A couple of years ago my dad handed me a book entitled "Buses of the World" by Derek Moses. It's an Ian Allan title, published in 1982 and it lists various vehicles by country. On page 133 of said book there is a listing for the DeLorean DMC-80 which appears in the "USA" section of the book. It's a fairly modern looking city bus for its time and appears to utilise a lot of the features that we see on low-floor buses today (smaller wheels and tyres, for example). The photograph is clearly of a real bus in a real setting, although the photo has been altered to show "DMC-80" on the destination screen.
According to the article:
The only vehicle produced by DeLorean that I'm aware of was the DMC-12 car, made famous by the Back to the Future film franchise and perhaps more infamous by the circumstances surrounding the company's bankruptcy.
Anyhow, the photo of the bus itself appears to have been taken in a European setting, and there is badging on the front that says "FFG Falkenried". I googled this name and I was pointed in the direction of FFG Hamburg. Fortunately they have a history section on their website, and a handy slideshow where I was able to find two images of the same bus.
www.ffg-hamburg.de
11:49 is where you'll find the first picture. The setting looks remarkably similar to the photograph in the book, including the tram lines and the squares painted on the road surface. I've included a screenshot below (photographer unknown) but credit to FFG Hamburg.
Does anyone know if this project actually got off the ground in the United States, or was it one of John DeLorean's fantasies?
According to the article:
The only vehicle produced by DeLorean that I'm aware of was the DMC-12 car, made famous by the Back to the Future film franchise and perhaps more infamous by the circumstances surrounding the company's bankruptcy.
Anyhow, the photo of the bus itself appears to have been taken in a European setting, and there is badging on the front that says "FFG Falkenried". I googled this name and I was pointed in the direction of FFG Hamburg. Fortunately they have a history section on their website, and a handy slideshow where I was able to find two images of the same bus.
Historie der FFG Fahrzeugwerkstätten Falkenried GmbH in Hamburg
Die Geschichte der FFG Fahrzeugwerkstätten Falkenried GmbH. Das Hamburger Traditionsunternehmen kann auf eine mehr als 120-jährige Geschichte in der Hansestadt zurückblicken.
11:49 is where you'll find the first picture. The setting looks remarkably similar to the photograph in the book, including the tram lines and the squares painted on the road surface. I've included a screenshot below (photographer unknown) but credit to FFG Hamburg.
Does anyone know if this project actually got off the ground in the United States, or was it one of John DeLorean's fantasies?
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