the seller is successful in getting something for their ‘interesting’ efforts.

    Like 0
  19. PilotMike

    Ill never get these 5 minutes back.

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  20. Mark H

    Hey! Look at the bright side. It includes a manual as pictured on the drivers seat. That should clear up a few remaining issues, not all of of them course but still… Oh wait, it’s a Delorean? Well that’s totally different.
    Dare to be different! Just think of the conversations you could start at cars and coffee, or an off road rally, or an insurance convention, or a scrappers auction.
    That second mile it gets driven could be interesting.
    To each their own.

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  21. Steve B.

    McFly returned from that alternate future where Sarah Palin was president.

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  22. piper62j

    Basket case.. What a disappointment with this one. Nice all around car turned in to a pile of junk.. With the right tools and cash flow, you could have a nice DL..

    Good find.

    Like 0
  23. AMC STEVE

    Y’all have to excuse my French on this one but I have to, WHAT AN ASSHOLE!

    Like 0
  24. DolphinMember

    I have to say it, that Volvo-Peugeot-Renault engine was such a POS, with all kinds of built in defects so they never lasted longer than about 40 or 50K miles, and it was gutless, and in exactly the wrong place, stuck out at the rear behind the transaxle (sorry, Jeff), that—-I can’t believe I’m saying this—-I actually think this is an improvement over the stock DeLorean. I mean, how bad can a Bronco chassis and drivetrain be? It has got to be better than what it replaced.

    Now, I am NOT saying the particular vehicle shown here is a very good vehicle. It looks like a nightmare and I’m guessing the electrical system will never get sorted out, and that the seller is bailing, but looking at the bright side……

    Nawww…..never mind, there is no bright side. This thing is still a POS

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  25. J PaulMember

    Gullwing doors and a huge lift kit…someone didn’t think that through.

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  26. Doug

    Would be interesting to know how they came in to possession of the DeLorean and what the condition of it was. I can just see the DeLorean and Bronco parked next to each other. Late at night and many many beers later the project was started on a dare. “It’d be easy to do BillyBob!”…….

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  27. 69' CUDA DUDE

    omg…i think we finally found my g’friends dmc-12 car that was stolen in “1984!” i believe he’s really confused….looks like from here, that’s the ford bronco’s manuel he’s trying to use in the drivers seat!! lol (:

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  28. roger

    Somebody finally made a Delorean cool.
    Well,as cool as you can make one look.
    Those are some ugly cars.

    Like 1
  29. RON

    Along with several others I agree I could have guessed where it was. I think they probably lost the key and couldn’t figure any other way to start it again!! These are the kind of people that can drag a rusted out 49 Plymouth four
    door out of the bush and ask $9,999.00 for it calling it a rare 42 coupe because they don’t make them anymore or Lee Petty owned one . Or they think a Delorean was made for the movie only. Unbelievable people like this exist and the VOTE as well!!!

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  30. PilotMike

    Check out his facebook page of the process- the Bronco used was a Bronco II.
    The pics are great!
    https://www.facebook.com/media/set?set=a.228220017387435.1073741828.209091082633662&type=3%29Very

    Like 1
  31. rancho bella

    The more time passes, the better DeLoreans were.

    A pile of unbalanced road waste………if you’ll remember

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  32. Keith

    This guy might be the clown of the week. First he says he won’t part anything out, then separately he says he’s already sold the drivetrain. Well,a t least “all the hard work is already done”.

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  33. Joe

    Needs to sell in order to fund second project. Back to the Future Part II: Bronco Body on DeLorean chassis.

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  34. Datsuntech

    If you look at the guys Facebook page, you’ll notice that there are actually 2 Deloreans.

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  35. AMX Brian

    At least the Delorean can be brought back. Just ship it down to the new headquarters and they can bring it back to spec if the new owner was willing to pay for it. On the other hand, being this dismantled, I would just have this Delorean brought up to their brand new design standards and probably save a little on the 100k the new ones will bring.

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  36. Dontiac

    Roads? Where we’re going we don’t need roads, cause we’re 4X4 now!

    Like 0
  37. mtshootist1

    Where’s Doc Brown when you need him… I can just envision the Indians chasing this critter, in 1885.

    Like 0
  38. RBTempe

    Easy to take em apart, putting them back together, not so much

    Like 0

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