European White Truffles are worth more than $3,000 per pound. Could you imagine them being added to a recipe for macaroni and cheese? Using incredibly rare ingredients when creating something more common may seem like madness, but Rich Weissensel has it down to a science. His tasteful creations are all based on a very rare ingredient: the DeLorean DMC-12.
Remember back when John DeLorean Ruled The Streets? His goal was to build a modern sports car unencumbered by the aging technologies and production techniques of the big car companies. The end result was a revolutionary stainless coupe with gullwing doors. Being the star of a certain film trilogy has made this design from the future endearing to most, prompting many of them to be restored back to showroom condition. Production stopped at 8,583 cars due to supplier and financial calamities, leaving a ton of inventory for unfinished cars at the factory in Belfast. Since parts are not hard to come by and most DeLoreans are still lovingly cared for by their owners, Rich took the road less traveled. His passion is sacrificing cars that have been totaled or too costly to restore and transforming them into wild customized crafts.
The centerpiece of his creation is a DeLorean for any terrain. Starting with a potent Chevrolet K5 Blazer, he added 12” of suspension lift along with TSL Super Swamper mud tires. Mating the DeLorean body to a Chevy chassis required extensive welding and fabrication to both.
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If you would like to time travel with a dozen friends, a stretch is necessary. He used several cars to build a 26’ limo and seamlessly matched the stainless body panels for a factory looking finish. Instead of taking the easy route and using a pickup truck frame, he took the original backbone chassis and somehow stretched it perfectly.
A convertible would have been the next logical step if production didn’t falter, so Weissensel chopped the top. More than just losing the roof, since the doors are gullwing he had to disassemble the body and fabricate traditional door hinges into the windshield posts. If you are looking for a fast car, DeLorean was not a top choice. The engine was an anemic Renault V6 that couldn’t get out of its own way. Weissensel cured this with a heart transplant from the turbocharged Buick Grand National. Other cars that he has created include the obligatory movie replica car and a fully functional hovercraft.
This may seem like sacrilege to the DeLorean faithful, but the quality of these builds is among the best in the world. Each car is a labor of love and deserves respect for the time and engineering that went into them. Be sure to watch the video above, uploaded by Barcroft Cars to YouTube on Dec. 8, to see his work in motion. If you are inspired, you know where to start your search: DeLoreans For Sale at duPontREGISTRY.com.
(Source: EnterMyWorld.com, Barcroft Cars / YouTube)
