The Rise and Fall of John DeLorean

http://blog.longreads.com/2014/11/11/the-rise-and-fall-of-john-delorean/

by pmcpinto • 12 years ago

49 8 12 years ago

blog.longreads.com

Cuuugi• 12 years ago

tl;dr = Cocaine's a hell of a drug.

leeview• 12 years ago

and police entrapment is a hell of a practice in some countries..

thesteamboat• 12 years ago

More on the case against De Lorean, 'cause it's interesting history and a textbook case of entrapment:

  On October 19, 1982, DeLorean was charged with 
  trafficking in cocaine by the U.S. government, following 
  a videotaped sting operation in which he was recorded by 
  undercover Federal agents agreeing to bankroll a $1.8 
  million, 100 kg cocaine smuggling operation in exchange 
  for a $24 million cut of the eventual profits. The 
  government was tipped off to DeLorean by confidential
  informant James Timothy Hoffman, a former neighbor, who 
  reported to his FBI superiors that DeLorean had 
  approached him to ask about setting up a cocaine deal; in 
  reality, Hoffman had called DeLorean and suggested the 
  deal (which DeLorean then accepted) as part of his 
  efforts to receive a reduced sentence on a 1981 Federal 
  cocaine trafficking charge that he was awaiting trial on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_DeLorean#Arrest_and_trial

and further:

  At this point, DeLorean became suspicious that he had 
  become involved in a dangerous and illegal operation, 
  possibly involving illegal narcotics or organized crime 
  (or both); he felt that he needed to remove himself from 
  the situation as soon as possible.
  [...]
  However, in the face of a thinly-veiled threat by Hoffman
  that DeLorean’s daughter would be murdered if he backed
  out of the deal, DeLorean continued to communicate with Hoffman.

http://blog.legalsolutions.thomsonreuters.com/legal-research...

leoc• 12 years ago

DeLorean's name is still mud in and around Northern Ireland, where he's generally regarded as a fraudster. (Here's a BBC article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/4367473.... )

adam12• 12 years ago

"Yes, that’s right: before DeLorean, drivers stuck their arms out the window to indicate a turn. "

What? DeLorean didn't event THE turn signal - just the lane-change turn signal.

bkeroack• 12 years ago

There are a number of questionable claims in this article--that the DeLorean invented turn signals and the overhead camshaft, for example.

mikestew• 12 years ago

They're not even questionable, they're just outright wrong. By the time I got to the post it says "lane-change turn signal", but still states that drivers put their arm out the window before that, which is demonstrably untrue.

As for overhead cams, Delorean put them in GM cars, which was a first. More generally, there were cars utilizing overhead cams before Delorean was even born.

They got the recessed windshield wipers right, though.

stuartmemo• 12 years ago

Regardless of whether you're interested in John DeLorean or not, you should checkout out Neon Neon's concept album about his life - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LadgANhOhiI

The Rise and Fall of John DeLorean

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