cave paintings

DeLorean factory workers sometimes made drawings on the insides of DeLorean body panels that today are affectionately referred to by DeLorean owners and enthusiasts as “cave paintings”.

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1605228291608247&set=pcb.1605236051607471

John DeLorean was recruited by Packard Engineering in 1953, DeLorean and his team delivered a new “Twin-Ultramatic” transmission for the 1955 Packards and one year later they created the “Touch Button Ultramatic“ version.

Buried in a wooden shipping crate at America’s Packard Museum is a transmission with a story nobody tells.

the Packard transmission team recognized an opportunity to improve the transmission. 

After multiple years of testing and refinement Packard announced the availability of their automatic transmission which they christened the “Ultramatic Drive”. 

It’s worth noting that the transmission was designed and manufactured using entirely in-house engineering resources – something that no other American independent automaker would accomplish. 

As delivered, the transmission combined a fluid coupled torque converter for smoothness with a two speed axial drive. This provide the owner with two power ranges; a high range for normal driving plus a low range suitable for driving at low speeds through mud and snow. Additionally the engineering team created a lock up feature in the torque converter that improved fuel economy at highway speeds. The next time you drive your automobile remember to thank Packard engineering for this innovation – it continues to be used in automatic transmissions to this day. 

On May 31, 1949 the first production Packard with Ultramatic made the drive from Detroit, Michigan to Indianapolis, Indiana

Over the next several years the Packard Engineering team set about improving the transmission.

When John DeLorean joined the team he was presented with a problem. Packard customers thought their cars accelerated slowly when the transmission was used with the normal high range. Slow enough that some Packard owners were using the low range to accelerate away from a traffic light and then manually “shifting” the transmission to the high range. Yes, manually shifting from the low range to the high range produced better acceleration but it would also damage the transmission after a while

This resulted in a second version of the transmission called the “Gear-Start Ultramatic Drive” which was made available with 1954 Packards. While it still had two ranges – low and high – it included a third option that would start in the transmission in the low range and then automatically shift to the high range as the car gained speed. 

This significantly improved vehicle acceleration from a standing start and made Packard customers much happier.

This fantastic update included push button control of the transmission. It was quite the swan song for Packard and a big win for DeLorean’s team.

this resulted in DeLorean being promoted to replace McFarland as the Head of Research and Development at Packard

https://packardprovinggrounds.org/john-delorean-and-the-fantastic-ultramatic-drive

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=10236550522675680&set=a.1590567076712

this... really is a DeLorean. DeLorean partnered with his brother Jack to build four go-kart tracks in Michigan, and they stocked the grids with fleets of 20 HP, 3/4-size open-wheel racers. Thank you Doug!

The business folded after just a couple years, and its assets and intellectual property were purchased by California entrepreneur Ron Cameron, who had far more success with the concept as the Malibu Grand Prix.

https://bringatrailer.com/2026/03/27/this-weeks-weird-and-wonderful-march-27-2026/

Doug just told me about the weekly feature on BAT, the https://bringatrailer.com/editorial/weekly-weird-and-wonderful/

It's great to see a Delorean that's been made much better, in most every way one could be upgraded... engine, rims, grill. I can't think of anyplace but SEMA that I get to find new ways guys have fixed up Deloreans, every year

 Last years: https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2024/11/ever-see-replica-back-to-future.html

the year before that was the coolest one I've seen https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2023/11/its-shocking-how-different-delorean.html

in 2021 https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2021/11/coolest-looking-delorean-ive-seen-in.html

pretty cool way to promo the Back to the Future van and DeLorean toy they now sell, lifesize real van ramp and DeLorean tail

I posted it a month ago  https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2025/06/coolest-thing-i-saw-today-thanks-to-my.html

But I didn't see any of these at Comic Con

coolest thing I saw today thanks to my buddy Mike!

 

https://www.autoevolution.com/news/great-scott-new-hot-wheels-collectibles-are-a-tribute-to-the-20th-century-253399.html#

it's going live at San Diego Comic-Con and on Mattel Creations on July 24, 2025, at 9 AM PT. 

ever see a replica Back To The Future DeLorean up close?

 

the top 10 of the Hot Wheels international search for the next coolest car has finally got it's crazy fun and cool cars

you might recall this from 2021 https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2021/07/making-delorean-way-he-wanted-it-with.html 

https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2024/09/a-1983-austin-mini-built-to-resemble.html

https://www.hagerty.com/media/lists/one-of-these-10-badass-builds-will-get-a-hot-wheels-mini-me/

https://creations.mattel.com/pages/hw-legends-tour

I didn't hear about the new Delorean "Time Capsule" until just now. Well, that's a month past the "open window" for registering to get one. There are only 88 physical time capsules

I just saw the video, whish is ridiculously slow, and only slighlty amusing, but do yourself a favor, set the video speed to at least 1.5x

https://deloreanlabs.com/claim

news to me, some cars that left the factory made of fiberglass that aren't Corvettes

The Lotus Elan, 1962-1999. The Lotus Esprit 1976-2004. The Lotus Elise, 1996-2021

The DeLorean, unknown to me, the stainless steel outer skin, are actually fixed to a fiberglass monocoque, which was then attached to a steel frame.

The Meyers Manx, won't surprise anyone to be made of fiberglass... but it simply hadn't occurred to me to think of it when discussing fiberglass sports cars. And it is. 

BMW Z1, 1989, 90 and 91surprises me. I haven't ever heard about it being made of fiberglass

Lancia Stratos, 1973-78 is another complete surprise. 

https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/enthusiasts/10-production-cars-that-left-the-factory-wearing-a-fiberglass-body/ar-AA1rvIME#

Also, Reliant Robin, Volvo P1900, the Marcos (Thanks to comments and emails for these!)

ha! This is pretty apt!

 

Here's some trivia... what movie did Doc Watson and the DeLorean appear in that wasn't a Back To The Future movie?

This was a scene in A Million Ways To Die in the West

it's shocking how different the Delorean booth was at CES (with a concept) from the booth this week at SEMA (original and upgrade)

Somewhere else in the central hall was this next Delorean that was in the Toyo tire alley in 2021 https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2021/11/coolest-looking-delorean-ive-seen-in.html 

https://justacarguy.blogspot.com/2023/01/this-delorean-concept-that-has-nothing.html

see what I mean? 

this DeLorean concept, that has nothing in common with the DMC 12, and is nothing like the DeLorean in SEMA 2 months ago, was in the Italdesign booth at CES

 

what amazing irony...... thank you Terry F!

 

the DeLorean, and a car that bears no resemblance, the concept Delorean they'd like you to believe has some thing related to the original. I can't figure out why other than name recognition from a failed car company with infamy. Probably not the best idea