My HUNT for the Missing Crash-Test Delorean

I would’ve liked to of seen more pictures of the car he was talking about instead of back to the future pictures

I'm glad that Ken described the crash test footage accurately as the NHTSA testing the retrofitting of airbags Because the 35 and 40MPH crash test videos are often incorrectly shared around as the DeLorean's safety crash test (it wasn't) and that it failed the test (it didn't) The point of a crash test is to evaluate how well the passengers survive, not how well the car survives, you want the car to absorb all the forces and be a wreck afterward. The same conversation I saw happening with the Cybertruck's crash test video, Those proud at how well it was intact after the wreck, and those arguing that's actually a bad thing.

DeLorean guy here. Ken thanks for preserving a piece of DeLorean history and lore. Very cool you've found 515 and helped to unravel many of the DeLorean mysteries. I've owned many brands of cars, and I don't GAF what other gear heads say, the DeLorean mark is the most interesting, fun, with the biggest group of fun engineering nerds this planet has seen. It's what makes being part of that family so amazing.

The car actually passed with flying colors when it came to passenger safety. The reason being John Z. De Lorean’s 6’4” hight. He demanded a car for tall people. So contact with the passengers inside was absolutely minimal. Particularly with the footwells. Thus the energy transference from the crash was averted away from the passengers to keep them safe. One of the dummies in one of the crashes failed to report data. However, the complete report on the crash tests, including full telemetry data and archival video, currently resides in the archives of The National Crash Analysis Center at George Washington University.

Moral of the story? Never change your phone number

Would NOT have guessed that car survived, pre-production crash test cars are usually crushed

My university building in Belfast has a delorean which was used as a MEng project for a group of students about 10 years ago. Since then it’s sat under a cover in the courtyard just collecting dust.

Fort Wayne was once home to a (the?) Power Wheels plant, and I'd be surprised if that isn't part of the story about how that man managed to have one new in the box for decades. I've known a few people who worked there over the years and a lot of them built all sorts of crazy "hot rod" toys and ended up with a lot of discontinued items that went out the back door or were essentially given away in employee sales. So... For several decades at least, that Power Wheels Delorean was probably the least traveled example on Earth, having moved from one side of town to the other (and maybe a distribution center in the middle). 😂

I'm from Fort Wayne, and the fact that there has been a DeLorean stash here for 30+ years is mind blowing to me. Nobody knew about it, nobody talked about it

Great part of Delorean history and important to the automotive world at large.

I remember driving to St. Louis from Chicago on 80 or 88, there was always a small building w around 10 DMCs sitting out front. Wonder if they’re still sitting there..

This was a cool story. I wish that you could've shown MORE actual pictures of "car "#515"". We've all seen Deloreans before. Show the damn car you're talking about. THAT'S why I tuned in!

That is a loooooong story, with lots of time spent on his failure to communicate with the owner. Around 6 minutes of very detailed flight logs, roadtrips, meeting friends and their partners...

Very cool. I need to get my bad decision back on the road. This summer is the goal!

The dealership I work at currently was a DeLorean dealership back in the 80s. We still had the original dealership light up.Sign out in the back warehouse on a shelf. Tried to get it for years but they eventually sold it, I think I made a video of it on here at one point

That's awesome that it's going to be preserved as it is...its a historical artifact at this point, and it's great to see it displayed as such.

Burlington, Ontario, Canada, eh? Interesting how you mention my hometown in a random YouTube video (I was born & raised there - not many people are - I know, who cares!). I now live in a neighbouring town. Point is, there are lots of DeLoreans in this area. One guaranteed place to see many in one place is at the annual British Car Show that takes place every September at Bronte Creek Provincial Park. Definitely worth attending if you ever find yourself in the area at the time of the show. You will find many interesting British cars from all eras. Airbags - Interesting tidbit about airbags in the DeLorean I wasn't aware of. I follow all sorts of cars & stories that it's impossible to know everything. One thing I do know is airbags are not a new concept. Anyone doing their research will find that they go back a long way, and experimentation started at least in the 1960s, if not earlier. They were a failed contraption in practice once upon a time, and condemned. As technology improved, manufacturers would revisit the idea - sometimes with improved results, but not quite there yet. Maybe this was the finding for airbags in the DeLorean during the test? By the end of the 80s, airbags, while not perfect, were more of a proven technology and started to find their way into mainstream cars. Today, there are so many airbags & curtains that it's hard to imagine a car without them. For anyone wanting a read about early airbags, dig up some old Road & Track or Car & Driver magazines from the 1960s & 1970s. I'd love to be more detailed, but my old collection is stashed away in storage at the moment.

That's an amazing story Ken! Awesome find!

Wow, so interesting. I'm so Glad Ken got this !

As a fellow delorean fan, awesome. Been collecting die-cast, books, rear bumper, all before the modern kits/toys.