‘The speed – it’s a bit like a drug.’ Sporting Greats: Colin McRae, Spy Sports 2017
‘One of the most exciting and best drivers to watch.’ ibid. fan
And continued to drive the only way he knew. ibid.
Crewe, Cheshire: a Victoria railway town built on its transport links. And home to Bentley motors. The company’s been here for over 70 years … All their cars are hand-built in Britain. Now Bentley have taken on their biggest challenge to date: the quest to create the perfect luxury off-road vehicle: the Bentayga. Inside Bentley: A Great British Motor Car, Channel 4 2017
A 4,000-strong workforce. ibid.
Did you ever stop to wonder where your car came from? Really came from? Every component has been on a mind-blowing journey through Time, Space and the most cosmic events since the Big Bang. The history of your car is the history of the universe. How the Universe Works s4e1: How the Universe Built Your Car, Science 2015
‘It’s actually 13.8 billion years old.’ ibid.
Under their own gravity: pressure and temperature builds as more and more gas is sucked in. Eventually, fusion sparks deep in the core of these giant balls of gas, and the first stars started to manufacture many of the heavy elements that make up cars today. ibid.
The explosion called a Supernova is one of the brightest and most violent events in the universe … ‘with heavier elements in them.’ ibid.
Neutron Stars: ‘This was a potential channel for the production of heavy elements.’ ibid.
I thought I had found the perfect car … The ads sucked me in … What I didn’t know was that I was driving a killing machine … ‘Volkswagen Shares Tumble Following Emissions Allegations’ … VW had lied to me: they had pitched me a vision of my dream car that was polluting fifty times more than advertised. Dirty Money I: Hard Nox, Netflix 2018
How could a company have lied to its customers on such a massive scale? ibid.
Diesel exhaust disgorges much nastier stuff. ibid.
‘The pressure on everybody to increase sales became unbearable.’ ibid. VW executive
The cheating and how to handle it was an open secret among many executives in Germany. ibid.
‘This was a corporate culture permeated by fraud.’ ibid. lawyer
VW was forced to pay over $25 billion in fines. ibid.
They [countries] are willing to look the other way when companies cheat. ibid.
For over a 100 years Rolls Royce has been a British icon. Known for unparalleled luxury and classic design, loved by royals and the rich and famous. This is the story of Britain’s most iconic engineering firm. Rolls Royce: Dream Machine, Channel 5 2018
Rolls Royce started with two men: Charles Rolls and Henry Royce; they were unlikely business partners. ibid.
Their jet engines power the greatest airliners. ibid.
The car business suffered in post-war austerity Britain. ibid.
The driverless future technologies that are now starting to come into view … A form of psy-op … Who is really in control? … There is the hacker idea to this as well … A pretty large safety risk … The entire infrastructure of our society has been hardwired by these roads. The Corbett Report: Welcome to Your Driverless Future, James Corbett online 2018
Researchers estimate that one out of four cars will be driverless by 2030. This is A.I., Discovery Science 2018
When the car first came out in 1981 and it was just completely different to anything else on the roads. DeLorean: The Man, The Car, The People – Carfection, Youtube 47.22, owner
John was polished, urbane, smooth … ibid. dude
It was before its time in many many areas. ibid. factory manager
There were so many forces against us. ibid.
The car was getting better and better and better. ibid. car worker
Crewe Cheshire: a Victorian railway town built on its transport links, and home to Bentley Motors. The company’s been here for over 70 years … All their cars are hand-built in Britain. Inside Bentley: A Great British Motor Car, Channel 4 2018
This is the tale of the biggest car crash in automotive history, a story of how a modern-day Machiavelli spent £85 million of taxpayers’ money in pursuit of his dream of building a stainless steel sports car. Nearly a quarter of a century ago the only sports car ever built in Ireland ceased production. The car was as controversial as it was non-conventional. Car Crash: The DeLorean Story, BBC 2004
Its future-proofed film-star looks fast-tracked it on the road to stardom. ibid.
DeLorean left General Motors with little more than a few ideas sketched out on the back of an envelope. ibid.
The designs were stunning: it was christened the DMC12 and retailed at just $12,000. But building this car was not going to come cheap. ibid.
To speed up production, parts were brought in from other manufacturers. ibid.
0-60 took a leisurely 10 seconds. ibid.
On Easter Sunday 1981 the first shipment of cars left the factory bound for America, and DeLorean secured another £17 million loan from the government. ibid.
‘It needed to be right.’ ibid. one of three head engineers
Only 3,000 had been sold. With no sales and cash drying up, the company went on a three-day week. ibid.
Margaret Thatcher didn’t believe in government subsidies for industry. ibid.
‘John DeLorean is due in court within the hour … faces drug conspiracy charges.’ ibid. BBC News
DeLorean’s life became one trial after another. ibid.
John DeLorean never returned to the UK to face the fraud charges against him. ibid. caption
Thank you. Please give this to your car care professional. Breaking Bad s4e9: Bug, Skyler on till, AMC 2011
John DeLorean is one of the maverick rogues of his day. And there are very few of those guys around today. Framing John DeLorean, dude, 2019
DeLorean Busted: Sports car builder arrested in $24 million cocaine deal as Britain says it is closing his Northern Ireland plant. ibid. Democrat & Chronicle headline 20 October 1982
If he just plays his cards right, he’s poised to be the next president of General Motors. ibid. Tamir Ardon, DeLorean historian
When we finished the first prototype, it was a huge event. ibid. company dude
I never in my wildest dreams ever believed that my life could be so complete. ibid. DeLorean, television interview with wife
It was crazy. But it was absolutely exciting. ibid. employee
Things started to go sour very quickly. ibid. engineer
John DeLorean was arrested yesterday after he met with undercover drug agents who DeLorean apparently thought were going to help him make a huge profit in a cocaine deal. ibid. US news
At this point I don’t think DeLorean can scrounge together twenty Gs let along two million. ibid. FBI bloke, scene from film
He never was supposed to get the drugs, he was only supposed to get the money. ibid.
DeLorean faces new pressure as IRS steps up investigation. ibid. Automotive News 1982
John DeLorean and the Icarus factor: Endowed with a reputation for genius by an adoring press and public, John DeLorean came close to pulling off an entrepreneurial miracle. But his ego, like the waxed wings of mythology, drew him too close to the sun. ibid. article Craig R Waters
John DeLorean died on March 19th 2005 in Morristown, New Jersey. ibid.
It will take an unlikely alliance with a dangerous predator, devastating floods, a nineteenth-century publicity stunt, an avalanche of horse manure, exploding cannons and a trip to the slaughterhouse to get the ultimate freedom machine – the car. Jim Al-Khalili, Revolutions: The Ideas that Changed the World II: Car, BBC 2019
Today around 1.2 billion automobiles transport us from place to place on some 32 billion kilometres of road. ibid.
Dogs were humankind’s first engine. ibid.
Horse-powered vehicles dominated transportation for the next five-thousand years. ibid.