Mysterio66 Wrote:Thank you for your responses. I am definitely more interested in restoring one so I will register my interest on the forum. Of course keep me posted on any that come up I might find interesting. 
. May I ask as regard to importing are there any reliable all in one shipping companies that will handle pick up to drop off? Also have you or anyone had experience of buying from the US? Can community members help with this in terms of vetting the car before purchase or is it a case of having to fly over?
Thank you for the kind offer of coming to see your D's they sound great and I'll definitely make some time to pop over in the near future.
Just out of interest are there any real differences between the models between 81 and 83?
I'll try to handle each question...
1. Shipping-wise, yes there are a few that will do "door to door" and if you head back to
www.deloreans.co.uk there is a guide which should help you. I've used a couple of places and found a few brokers around too - expect somewhere in the region of $1k+ for shipping.
2. Get on the US forums and if someone is near a car, you'll likely be able to get a vetting - but read up and ask around because it'll be 3rd party information. It is
always better to see a car for yourself and I've done that in the past too - and it's not hugely expensive (but it's a cost none the less) to go out and see. When I buy my next car I
will be seeing it for myself before I purchase.
3.Model years - there are differences.. but to be honest, it's car to car. From a factory point of view, the earlier cars had lourved hoods with a "gas flap" whereas the later cars either had just the louvres of a completely flat bonnet/hood.
Interior wise, the early cars tended to be black inside and the middle cars, grey. The last cars were often hybrids with grey carpets and black seats/dash.
Early cars often had the antenna either in the windscreen on front right wing - and later cars in the rear (off to the left in a vent, and electric..).
Early cars had dark grey wheels, and later cars - shiny.
But again, these cars are 30 years old, so some will have had changes made and repairs so you could find an early car with a flat hood, or a late car with grey wheels... but as you go looking it'll become clear.
What didn't change was the guts. US cars had CATs and probably still will. They'll all have the same transmission and crappy angle-drives (ie, don't trust the mileage, it's likely wrong). And so on.. ask away and we'll answer anything you might want to know - if the information is out there, we'll have seen it!
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