AZ-D Chronicle

(Written circa 2005) By Hugh Halladay - AZ-D Club Historian


In the Beginning…

In 1995 local owner James Espey, (now in Houston as a DeLorean Motor Company/DMCH  V.P.) and a few other Arizona owners (including myself) formed Local Chapter 43 of the DeLorean Owners Assn. (DOA). James Espey also started the DML (DeLorean Mailing List) and moderated it until some time after he moved to Texas in 1999 to work for the DeLorean Motor Company.

Alone in the Desert…

The DOA eventually abolished local chapters, and subsequently became almost exclusively a California operation. This, and other actions by some of the DOA “powers that be” caused the DOA to fall out of favor with many national owners. This was the Genesis of the present AZ-D, and much like the Phoenix Bird, AZ-D rose from the ashes of DOA Chapter 43.

The DML gradually became the voice of DeLorean owners and enthusiasts who felt disenfranchised by the DOA. Finally there was a source of help and advice from fellow owners who had probably ‘been there-done that’.

James Espey moved to Texas in 1999 to work for the DeLorean Motor Company, at which time he ‘passed the Arizona baton’ to Randal "Doc" Brown - President

NOT Alone in the Desert…

Finding a trustworthy shop experienced in servicing Ds can be a big problem unless willing to travel to New York, Texas or California. Our Club is blessed with many helpful people. Also, the folks from New York, Texas and California have all visited our club, and all have commented on how lucky we are to have such a strong club.

Most Delorean owners across the country have experienced the willingness of other owners to help in servicing or restoring each other’s cars. Our club is a great example of that spirit.  Every car is important. Our goal is for every D in the club to be roadworthy, and a regular part of our events. We have regularly "ganged up" on a D to boost the progress toward that goal.

Tradition!  Tradition! 

One lasting local tradition, going back to the “DOA days” is the informal / ad hoc meeting at the informal Pavilions Car Show on Saturday nights, often followed by a visit to the 5&Diner across the street.  The old tradition was called “Second Saturday” where as many of the DMC Owners as possible gathered to steal the show from the Vettes, Rods, Muscles, Classics and others on the second Saturday each month. The Pavilions holds their car show event every Saturday, and Club members now go on a more irregular basis, but it remains one of the chief contacts for promoting the Club, and the Marque.  Several new members have discovered the club through these contacts.

A more recent tradition is the June Jaunt in the odd numbered years. In the even numbered years is the DeLorean Car Show (DCS) http://www.DeLoreancarshow.com/, and the ‘Jaunt’ is to attend the show. As in the past, Richard Federico will be the Master of Ceremonies at future DCS events. The rest of the club has pledged to assist Ken Koncelik in any way that is needed. In the odd numbered years (No DCS), Ben Ferguson, our Cruise Director, plans a special June trip/activity.

Unlike most DeLorean Clubs, we really do have a clubhouse!  Well, sorta. Thanks to the enthusiasm and generosity of Richard Federico, our Hospitality Director, (and his very understanding wife Kathy), an entire activity room in his home is dedicated to DeLoreans and to the AZ-D. When we say, “the meeting is at the clubhouse”, we mean it!

Our December Holiday Meeting at the clubhouse has, itself, become a tradition.  First is a quick review of the past year, and a "what worked vs. what didn’t" critique. We set goals and tentative plans for the next year. Then fun stuff!  Awards; serious and not-so-serious, followed by a Holiday gift exchange.  It’s cut-throat competition for the cool stuff!

On the Highway…Again

Our Club is a true Arizona club, with members not only from all across the Phoenix Metro area, but also from Tucson, Stanfield, Casa Grande, and Flagstaff. The AZ-D even has members in Las Vegas, as well as southern California!

Our club, and individuals from our club, have made excursions to assist Tucson owners in getting their inoperable Ds roadworthy again. Much success! It’s great to see more cars turn out!  Keep ‘em rollin’.

Living the Dream --- Twelve Months a Year

No one in the club stores a D for the winter snow.  We operate year-round. In fact, the winter is our busiest time.  It’s easy to entice owners from ‘snow country’ to our events in winter.  Our favorite vendors love the climate, and several past events have been built around a vendor visit to our club. We always get an exceptional turnout for a meeting that features a visit from a vendor.

One of the drawbacks of being a desert dweller DeLorean owner is easy to guess.  All of DeLorean’s potential for overheating comes into play.  The club is on a path to get (and keep) all of our cars’ cooling systems in shape to handle the challenge. That goes for the A/C too. Remember we are a year-round club, and July/August temps may be 110-115 degF.

On the Information Superhighway

Find us on the net. Our connection with the Yahoo!  DML goes back to Day 1 with founder James Espey.  Several members post regularly.  Several also post on the Yahoo!  DMC Forum.

However, our regular club business and communication is conducted on either or both of the following:
        The website you are looking at now: http://www.az-d.org/
        or
        AZ-D Yahoo! Group

We’ll see you there, often we hope!

Off the Information Superhighway

Printed media works too.  John Spangler creates the AZ-D-Zine for all to enjoy. Copies of it are uploaded to the website for all to see, as well as being sent by email to our club email list. It contains current AZ-D events as well as DeLorean community news.

The club sometimes gets into the local press too. We love the publicity! For a sample of some of the local stuff see the Events section and the Publicity section.


AZ-D Today - An AZ-D Chronicle Addendum

(Written circa 2024) By Dan WIlson - AZ-D Webmaster
If you have yet to read club historian Hugh Halladay's original AZ-D Chronicle essay about the history of our club, please scroll up to the top of this page and learn about the Arizona DeLorean Club from the beginning.

Forward to the 2020s

Much has changed over the two decades since Hugh last wrote about the history of AZ-D above. Many faces have changed within the club... and the ones that remain look a tad more "seasoned". Some traditions have faded away while new ones have established themselves. The club has continued to evolve as a new generation of owners join to share in our passion and "Live the Dream". The details of the past two decades are better left for another long-standing member to chronicle in the future. Perhaps Hugh himself will provide us with the next chapter. We'll see... For now I just want to update a few thing Hugh touched on in his essay.

The DML is no more. The Yahoo! Group that was once the voice of DeLorean owners and enthusiasts, post DOA Chapter dissolution, fell victim to an ever evolving Internet landscape. As the dominant social media apps of today grew in popularity, the electronic mailing lists of old were eventually retired by their providers. One may consider the still popular DMCTalk.org Forum the successor to the DML, but it's style of forum too is becoming antiquated. Today Facebook contains countless groups and pages dedicated to the DeLorean, some better than others, some more popular than others, each focusing on a different aspect of the car or the owner/enthusiast community.

While Second Saturdays at the Pavilions Rock and Roll Car Show eventually turned into an annual club gathering before fading away, today one of our most popular traditions is meeting up at the AZ-D Monthly Lunch. Started in 2006 by yours truly, Dan Wilson, I "borrowed" the idea from the local Pantera club who meets for dinner on the second Thursday of every month at the same restaurant. I started our Monthly Lunch tradition on the second Saturday of every month, as the second coming of Second Saturday, at the long gone Uncle Sam's Scottsdale location where the Panters then met. Since then my successors hold the Monthly Lunch on various Saturdays or Sundays of the month at a different location each month as you can see on our Schedule of Events.

Now that the Ken Koncelik DCS-DeLorean Car Shows are a thing of the past, the June Jaunt (Joon Jaunt if held during a different month) tradition faded away too, but I'm planning to revive it this year (2024). Will it make a come back? Time will tell...

Now that Richard & Kathy Federico have moved up to Flagstaff, AZ, the AZ-D Clubhouse is no more. Richard remains a lifetime honorary member for all his years of generosity to the club, but today we find ourselves attending our annual Summer and Holiday parties more often than not at Tom Spearman's amazing home in Coolidge... and yes, the notorious Holiday Party gift exchange tradition is still going strong.

The Information Superhighway. Wow, remember that term? Wait, you DON'T?!! If that's the case you're either too young... but chances are I'm just old. Anyway, go look it up Gen Zers. As mentioned, no more Yahoo! Groups therefore not only no more DML or DMC Forum but no more AZ-D Yahoo! Group as well. This website, however, is once again very much alive (The rumors of it's death due to inactivity, abandonment and neglect were greatly exaggerated!), and I am yet again the webmaster. I know what you're thinking. It looks like it's from a bygone era. Well, it is. But so is the DeLorean, so this old site is in good company : ) If you need something more contemporary please visit, like and follow our Arizona DeLorean Club Facebook Page. What's that Gen Zer? Facebook is old too because that's what your parents use, and they are old. Let me ask you something then... do you really want to see me in a TikTok video? Didn't think so. 'Nuff said! The members do have an unofficial, informal chat group on GroupMe, but you have to join to get an invite.

Lastly, the AZ-D-Zine is long gone as well, but who knows, one day our once great newsletter may return too. Just takes one person to bring it up and Randal will look at 'em and say "You own it!".

Some notable things actually haven't changed. Our old friend James Espey is still the Vice President of DeLorean Motor Company in Houston Texas... or is it Classic DMC now? Well, the name changed but James' position has not and we are proud to have him as an honorary lifetime member. The other thing that hasn't changed is the DOA (DeLorean Owners Association) still remains out of favor with most in the DeLorean Community to this day. That will probably never change.

What does the future look like for AZ-D? Well, obviously we already know ; )