A mecca for DeLorean die-hards

Back in the early 1980s, Dave Swingle went to the Chicago Auto Show and took photos of the DeLorean automobile.

That would be the same DeLorean that gained international fame from the popular "Back to the Future" movies. -

More than a quarter of a century later, Swingle and his wife, Julee, have gone back to the future themselves after opening the Crystal Lake-based DeLorean Motor Co. Midwest in 2007.

DMC Midwest specializes in restoring, servicing and even selling - on consignment - DeLorean vehicles, famous for their stainless steel exteriors and unique gull-wing doors (that open upward and need only 14 inches of clearance to do so).

Julee Swingle said 128 DeLoreans have come through the shop since its doors opened in February 2007. On an early spring day in April, the DMC Midwest garage had no shortage of the two-door silver eye-grabbers.

"On a recent consignment sale, we had a customer fly in from New Hampshire and was here 45 minutes. He then got in the car and drove it back to New Hampshire," said Julee Swingle.

DMC is the only DeLorean service center in the Midwest. Other facilities are based in Florida, California, Texas, Washington state and The Netherlands.

The DMC headquarters in suburban Houston is a full service and restoration facility, complete with vehicle assembly (new-build cars). It also is the worldwide parts warehousing and distribution center for DeLorean cars (much of the original parts stock from the 1980s still exists).

"When I bought my car, there wasn't a DeLorean service center around here," said Schaumburg resident Mike Shortridge who has owned his car for four years. "It (DMC Midwest) was a lifesaver. Dave Swingle is brilliant. He knows that car inside-out. He knows what makes it breakdown and he knows how to fix it."

The Swingles didn't jump into the DeLorean business blindly, however. Dave Swingle had previously been involved as technical director for a Midwest-based DeLorean car club (DeLorean Midwest Connection). He bought his DeLorean 10 years ago - it's sits in DMC Midwest's showroom.

Over the years, Dave Swingle got to know people at DMC's headquarters in suburban Houston. They broached the subject of him opening a Midwest affiliate.

And the rest, as they say, was history. Swingle retired from Motorola after 28 years (Julee worked in the medical field) and the couple took the DeLorean plunge.

And despite original DeLoreans not being produced since 1983 when former General Motors executive John DeLorean (who passed away in 2005) encountered legal troubles related to the downfall of DeLorean Motor Company (he was acquitted on all civil and criminal charges), many of the cars are still in circulation today.

Out of the approximately 9,200 DeLoreans originally produced, the Swingles estimate some 6,000 are still floating around. Original DeLoreans were produced just outside Belfast, Northern Ireland from 1981-1983.

"There are a ton of them out there," said Dave Swingle. "In the next industrial park here, a guy has two sitting in his warehouse. The DHL guy told us he had seen them there while making a delivery. I don't think a month goes by that we don't get a call from someone who has one with 500 miles on it. The company went out of business quickly. A lot of the cars got parked in the second year of life, so we see a lot of cars with low mileage."

Dave Swingle says DeLorean owners fall into a variety of different categories.

"You've got your original owners and then you've got the barn cars that have been tucked away and the people want to get the car back into top shape. They're descendant cars - it was their dad's," said Dave Swingle. "There are people who loved the car in the movie when it came out and there are young kids who are buying their first car. There are a lot of guys that are into the car that aren't as old as the car. There's a wide-variety."

But Swingle cautions the DeLorean that has been sitting in dad's storage area may not command the instant big bucks.

"You find a car in a barn and think you are getting a bargain and then $25,000 later it is where you need it to be. A lot of work has to go into them," said Swingle. "A build car (new construction) can go anywhere from $50-60,000. A rehabbed car on the high-end is more like $28-$35,000. We'll give out a lot of advice on what to look for. We want everybody to have a good experience."

West Chicago resident Bryan Pearce, at one time, had three DeLoreans in his possession. He's down to one now.

'I bought my first one in 1990," said Pearce, 39. "I always liked the uniqueness of the car with the stainless steel. I had one that was red and two that were unpainted. And then my family started to grow. It was impractical to have a two-seater with four people in the family."

In addition to being a car owner, Pearce has also played an integral role in the DeLorean's continued sustainability. Pearce and his father, Reg, helped develop a stainless steel frame for the DeLorean.

"The frame was originally made of regular steel coated with epoxy," said Pearce, a computer software developer. "My first frame had excessive rust. I talked to my dad one night and said why not make a stainless steel frame for a stainless steel car? My dad put in 650 hours to redesign the frame on the DeLorean. We had the first prototype car on the road in 1994. That car has over 150,000 miles on it without any deterioration in the frame."

In 2000, Pearce and his father gained private investor funding and produced 10 stainless steel frames that sold in 2.5 years.

"Last year DMC in Houston started making (build) cars and they wanted dad and I to create chassis for their new production cars," said Pearce.

Suffice to say, DeLoreans are alive and well in 2008. Pearce still marvels at the attention he receives when he drives the car.

"I see the backs of cell phones a lot," said Pearce. "People take shots with their picture phones. They ask you how much is it worth? $100,000, $200,000? It's pretty incredible the perceptions out there."

"People know what it is," said Shortridge. "If you flap the wings, people cheer and wave and clap. It's like being a celebrity."

On a ride back to the future.

Back in time

Some facts on the DeLorean car:

About 9,200 cars were manufactured from 1981-1983 by DeLorean Motor Co. outside Belfast, Northern Ireland.

Vast quantities of spare parts, new and reproduction, are available. Julee Swingle said the part in shortest supply is the left front fender.

The gull-wing doors require only 14 inches of clearance.

All DeLoreans came from the factory in bare stainless steel - there were no factory-painted cars. Standard interior colors were black and grey.

There were 2 American Express gold-plated DeLoreans made.

The DMC headquarters in Texas produces "new build cars," which are made to order using a combination of original parts from the Ireland factory, original parts sourced from original suppliers to the factory and from a growing line of reproduction parts.

On the Web: www.dmcmidwest.com and www.delorean.com