Open House - Houston, TX

August 10-12 2001

The year 2001 marked the twentieth anniversary of the introduction of the DeLorean Sports Car and 2001 was supposed to have marked the opening of the DeLorean Motor Company's new world headquarters in Houston, Texas. Unfortunately, construction delays as a result of Tropical Storm Allison in June made it impossible for DMC Houston to complete their new headquarters and warehouse in time for the event.

While DMC-H did not have the warehouse completed, or all the parts moved to Houston, they still had the concours and People's Choice show, the rally, the test drives of the cars equipped with their new engine and suspension package, tech seminars and a tour of their existing facilities. Here is a rundown of the events:

Friday, August 10th • Welcome Reception
A welcoming reception with a chance to meet the other attendees and the staff of DMC-H

Saturday, August 11th
Test Drives of DeLoreans fitted with the new DMC high performance PRV engine and suspension
package, both automatic and manual transmission equipped

• Technical Seminars by the staff of DeLorean Motor Company

• Millennium, the DeLorean Motor Company Concours and People's Choice Competition

• Awards Banquet and Party
Held at the Hotel Sofitel, Millennium and People's Choice trophies awarded. A raffle was held, with the entire proceeds benefiting M.D. Anderson Children's Cancer Research Center, a local shelter for abused women. Some of the items in the raffle were a Carcoon, a set of new original Goodyear NCTs and wheels, subscriptions to their new 'deloreans' magazine and many other DeLorean items.

Sunday, August 12th
• Sights of Houston Rally

I had flown into Houston the Thursday before the show so I could meet up with Mike and Patty Substelny and Knut Grimsrud for a tour of the Johnson Space Center. And it was great! If you ever go to Houston, make the time to tour the Space Center, It's WELL worth it. Had the rest of the weekend been a bust I would have still been happy. However the crew at DMC Houston did not disappoint and the show was a delight!:

	Knut and a few others awaiting the Friday night reception.
	One of the first surprises of the evening: A chance to see a prototype of the new SunStar 1/16 scale die-cast DeLorean. I now own the car that this model was based on. See it HERE.
	They have done a stunning job on recreating all the details on the car as best as anyone could do.
	The interior of the trunk and engine were also recreated. I wonder if Houston will stock some add-on pull straps for those doors!
	Don Steger of the DeLorean Motor Center in California.
	Concours judging: Marty and Knut
	Stephen and his wife at the parts tables
	Mike judging..
	Patty judging.. Hint for future concours entries: If you get Patty as a judge you had better not have missed a single speck of dust.. Even on the tire jack!
	Bill judging..
	Marty working out a few last details..
	Outside the hotel at the car display and people's choice show
	A VERY clean car
	A VERY white car. Now I like white cars, but everything on this car was painted white. Bumpers, rub strips, the works.
	A bit more normally painted red car.
	The show-n-shine area. And shine it did. That and 80% humidity. That time of the year in Houston you need to be inside someplace cool and somewhat dry or in the pool.
	The bus shows up to take everyone to the DMC shop.
	James E. calling everyone to the bus.
	The current home of the DeLorean Motor Company (note the For Sale sign).
	Warren at his post.
	The front of the store.
	A side view.
	2 cars on the lifts in the shop.
	Just a few spare parts.
	Look closely.. There's a whole DeLorean under there!
	I would love to have one of these lifts!
	A frame under repair
	A body
	Stephen showing everyone how to look for rust and how to repair it.
	The Black hot-rod. I took this car out for a spin and it's the fastest automatic I've ever driven. I really liked the suspension system.
	Stephen giving a few more tech tips.
	The Saturday banquet at the hotel.
	Patty and Don collecting money for the raffle. LOTS of money for the raffle. One of the big prizes that evening was a Carcoon, and I won it! It's the best thing I've ever won! Thanks guys!