Texas Entrepreneur Set to Start Building DeLorean Cars
Monday, August 20, 2007


HUMBLE, Texas —  In a nondescript warehouse in east Texas, mechanic and entrepreneur Stephen Wynne is bringing a rare sports car back to life. If he succeeds, he almost certainly has Michael J. Fox to thank.

A quarter century after DeLorean Motor Co. began making its glitzy, $25,000 two-seater — an operation that collapsed after two years — Wynne's small automotive outfit plans to bring the vehicle back into limited production at a 40,000-square-foot factory in this Houston suburb.

The creation of renowned automotive engineer John DeLorean, DMC eventually made fewer than 9,000 cars, distinctive for their gull-wing doors, stainless-steel exterior and rear-engine design. An estimated 6,500 remain on the road.

Despite DMC's flop, the car has persevered, gaining notoriety largely as the time machine Fox drove in the blockbuster 1985 movie, "Back to the Future," and its two sequels.

The trilogy's enduring popularity on cable TV has exposed countless viewers — and potential customers — to a souped-up version of the DeLorean.

"There isn't a day somewhere in the world that 'Back to the Future' isn't playing as a rerun," said Wynne, president of the new, privately held DeLorean Motor Co.

Wynne formed the company in 1995, when the bulk of his business was working on original DeLoreans at a Houston garage. Still, he needed a name, and because there was nothing legally preventing him from using the original, he decided to give it a shot. He even called John DeLorean, who wished him luck.

A dozen years later, Wynne hopes to parlay the car's celebrity — along with the world's biggest stash of DeLorean parts and engines — into a niche production business that begins hand-making two DeLoreans a month sometime next year. They've just started taking orders.

Already, the Humble operation will take an existing DeLorean, strip it to the frame and rebuild it for a base price of $42,500. Wynne's staff can rebuild one every couple of months.

The company also handles routine maintenance, such as oil changes and tuneups, and ships between 20 and 50 parts orders a day to mechanics and individual owners worldwide.

But because the original models are roughly 25 years old, finding suitable candidates to refurbish has become increasingly difficult.

So Wynne figured: Why not use the thousands of parts and hundreds of engines sitting in his massive warehouse and build the cars from scratch?

"Everything seems to evolve around here, and that seemed to be the next logical step," said Wynne, a Briton who began working on DeLoreans in the 1980s in Los Angeles, becoming expert in their mechanics and equipment. He eventually expanded to suburban Houston and opted to make his base here, in part because of the lower cost of living.

Like other DeLorean mechanics at the time, Wynne bought replacement parts from an Ohio company, Kapac Co., which had acquired the original inventory when DeLorean failed. In 1997, when Kapac wanted out of the parts business, Wynne bought the supply for himself, though he declined to say how much he paid.

A decade later, he's decided to take the company to the next level: Niche automaker.

The handmade cars will feature about 80 percent original parts. The other 20 percent will be new, supplier-made parts from companies such Valeo SA and the Bosch Group, said DeLorean vice president James Espey.

The one limiting factor is the doors. The company has enough for about 500 cars, though it's important to keep some in stock for repairs and such. Beyond that, Espey said, the company is studying its options.

Enhancements to the new cars will include an improved stainless-steel frame, a stronger but lighter fiberglass underbody and electronics upgraded from the disastrous systems in the early DeLoreans. A peppier engine — the original cars' 135 horsepower was a downer for performance enthusiasts — will be available as an option.

"After working on these cars practically every day for 25 years, we've identified most of the issues and replaced them," Wynne said. "If there's a better part available, we'll use it. If there's a better way to install it, we'll do it."

The base price of a new DeLorean is expected to be $57,500 — roughly the same price a 1981 DeLorean would have cost in today's dollars. The company will sell the cars from its shop in Humble and affiliate shops in Bonita Springs, Fla., Crystal Lake, Ill., Bellevue, Wash., and Orange County, Calif. DMC also has a shop in the Netherlands for European owners.

"It's taken years to get the wheels moving, and they're moving slowly, but we've got motion," Wynne said.

Ken Baker likes the company's direction — so much so that the Bentley and Rolls Royce sales executive in Fort Lauderdale drives his own original DeLorean and heads that region's DeLorean owners group.

A car guy to the core, Baker says he became enamored with John DeLorean in high school after reading DeLorean's book, "On a Clear Day You Can See General Motors," the author's critical look inside his former employer.

DeLorean was the antithesis of the buttoned-down auto executive of his day, sporting designer suits, dating models and moving in celebrity circles. While at GM in the 1960s, he created what some consider the first "muscle car," putting a V-8 engine into a Pontiac Tempest and calling it the GTO.

When DeLorean began making his own car in Northern Ireland in 1981, Baker says he fell in love with it. Of course, as a teenager, he wasn't able to shell out $25,000. Now, at 41, Baker is a proud DeLorean owner.

"You have to understand it's a car that never got to its full development because it was gone before it really hit its prime," Baker said. "And you have to realize it's 25 years old. But understanding that, it's fun to drive and very comfortable."

Unfortunately, DeLorean simply couldn't sell enough of the cars to sustain the business. The company folded in 1983, a year after DeLorean was busted in a drug trafficking sting and accused of conspiring to sell $24 million worth of cocaine to salvage the venture. He used an entrapment defense to win acquittal, but legal entanglements plagued him for years to come. He died in 2005 at age 80.

Kevin Smith, editorial director for the automotive Web site Edmunds.com, said he's interested to see if the Humble effort fares better than the Irish debacle. He said quality control is often an issue with limited production, "but I'm always optimistic for people who want to make new and interesting cars."

The newest version of the DeLorean will certainly be interesting and exclusive, Smith said, "and for some people with means, that's enough."

Nerve Gas Scare at U.N. Headquarters
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Share August 30, 2007 12:01 PM

Brian Ross Reports:

United Nations weapons inspectors discovered six to eight vials of a dangerous nerve gas, phosgene, as they were cleaning out offices at a U.N. building in New York this morning, federal authorities tell the Blotter on ABCNews.com.

The federal authorities said the office, in a U.N. building near headquarters, was being evacuated and the White House had been notified at 10 a.m.

New York police and fire officials reported to the scene around 12:15 this afternoon.

A U.N. spokesperson said a statement would be issued shortly.

Authorities said the phosgene was believed to have been discovered in Iraq and manufactured prior to 1991.

Former U.N. weapons inspectors told ABCNews.com that vials of phosgene had also been used by inspectors in Iraq to help calibrate air sampling instruments.

Click Here for Full Blotter Coverage.
The former inspectors said the remaining vials were supposed to have been destroyed.

"If it is properly sealed, it should not pose much of a threat unless it is dropped," said former New York City emergency services director Jerry Hauer, an ABC News consultant.

"They need to get it out of there and put it in a safe canister," Hauer said. "It shows immense stupidity to have that kind of thing sitting around as a souvenir."

According to the Web site of the Centers for Disease Control, phosgene at room temperature is a poisonous, colorless gas with a suffocating odor like newly mown hay.

According to an article in Foreign Affairs, the chemical was allegedly used by Iran in the Iran-Iraq war in 1987.

Phosgene was used extensively during World War I as a "choking agent" and, according to the CDC Web site, among the chemicals used in the war, it was responsible for the large majority of deaths.

The chemical also has numerous commercial applications in the manufacture of plastics and pesticides.

www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20592481/

Barbie toys reportedly part of next Mattel recall

Lead paint may be on several hundred thousand Chinese-made goods

Updated: 17 minutes ago

Mattel Inc., whose reputation has been battered by two high-profile toy recalls this summer, will announce on Wednesday the recall of a third batch of Chinese-made toys because they may contain excessive amounts of lead paint.

The recall, to be announced tomorrow jointly by the company and the Consumer Product Safety Commission, involves around 775,000 toys, all of which are believed to contain unsafe levels of lead paint, sources told the Wall Street Journal and NBC news. Two of the toys are designed for pre-school age children — one a musical instrument "The Big Band Bongo drum," and the other a train toy marketed under the name "Geo Tracks." About 100,000 will be affected.

But the lion's share of the recall will affect Mattel's core brand, Barbie. Seven accessories associated with the dolls are set to be recalled, a total of 675,000, the Journal reported.

Mattel told the Journal that it only announces recalls in conjunction with the CPSC.

Mattel’s last recall, announced on Aug. 14, covered about 19 million toys worldwide. They included Chinese-made toys that either had excessive amounts of lead paint or had small magnets that could easily be swallowed by children.

On Aug. 1, Mattel’s Fisher-Price division said it was recalling 1.5 million preschool toys featuring characters such as Dora the Explorer, Big Bird and Elmo because of lead paint. That action included 967,000 toys sold in the United States between May and August.

Lead can cause brain damage when ingested by young children. Under current regulations, children’s products found to have more than .06 percent lead accessible to users are subject to a recall.

Robert Eckert, chairman and CEO of El Segundo, Calif.-based Mattel, warned at a press conference last month that there may be more recalls of tainted toys as the company steps up its investigations into its Chinese factories and retests products.

Still, the latest action would be yet another blow to Mattel, which had cultivated an image of tightly controlling production in China. The Consumer Product Safety Commission also said Tuesday it was considering a possible investigation of whether Mattel notified authorities as quickly as it should have in connection with the Aug. 14 recall.

With more than 80 percent of toys sold worldwide made in China, toy sellers are nervous that shoppers will shy away from their products in this year’s critical holiday season.

Late last month, Toys “R” Us announced it was recalling thousands of art sets made in China due to excessive levels of lead in some black watercolor paints.

In June, toy maker RC2 Corp. voluntarily recalled 1.5 million wooden railroad toys and set parts from its Thomas & Friends Wooden Railway product line. The company said that the surface paint on certain toys and parts made in China between January 2005 and April 2006 contain lead, affecting 26 components and 23 retailers.

In July, Hasbro Inc. recalled faulty Chinese-made Easy Bake ovens, marking the second time the iconic toy had been recalled this year.

Last month, Mattel vowed that it would tighten its controls at its factories in China. About 65 percent of Mattel’s toys are made in China, where about 50 percent of Mattel’s production is produced in company-owned plants. But apparently, the controls were not strict enough, particularly when it came to overseeing Mattel’s subcontractors.

UPDATE 1-Iran-Turkey pipeline blast cuts gas flow -source
Mon Sep 10, 2007 9:00AM BST

ANKARA, Sept 10 (Reuters) - A large explosion on a pipeline bringing natural gas from Iran to Turkey halted supplies late on Sunday, a Turkish energy official said.

Officials hoped to resume full gas flows by Tuesday, he told Reuters on Monday.

He said the cause of the explosion was not immediately known.

"An explosion has occurred 5 km (3 miles) inside Turkey and the gas flow has been stopped," said the official, who declined to be named.

Iran is Turkey's second biggest supplier of natural gas after Russia.

Officials were working to fix the damaged portion of the pipeline on Monday morning, he said, adding that they hoped to resume the flow of gas within the day.

"Efforts have been started to repair the damaged 35-meter area ... Tomorrow morning the pipeline is expected to carry its normal capacity," he said.

Sabotage is common on pipelines leading into Turkey from Iran and Iraq, where Kurdish militants are based.