John Zachary DeLorean was an American engineer, inventor, and executive. He is best known for his work at General Motors and as founder of the DeLorean Motor Company. DeLorean managed development of a number of vehicles throughout his career, including the Pontiac GTO muscle car and Pontiac Firebird. He was charged with cocaine trafficking after FBI informant James Hoffman solicited him as financier in a scheme to sell 220 lb of cocaine worth approximately USD 24 million.
About John DeLorean in brief
John Zachary DeLorean was an American engineer, inventor, and executive in the U.S. automobile industry. He is best known for his work at General Motors and as founder of the DeLorean Motor Company. DeLorean managed development of a number of vehicles throughout his career, including the Pontiac GTO muscle car and Pontiac Firebird. He was charged with cocaine trafficking after FBI informant James Hoffman solicited him as financier in a scheme to sell 220 lb of cocaine worth approximately USD 24 million. The trial ended in a not guilty verdict in August 1984, by which time DMC had declared bankruptcy and shut down. His father was Romanian, born in Sugág village, Alsó-Fehér County, Austria-Hungary, who worked in a mill factory; Zachary emigrated to the United States when he was twenty. John’s mother was a fellow Hungarian citizen of Hungarian origin, who was employed at the Carboloy Products Division of General Electric throughout much of DeLorean’s early life. John was born on January 6, 1925, in Detroit, Michigan, the eldest of four sons of Zachary and Kathryn DeLorean. His academic record and musical talents earned him a scholarship at Lawrence Institute of Technology in the Detroit suburb of Highland Park. At Lawrence, he excelled in the study of industrial engineering and was elected to the school’s honor society. He graduated in 1948 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial Engineering. Instead of entering the engineering workforce, DeLorean sold life insurance. He developed an analytical system aimed at engineers and sold about USD 850,000 worth of policies in ten months.
He ran a post-graduate educational facility named the Chrysler Institute of Engineering, which allowed DeLorean to advance his education while gaining real-world experience. A foreman at Chrysler, he recommended that DeLorean apply for work at Chrysler and DeLorean agreed to apply for the position. In 1943, DeLorean was drafted for military service and served three years in the US Army and received an honorable discharge. He returned to Detroit to find his mother and siblings in economic difficulty. He worked as a draftsman for the Public Lighting Commission for a year and a half to improve his family’s financial status, then returned to Lawrence to finish his degree. DeLorea’s parents divorced in 1942, and he subsequently saw little of his father, who moved into a boarding house, becoming a solitary and estranged drug addict. His poor English skills and lack of education prevented him from higher-paid work. He spent time in Montana and Gary, Indiana, before moving to Michigan. When not required at Ford, he occasionally working as a carpenter. When he was 18, he joined the Ford Motor Company factory in nearby Highland Park as a union organizer. He went on to work for the Factory Equipment Corporation, which later became Chrysler. He also worked for Chrysler as a foreman in the automotive engineering department. In 1973, he was the youngest division head in General Motors history, then broke away to start the DeLorea Motor Company in 1973.
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This page is based on the article John DeLorean published in Wikipedia (as of Nov. 30, 2020) and was automatically summarized using artificial intelligence.
