The new Delorean Motor Company is apparently exploring the possibility of buying GM’s Wilmington Kappa plant and building a Pontiac Solstice GXP-based sportscar there. The firm released the rendering above, and the following post via Facebook:
What if John DeLorean were still alive? Some of his greatest automotive accomplishments were at Pontiac, and now the Solstice is a new car without a brand, and DeLorean is brand without a new car…
JZD always said that the best memories of his automotive career were at Pontiac, and that connection between JZD and Pontiac is probably one of the better known associations among car enthusiasts
DeLorean VP James Espey tells Jalopnik. Which is apparently all the motivation it takes to launch a new sportscar based on a proven dud, and built at an ancient factory. Given that this is being spun as the ghost of JZD’s attempt to resuscitate Pontiac from beyond the grave, I think it’s fair to draw a few conclusions about where Mr DeLorean is spending the afterlife.
The illustration looks like a Crossfire…
As big a fan as I am of the original DeLorean, even I have to admit that every attempt at a relaunch has been a boondoggle of the first degree.
What makes the Solstice a “proven dud”? I brought up (here or elsewhere) that the Miata is a much better car only to have someone show production figures that showed more Solstices were sold than Miatas during the years both were available, bad packaging and all.
This DeLorean Motor Company has nothing to do with the company John Z. founded. It is merely a parts reseller who bought the name on the cheap, with little hope of actually making a car.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delorean_motor_company
There is a similar business operating under the Packard Motor Car Company name.
And how much yayo has to get sold to make this one happen?
Since the liquidating remnant of “old GM” owns the Pontiac brand and associated intellectual property, I’ll be surprised if someone doesn’t buy it, if only for the licensing and part reproduction value.
It’s an interesting idea, but “Show me the money!”. I can’t believe that these guys have the clout to get TARP money, and there aren’t going to be many investors looking to get in bed with DeLorean. The IP and factory are only the start. What would they do for sales and service?
Interesting, but how will it handle in snow?
roads?
Where we’re going we don’t need …roads…
Reviving the DMC brand would be a suicide mission, but hey, it’s not my money, so go ahead…one thing though: No gull-wing-doors, no freaking chance…
I could see buying the rights/plans to produce the Solstice, but who thinks any start up car company would need to whole factory. There could probably be a nice business selling Solstices in small quantities. We have already seen the tuning potential of the chassis with the Mallett versions.
to Jimal..
let’s not be selective about the numbers, comparing 2006 New Solstice to a 16 year old Miata may not be fair – as un dud like as it was, it never made the same impact as sales go.
http://www.miata.net/faq/production/MazdaMX-5_MonthlySalesUSA_CY1989-2006.pdf
Will it have a flux capacitor?
There’s a lot of money in North America looking for some place to go. There are more than a few new-car dealers looking for another line in hopes of bolstering the bottom line.
Competently re-engineer the suspension and do something about rear visibility and the Kappa isn’t such a bad car. Make it out of better materials and charge a premium and you just might have something. Of course, they’ll need to find a non-GM source for federalized engines and transmissions.
The new DeLorean Motor Company has the audacity to offer to screw together a new 1982 DMC-12 for about $60K, even if I am not aware of anyone taking them up on it. They may just have the, uh, bones to pull this off.
@Jimal
CR also said that the Solstice/Whatever the F Saturn Called It had among the lowest buyer satisfaction. Maybe the 60 day return would polish that turd.
Robert Schwartz :
October 6th, 2009 at 8:41 pm
Will it have a flux capacitor?
Just one of the reasons I love TTAC.
Is it April first already?
Reminds me of when, at the height of Hummer sales, someone at GM supposedly broached the bright idea of spinning off a Studebaker version. Yeah, that would have went over big…
It’s an intriguing idea. Of course, I’d advise the new DMC to re-engineer all the negatives out of the Kappa to make it more viable, but they’d be on to something. I still think the Kappa platform was a great first try by GM and with just some tinkering and polishing, it would’ve been an even better competitor to the Miata in later years.
I say buy some Corvette V8s and mate the two…nice little rocket of a car that would make.
This idea is too British for America
@rudiger: Reminds me of when, at the height of Hummer sales, someone at GM supposedly broached the bright idea of spinning off a Studebaker version.
The Studebaker XUV was absolutely, positively not a GM project. It was shown to the public at auto shows in 2003 by the now-defunct Avanti Motor Corporation, which at the time owned the rights and design to the Studebaker Avanti (another car that, like the DeLorean, deserves to remain dead and thus bask in its former glory). General Motors claimed infringement and promptly sued Avanti, with the parties settling out of court.
Like DeLorean, the owner of Avanti has FBI troubles of his own, having been arrested under suspicion of running a Ponzi scheme.
I’d love to see the Wilmington plant stay open. This past year has been quite hard on my old home state in terms of auto production, with the announced closure of both the Newark Chrysler assembly plant (home of the unloved Durango and Aspen) as well as the Wilmington assembly for the Solstice/Sky twins. Thankfully the Newark plant site will go on to bigger and better things as (most likely) an expansion of UD’s athletic facilities, but the Wilmington GM plant needs a purpose.
I can’t help thinking about Robin Williams take on DeLorean after the drug trafficking bust-“attention DeLorean buyers,your rebate is in the trunk”.
The man did give us the GTO-adhering to the one home run per major car guy average-although you could argue that Iaccoca had two-Mustangs and minivans.
http://www.mystarcollectorcar.com/
On a related subject I would think the Solstice targa top is a classic in waiting, the entire production run was only 1,200. It sure seems that some manufacturer would be capable of continuing to build these cars, although they are niche market it would seem they would be a viable addition to a marque that currently doesn’t offer similar vehicles.
Jimal :
October 6th, 2009 at 6:59 pm
What makes the Solstice a “proven dud”? I brought up (here or elsewhere) that the Miata is a much better car only to have someone show production figures that showed more Solstices were sold than Miatas during the years both were available, bad packaging and all.
There is a difference between better car and better sales.
I’m sure if the Solstice/Sky were successful cars that actually made money for GM, they would not have been discontinued.
The idea of continuing to build the targa sounds romantic, but it’s just not viable. Remember, the entire production run was only 1,200…and don’t think for a minute that if there was a burning demand that GM wouldn’t be spitting these things out right and left. There are simply too many financial and regulatory hurdles, and in the process the essence of the original would be lost.
For a prime example, check out my earlier example of the Studebaker Avanti. The “Avanti II” struggled as a cottage marque for many years, despite having a lot of production advantages, including a stockpile of original frames that lasted over 20 years.
It all sounds romantic, but in some ways it’s like digging up the corpse of James Dean or Marilyn Monroe and expecting to see a modern-day Giant or The Misfits, or like watching a “comeback performance” of an athlete or singer who should have remained in retirement.
BuzzDog: “The Studebaker XUV was absolutely, positively not a GM project. It was shown to the public at auto shows in 2003 by the now-defunct Avanti Motor Corporation, which at the time owned the rights and design to the Studebaker Avanti (another car that, like the DeLorean, deserves to remain dead and thus bask in its former glory). General Motors claimed infringement and promptly sued Avanti, with the parties settling out of court.The Studebaker XUV was, quite obviously, just a Hummer with ‘Studebaker’ script emblazoned in those areas previously occupied by the ‘Hummer’ name. I had no idea and am astonished that those who owned the rights to the Studebaker name would even attempt to pull such a brazenly illegal stunt without the consent of GM.
Dud is what you get from a company the size of GM who parts binned together a cute 2 seater and lost $10,000 on every one sold.
And there’s money to be made on this how? Perhaps a private equity group can work it’s magic….
The problem with the Solstice/Sky is that she’s a beautiful but stupid girl with crooked teeth and bad breath. Looks pretty but the more you get to know her, the less time you want to spend with her.
I really wanted a Sky and looked pretty seriously at getting one. Buy one and sell it after a year, or 12/24 month lease one just for a toy. Not too expensive top down cruise-about fun.
But then I sat in one. I didn’t fit comfortably… and the ergonomics in general were terrible. Still, I wasn’t disuaded till I drove one. Tractor engine with the gears about a decade apart. Fun to drive? Uhm HELL no. Top up and down is a hassle – I could do the top in my old Alfa one-handed…. not in the Solstice/Sky.
Two guys at the office bought them. One of them is only about 5’8, so height is not a problem for him… but both of them dumped them after less than a year.
So – if the Solstice/Sky is going to survive it’s going to need a redesign of everything except the suspension and the bodywork.
Forget the flux capacitor, the important question is whether it has a trunk.
Jimal:
‘What makes the Solstice a “proven dud”?’
And what makes the Wilmington plant an “ancient factory”? The outside walls are old (opened in 1946), but the walls have little to do with what’s inside the factory. I have toured this factory on Boxwood Road (it’s actually in Elsmere, not Wilmington), have you?
And what makes the Wilmington plant an “ancient factory”?
Not to put too fine a point on this, but what makes you think that a start-up would keep the Wilmington plant?
They’d be crazy to do that.
Cheaper to buy the tooling and move it, and have all the suppliers deliver to a new, less expensive, location with a non-unionized labor force.
“…what makes you think that a start-up would keep the Wilmington plant?”
I would agree here…there’s a difference between being incorporated in Delaware and trying to build or synthesize anything there.
dweezil- A lot of folks miss the -$10k/car GM “got” from the Solstice. Good shot.
Lokkii- “beautiful but stupid” bullseye!
Get a poster of her if you must, go on a date even. Don’t marry her.
Miss Miata is still cute, smart and pulls her weight in the relationship. I have noted that the Solstice owner satisfaction numbers have dropped every year also.
Miata? Consistently one of the most satisfied groups year after year.
I could see a group setting up the turbo models as a niche market product, few hundred a year for $45-50K.
Production? Ha!
Bunter
@rudiger: The Studebaker XUV was, quite obviously, just a Hummer with ‘Studebaker’ script emblazoned in those areas previously occupied by the ‘Hummer’ name.
Believe it or not – for all that the Studebaker XUV looked like a Hummer – the Avanti staff actually went to the trouble to build it (somewhat) from scratch. Check out the specs on Avanti’s website:
http://www.theavanti.com/xuv.htm
The dimensions are significantly different and the engines appear to be Ford-sourced. Which makes the entire scheme even more ridiculous: Why piss off GM in the first place by building an obvious copy of (at that time) the pride of their lineup, and then go to all the trouble of sourcing all of the low-volume (read: high priced) components so you can then sell a higher priced copy of the original.
No wonder the venture never generated much interest.
Just when you think all the junk bond trading is over.
Sounds like an excellant idea, totally rad and wicked to the max. Now all we need is Malcolm Bricklin to mix it with the updated Zastava Koral (Yugo).
I heard a rumor once that you can still buy an brand new, 1983 DeLorean. According to the blog, there is a warehouse in CA that has enough parts to build another 3000 units.