PCH, John Z. De Lorean Edition: GTO or DMC-12?

Back when John Z worked as Chief Engineer at Pontiac, he managed to sneak a 389 engine and other assorted hoon-friendly goodies into the staid Tempest under the camouflage of an option package, thus thwarting GM's overlords (who later had their revenge on the idea of a cool Pontiac by ruining the Fiero's design). This was the 1964 Pontiac GTO, which sold like crazy and sparked the creation of a lot of other big-engine/midsize-car combos that we now see selling for cubic yards of green at Barrett-Jackson. And, speaking of large volumes of currency, have you priced '64 Goats lately? Ai-ya! But it's still possible to get a reasonably complete example for four figures- say, for example, this '64 GTO (go here if the ad disappears) for a get-laughed-out-of-Barrett-Jackson price of just $8500. The seller is a car-ad traditionalist, preferring the CAPS LOCK style that shows one means business, and he or she gets the message across: this car is "ALL THERE." In fact, other than needing "SOME TLC AND RESORATION" it's in fine shape. How much TLC and restoration does it need? That's a good question!

It's a shame that things didn't work out for the De Lorean Motor Company, because the car as originally envisioned was packed full of seriously wild engineering. By the time it was actually available for sale, however, the rotary engine and a lot of the cooler aspects of the chassis design were gone... and Malaise Era smog restrictions made the Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 something of a dud. Then there were Mr. De Lorean's legal hassles, followed by a couple of stupid, incredibly successful movies that forever tainted the car's image. But enough of that- the DMC-12 is weird and notorious and reeks of ambitious dreams shot down by The Man, and that means it belongs in every Jalop's garage! Now, because so many freaks want to have a car that looks just like the one in the aforementioned stupid movies, you can't get a DMC-12 for any sort of sane price... or can you? Well, whaddya know- here's an '83 DMC-12 (go here if the ad disappears) for under 10 grand! This one has its flaws, sure, first of which being that it doesn't quite run. The seller speculates that the problem lies in the "fuel assembly," volunteering that "possibly a new fuel pump, hoses, gaskets, etc" will get that PRV engine humming again. You'll find "few small dents on the car, nothing serious," but you can just fix them with Bondo... oh, wait. No doubt there will be some other things to fix before you'll be able to live the Dream, but it will all be worth it!