DeLorean Lives on in H-Town

From the Houston Press is an intriguing story about how a local DeLorean mechanic purchased the entire parts inventory and intellectual property of the defunct DeLorean Motor Company and now runs a garage in Houston that specializes in the repair, maintenance, and restoration of these silver near-classics.

When the DeLorean factory closed, a consolidation company bought all the parts with the hopes of setting up shop in the States, but ended up storing them in a warehouse in Cleveland, where they stayed for almost 15 years.

In 1997, Stephen Wynne, then a DeLorean mechanic based in Houston, purchased the inventory. Sixty-five tractor-trailers drove the goods from Ohio. Wynne bought the rights to the DeLorean name and logo, and the original engineering drawings, and thus the DeLorean Motor Company was reinvented, with Wynne as the new president.

"Half of our business comes from selling parts, and the other half comes from repairing and restoring old DeLoreans," Espey says. He says they service 30 or 40 cars at a time in the 40,000-square-foot facility. DeLorean owners ship their cars from all over the country for work.

I was surprised to learn that Houston has some 150 DeLorean owners! (Haven't seen one on the road, but then this is a sprawling metropolis of about five million.) Although there is a photo of an "assembly area" the article does not say one way or the other whether complete cars ever get assembled from the parts. Nevertheless, if you really like Back to the Future or are feeling some '80's nostalgia, it's a fun story.

-- CAV