Britain's Greatest Machines with Chris Barrie - 1980's - DeLorean and Sinclair C5

[@gmann6269]

Did you know - The little electric tricycle that Lister rides a few times in the first two series of Red Dwarf was a Sinclair C5 with the bodyshell removed and chopper-style handlebars added.

[@mgabrysSF]

It's funny that there was - for a time through the 90s to the early 2000s - an update option available to replace the frame with Stainless Steel as well (replacing the steel frame with epoxy that was standard). The upshot is the entire car would last forever as well. If you check out the videos featuring the S2 tuned DeLoreans - the car's performance goes through the roof. It was US emission regulations that cut the HP down to 130 (or so). Twin turbo after market options also exist.

[@paulcarson7860]

The sound of that Spectrum brings back my childhood!

[@blairpiercey86]

I love deloreans

[@Nemoticon]

6:57 "...an unmodified UK version" yet the steering wheel is still on the left!!!!!!!

[@paulduffy697]

My father in law worked for both of these companies....

[@yamahonkawazuki]

i collect old computers. i do have one of those sinclair spectrums. works perfectly

[@dmc4708]

@MrMe01 @Dales Geddes The car was designed mostly by Lotus, & built in Norther Ireland, which is part of the UK, which makes it British. The DeLorean Motor Company which is based in Texas is not the original, the guy who own's it bought all the remaining parts inventory back in the mid 90's, along with the rights to the DeLorean Motor Company name, and began trading using the DMC name, initially selling spare parts, but they have now evolved to offer parts/restoration/sale services.

[@lankyinvr184]

A ZX Spectrum, crashed less times than Starbug...

[@threalMrT76]

+Yes I'm A Brony - I Hope You're Butthurt Justice

[@digitaldeathsquid3448]

It almost seems somewhat ironic that the Sinclair C5, touted by Sir Clive Sinclair as a revolution in travel to last throughout time, seemed to find the most use in the first two series of Robot Wars when competitors would take the electric motors to power their robots (notable examples being George Francis' first two machines, Robot The Bruce and Chaos - he would later switch to lawnmower motors for his hugely successful and most iconic entry, Chaos 2)

[@BlackBunik]

To make a car last a life time? Ain't nobody got time for that these days!

[@dmc4708]

@MrMe01 @Dales Geddes They also have multiple franchises across the US, and one in Europe, none of these however are in anyway affiliated with the original DeLorean Motor Company.

[@Boemel]

what ever happened to Chris Barrie ? He was all over tv for decades and now hes vanished ?

[@nigelcarren]

Good point Tom. I heard a rumour he was running a leisure centre! 🤔😉🇬🇧

[@MikeyRB77]

So the British are happy to call the DMC their own? They disowned it when it was in production. Maggie stopped the finances. Funny how things change.

[@blueshirt06]

Trust me let the British call it their own its better that way

[@blueshirt06]

I don't think I ever said it wasn't I was responding to Mike Brady who seemed to have an issue with the fact that the DMC was British,I know it was British thats why it ended up being a heaping pile of scrap

[@blueshirt06]

Britain never had the best car engineers in the world the best were German American and Japan the DMC failed for a few reasons one is which it was a shit car and you can have all the best people from Britain working on the DMC it was still a shit car a great looking pile of shit

[@blueshirt06]

Thats funny because a few comment ago you were so PROUD! of this shit car because it was British now the DMC is American and built by unskilled Irish? How far you've fallen in just a few comments

[@blueshirt06]

the Head of the DMC was an American but John Deloreane didn't engineer the car or design it either he can take credit for trying to make a business out of it but the DMC is British not American and we all know how the British can foul up a car

[@danielhughes396]

Anyone notice the remote control wasn't on.

[@yamahonkawazuki]

thought it was irish made..( delorean) but it was part of the uk

[@Sc0ttzi]

Delorean is not a British car at all. It was merely assembled there. It is not only an American car from and American company, it’s a Detroit company. We don’t call Chevy trucks Mexican or Canadian cars because that’s where many of them are assembled.

[@bombercountyblues]

The delorean Wikipedia page says,, "it quickly became known for its disappointing lack of power and performance wich did not match the expectations created by both its looks and price tag"... So yeah,, sounds undeniably American to me.

[@QuorkEx]

I once had a spin in a C5 at a charity event. It was fun but it would have been no good for where I live, too many long, steep hills.

[@stewartfullerton1965]

I think Delorean was a Northern Irish company Rimmer. technically British though.

[@michaelhoyle9925]

But why not a big automobile company buy delorean and make a new model because the parts factory is in Texas

[@62heinkel]

Delorean was not a British Car. It was assembled in Northern Ireland , which is not Britain for a start.

[@jaymcd8577]

'A Car to last a lifetime'..no wonder he went under, this is Capitalism my good man we can't have stuff lasting a lifetime have you never heard of planned obsolescence!!

[@yamahonkawazuki]

the body yes the engine no

[@blueshirt06]

If the DMC was built in the US or Japan it might still be around or had a longer lifespan and actually make it out of the 80's Building a car from scratch is hard enough but having the British get involved was a disaster waiting to happen

[@blueshirt06]

You're 100% correct he could of never got that type of money from the US government or US banks its actually sad. did the British government ever recover any of that loan?

[@blueshirt06]

flip inheck He would of been better off building an airline company than trying to reinvent the sports car with foreign money and building a factory in a conflict area

[@blueshirt06]

flip inheck Also Ireland was chosen because of the low taxes the drug dealing happened when he couldn't squeeze anymore money from anyone

[@blueshirt06]

factory was in Northern Ireland

[@blueshirt06]

But its still Northern Ireland which is where the plant was made which is where I said it was made I wasn't talking about political affiliation

[@Hellwyck]

Leaving your vehicle untended at a bus-stop, eh Chris?

[@mfitzy100]

First mistake was getting Lotus involved!!

[@juankenon]

Oddly enough they worked on both these projects. With the DMC-12 the design was woefully unsuited to mass production and Lotus were never a mass production manufacturer to begin with, Delorean entrusting them to develop the car is mind boggling considering Delorean has over 30 years of experience in the industry.

[@ridanann]

satan doznt exist so id stop worrying urself

[@gazmini81]

The worst thing john delorean did was put that renualt v6 engine in the back its a slow piece of shit . The delorean deserved bigger and better as its a cool car

[@Mechknight73]

The DMC-12 had a lot of potential, but was ruined by poor planning, and the fact that John DeLorean was ultimately a crook. If you look through his history, he left a trail of financial wreckage behind him. I've only seen one DMC-12 with my own eyes, one of only two RHD prototypes, in the Whiteman Park Motor Museum, on the outskirts of PErth, Western Australia