Sunday, May 27, 2018

Two John's...One DeLorean...One Rolex President...




...Rolex Time Machine...

Two John's

One DeLorean

One Rolex President


The Return of Magnum P.I. got me in a nostalgic 1980s mood so I thought it would be fun to get in the Rolex time machine and go back to the early 1980s.

This is a story about two John's. John DeLorean and Johnny Carson. It's also about a Rolex Day-Date and DeLorean DMC-12. John DeLorean pioneered the idea of being an iconoclastic celebrity business executive. In other words, a rebellious businessman living like a rock star who would market his last name as a lifestyle brand. Who could iconically better epitomize 1980s excess than John DeLorean? (Donald Trump :-)




Originally this story was going to be about the two photos below of Johnny Carson wearing his Rolex Day-Date while hanging out with John DeLorean on February 8, 1981, at the launch event for the DeLorean DMC-12. Johnny Carson was just one of many Hollywood celebrities that invested in The DeLorean Motor Company...



The more I researched this article the more curious I became about John DeLorean. All I really knew was DeLorean was kind of the Elon Musk of his time, but unlike Elon, DeLorean went down in flames. Interestingly, both DeLorean under John DeLorean and Tesla, under Elon Musk made their first models on Lotus platforms. Also, the Tesla Model X has somewhat similar Falcon Wing doors to the DeLorean's Gullwing doors which were inspired by the 1955 Mercedes-Benz 300SL Gullwing Coupe. All three of these models doors, cause people to stop and stare when in the open position.

The comparison between Elon Musk and John DeLorean stops with the fact DeLorean never made it past his first roadster, but Elon Musk went far beyond with a Model S, Model X and Model 3, not to mention the upcoming Model Y, as well as Tesla Trucks. Also, Elon Musk created Space X which can land flown rockets back on earth. Elon also created The Boring Company, The Tesla Supercharger Network, Solar City, HyperLoop and NeuraLink. 



John DeLorean was extremely charismatic, handsome and intelligent. In the video interview below you really get a sense of his personality.


The video documentaries below offer amazing insight into the fascinating career achievements of John DeLorean.








Back To The Future

The more I explore John DeLorean's career the more confused I get. Was he a victim of happenstance, or was he just too decadent—or both? One thing is for certain and that is that he had a great vision, but wasn't able to execute properly on it. As they say, "If you're a step ahead of everybody you are a genius. If you are two steps ahead of everybody you're a martyr." On a completely unrelated sidenote, the DeLorean always kind of reminded me of a Rolex Submariner or SEA-DWELLER as they both are made of brushed stainless steel...



I remember when the DeLorean cars debuted and being shocked by how cool looking and innovative they were. To my way of thinking it looked like somebody got in a time machine and went 25 years in the future and found the coolest car and brought it back to 1982. Over the years there was much speculation that suggested that DeLorean was framed in the FBI sting, which was being driven by the American automobile manufactures. The idea is that DeLorean was trying to make super high-quality cars that were built to last, which posed a big threat to the American car manufactures that specialized in making cars that had a tremendous amount of planned obsolescence built into them.

The DMC-12 featured many innovative features and was made out of stainless steel, which would not corrode or rust over time. Also, you have to remember at the time, in the late 1970s and through the 1980s, American cars were complete junk, made out of cardboard. How many Ford Pintos or Chrysler Reliant-K cars do you see driving around on the road today? Zero. That is because they were not made to last. In other words, more than 70% of the 8650 DeLorean cars made in the early 1980s are still on the road, but the number of all American cars made at the time that are still on the road is likely less than 1%.





Mr. Detroit

John DeLorean began his career working for big American auto manufacturers as an automotive engineer. in his lifetime was granted more than 200 automotive patents. As a matter of fact, he was the youngest division lead in General Motors history.



John developed a number of very successful American cars, including what is considered to be the very first muscle car—the Pontiac GTO, which he is pictured below standing in front of.




The Pontiac GTO was a big success and received many accolades from customers as well as the automotive industry. In 1968 John Delorean accepted the Car of the year award from Motor Trend.



John DeLorean also developed the 1967 Pontiac Firebird which he is pictured standing in front of in the photo below.



In the video below we get to see just how sharp John DeLorean was back in 1967.


John DeLorean grew weary with the genuine lack of innovation in Detroit, and in 1973 decided to pursue his philosophical ideal by resigning from General Motors to start his own car company named The DeLorean Motor Company (DMC). In other words, he grew weary of living in the Matrix and decided to take the red pill so he could journey through wonderland.




It took John DeLorean 8 years to finally come out with his one and only DMC-12. DeLorean, being somewhat of a rebel as well as a man of his times is pictured below in his New York office in the 1970s. Notice he is wearing his watch on the outside of his cuff.



More than anything it is a shame that DeLorean did not get the critical traction required to succeed.

Viewing all this eighties stuff makes me feel nostalgic so I thought I would share this Julio Iglesias video about Nostalgia from 1983 :-0



88 Miles Per Hour!!!

Speaking of 1980s Nostalgia and DeLorean, The DMC-12 most iconic roles was likely its appearance in Back To The Future which starred Michael Fox.



One More Thing

The video below features an electric DeLorean that has been modified by the current DeLorean company. Also, the reviewer is Matt Farah who is rockin' his original LV Submariner which is one of my favorite Rolex watches of all time.