John DeLorean

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John DeLorean bigraphy, stories - Engineers

John DeLorean : biography

January 6, 1925 – March 19, 2005

John Zachary DeLorean (January 6, 1925 – March 19, 2005) was an American engineer and executive in the U.S. automobile industry, most notably with General Motors, and founder of the DeLorean Motor Company.

He was best known for developing the Pontiac GTO muscle car, the Pontiac Firebird, Pontiac Grand Prix, Chevrolet Vega, and the DeLorean DMC-12 sports car, which was later featured in the 1985 film Back to the Future, and for his high profile 1982 arrest on charges of drug trafficking. The alleged drug trafficking was supposedly an attempt to raise funds for his struggling company, which declared bankruptcy that same year. He successfully defended himself against the drug trafficking charges, showing that his alleged involvement was a result of entrapment by federal agents.

Notes

Later enterprises

On November 1, 1994, DeLorean filed patent #5,359,941 with the US Patent and Trademark Office for a raised monorail transport. The transport was never built.

In the years before his death, DeLorean planned to resurrect his car company, and gave interviews describing a new vehicle called the DMC2. In an effort to gather funds for this venture, he designed and sold high-end watches via the internet under the name DeLorean Time. Made of what appeared in promotions to be injection molded stainless steel, the watches sold for $3,495. Purchasers were placed on a waiting list for the chance to buy one of the first DMC2s when they became available. None of the watches seem to have ever been built or delivered to customers before DeLorean’s death.

Career

Packard Motor Company

DeLorean’s time at Chrysler lasted less than a year, ending when he was offered a US$14,000 salary at Packard Motor Company under supervision of noted engineer Forest McFarland. DeLorean quickly gained the attention of his new employer with an improvement to the Ultramatic automatic transmission, giving it an improved torque converter and dual drive ranges; it was launched as the "Twin-Ultramatic".

Packard was experiencing financial difficulties when DeLorean joined, because of changes in the automobile consumer market. While Ford, General Motors and American Motors had begun producing affordable mainstream products, Packard clung to their pre-World War II era notions of high-end, precisely engineered luxury cars. This exclusive philosophy was to take its toll on profitability. However, it proved to have a positive effect on DeLorean’s attention to engineering detail, and after four years at Packard he became McFarland’s successor as head of research and development.

While still a profitable company, Packard suffered alongside other independents as it struggled to compete when Ford and General Motors engaged in a price war. James Nance, President of Packard, decided to merge the company with Studebaker Corporation in 1954. A subsequent proposed merger with American Motors Corporation never passed the discussion phase. DeLorean considered keeping his job and moving to Studebaker headquarters in South Bend, Indiana, when he received a call from Oliver K. Kelley, vice president of engineering at General Motors, a man whom DeLorean greatly admired. Kelley called to offer DeLorean his choice of jobs in five divisions of GM.

General Motors

Pontiac

DeLorean accepted a $16,000 salary offer with a bonus program, choosing to work at GM’s Pontiac division as an assistant to chief engineer Pete Estes and general manager Semon "Bunkie" Knudsen. Knudsen was the son of the former president of GM, William Knudsen, who was called away from his post to head the war mobilization production effort at the request of President Roosevelt. Knudsen was also a MIT engineering graduate, and at 42 he was the youngest man to head a division of GM. DeLorean and Knudsen quickly became close friends, and DeLorean eventually cited Knudsen as a major influence and mentor.

DeLorean’s years of engineering at Pontiac were highly successful and produced dozens of patented innovations for the company, and in 1961 he was promoted to the position of division chief engineer. He is credited with developments such as wide-track wheels, torque-box perimeter frame, recessed and articulated windshield wipers, the lane-change turn signal, overhead-cam six-cylinder engine, Endura bumper, and a variety of other cosmetic and structural design elements.