Classic American

CLASSIC AMERICAN PEOPLE ‘Motortour Maverick - The John DeLorean Story’

The Sixties would prove to be Pontiac’s most successful period in terms of new product creation and technical innovation, and the name of John Z DeLorean would be indelibly stamped on that success. He had joined the division in 1956 under general manager, Semon E ‘Bunkie’ Knudsen, a man whom DeLorean had an immense respect for as a manager, and who he felt was a ‘good teacher’. As head of advanced engineering, DeLorean had been given the task of bringing Pontiac engineering up to date and in 1961 was made chief engineer of Pontiac.

During his time as head of advanced engineering, much of DeLorean’s focus was on vehicle safety. He started looking at how improvements in vehicle structure, brakes, drivetrain and suspension systems could be made, which resulted in some technical improvements that put Pontiac ahead of much of the rest of the industry. In July, 1997, he told the story about how the perimeter chassis frame came about: “I came across a

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