John DeLorean:After his cocaine trial, business collapse,loss of his wife and his reputation! — Transcript
Full transcript
- 0:00Yesterday in a Detroit courtroom, John
- 0:02Delorean pleaded not guilty to swindling
- 0:04company investors out of $9 million.
- 0:07This is the continuing saga of a man
- 0:10whose name alone conjures up visions of
- 0:12the wealthy and glamorous, as well as
- 0:14images of a sleek stainless steel sports
- 0:16car bearing the Delorean name. But the
- 0:18most indelible impression the public has
- 0:20of John Delorean is that of Maverick
- 0:22automotive genius who desperate to save
- 0:24his failing car company became involved
- 0:26in what he alleges was a government
- 0:28engineered cocaine deal. The nation
- 0:31watched as he was found not guilty in
- 0:32the most celebrated drug trafficking
- 0:34trial ever. But the story doesn't end
- 0:36here. A few days after the verdict was
- 0:38announced, the picture perfect marriage
- 0:40of John Delorean to model Christina
- 0:42Ferrar came to an
- 0:46end. From media accounts, we are well
- 0:48aware of the recent events in John
- 0:49Delorean's life. But most of us know
- 0:51very little about he came about how he
- 0:53came to power and became such an
- 0:54infamous public figure as he is today.
- 0:57He left General Motors Corporation and
- 0:59with that he gave up a very private life
- 1:01that was soon to become a very public
- 1:02life. Here with us to tell his story is
- 1:05John Delorean who has just completed his
- 1:07book entitled Delorean. Good morning to
- 1:09you John. So you two had an interesting
- 1:10evening. I'm not sure. I don't remember.
- 1:13There is so much to know about your life
- 1:15in order to do this. born in Detroit.
- 1:17Your father was in the industry. Were
- 1:19you destined, do you suppose, from day
- 1:21one to become a part of the industry?
- 1:22Well, you know, my dad was a factory
- 1:24worker and really a labor organizer back
- 1:26in the early days of unionism in the
- 1:29automobile industry. But, uh, I think
- 1:31when you are born and raised in Detroit,
- 1:33it's either you become part of the
- 1:34industry or you move away. You know,
- 1:36it's a one industry town. In your 17ome
- 1:39years at General Motors, what kinds of
- 1:40innovations do you take credit for?
- 1:42Well, I don't know about taking credit.
- 1:43A lot of the things that I worked on are
- 1:45parts of cars today. You know, the for
- 1:48example, the frames used in most of the
- 1:50major cars, a lot of the uh the
- 1:52concealed windshield wipers, a lot of
- 1:55the fabrication techniques, a lot of the
- 1:57safety improvements and minority
- 1:59involvement. We had did a tremendous
- 2:02amount of work in minority involvement.
- 2:04I put in the first black dealer in
- 2:06Watts. In fact, I ran into his widow. He
- 2:09died some time back and it was really
- 2:11amazing. his daughter and and uh she
- 2:14remembered me very well. You blast
- 2:17General Motors. Uh not really. Well, you
- 2:19say that they're shallow in their
- 2:20policym that they had no forward
- 2:22thinking uh or planning and that your
- 2:24job had no substance that you really
- 2:26found you were more of a paper pusher.
- 2:27Why in light of some of those things did
- 2:29you stay all those years? No. I uh I
- 2:31think what happened is that while I ran
- 2:33a division that was like being the
- 2:35quarterback of the Patriots except last
- 2:37weekend and that was fun. And it was a
- 2:40challenge every day. It was exciting. Uh
- 2:42the interesting thing about the
- 2:44automobile industry is that in a town
- 2:46like Detroit, you know who your
- 2:47competition is and every 10 days you see
- 2:50how you're doing in comparison to them.
- 2:52You know, you know what's ayakoka doing
- 2:54to you today or what are you doing to
- 2:55him. So it's a really intense sense of
- 2:57competition and the whole organization
- 3:00feels it. It's a very healthy thing. Let
- 3:02me ask you a question. All right. I knew
- 3:04this was going to happen. In a way, it
- 3:07sounds like in a way like you were set
- 3:09up to be pushed out of General Motors
- 3:11and and let me tell you why. At least
- 3:12from what I've read, there were uh
- 3:14various people for a variety of reasons.
- 3:16Roger Keys, who was your boss when you
- 3:18were running Pontiac Chevrolet Kais,
- 3:19Roger Kais, he didn't like your dress,
- 3:22your way of dress, he didn't he thought
- 3:23you were a womanizer. Richard Terrell,
- 3:25who succeeded Keys, said quote to you,
- 3:27John, disappear into the boondocks. Um
- 3:30then you gave this speech at the
- 3:31Greenbryer on product quality and it was
- 3:34leaked by the PR department. You say it
- 3:36was the rough draft. It pretty much
- 3:37blasted General Motors and that was kind
- 3:40of the end for you. Was it true that no
- 3:43one liked you there, John, that you were
- 3:44not? No, I think I got along with most
- 3:47of the people pretty well. Although
- 3:49there were a few you everybody in every
- 3:51organization has, you know, some people
- 3:53on your side and some against. I've
- 3:55always gotten along very well with my
- 3:57peers and the people who worked under
- 3:59me. I've always had a certain amount of
- 4:01problems and confrontations with my
- 4:03bosses. That's been the nature of my
- 4:05life. But your resignation was drawn by
- 4:07General Motors. Is that unusual for a
- 4:09man who intends to resign? Were was it a
- 4:11resignation or were you in fact asked to
- 4:12leave? No, no. I I left I I tended my
- 4:15resignation almost immediately after I
- 4:17was promoted and given a tremendous
- 4:19bonus. I moved up from uh the head of
- 4:21Chevrolet to the group executive of
- 4:23North American Car and Truck Operations.
- 4:25And I did that about a month spending
- 4:27every minute and sitting in a committee
- 4:29meeting listening to the same people say
- 4:32the same things. And I said, I just
- 4:33can't imagine doing this for 18 more
- 4:35years. I can't I couldn't possibly
- 4:38survive. But just bottom line, weren't
- 4:39you dissatisfied? There's been so much
- 4:41in print about your criticism of GM. Can
- 4:43I just ask you, do you criticize the
- 4:45company? No. No. I owe everything I have
- 4:46in the world to General Motors. And what
- 4:48I when I did the book, I was trying to
- 4:50be constructive. And that's the reason
- 4:52that the author and I had a problem. You
- 4:54know, he printed the book without my
- 4:56permission on a clear day. Yeah. And
- 4:57then we had a contract. He was supposed
- 4:59to pay me half of what he got. I think
- 5:01he's made about a million and a half
- 5:02bucks. He's never given me a penny. So,
- 5:04but John, as they say in the automobile
- 5:06industry, let's shift gears here. We've
- 5:08heard a lot about your automotive
- 5:09career, which has been very successful
- 5:11for the most part, but a lot of people
- 5:12are interested and intrigued by your
- 5:15personal life and your image and
- 5:16lifestyle. And one of the corporate
- 5:18grains, I guess, that you cut against
- 5:20there at GM was that you liked younger
- 5:22women, beautiful women. You were
- 5:24flamboyant. You dyed your hair. You lost
- 5:26weight. You had cosmetic surgery. Any of
- 5:29these things true? Well, some of them
- 5:30are true. Obviously, uh, you know, I
- 5:34have liked attractive women and, uh, now
- 5:38I'm reformed. I like ugly women.
- 5:42But, seriously, did you I like ugly
- 5:44women, slow cars, and bad food now.
- 5:47Got that line down, Pat. How did you?
- 5:49No, not really. But did you have John,
- 5:51and I don't want to sound like we're
- 5:52we're interrogating you here because
- 5:54you've already had that experience with
- 5:55the best, but did you have a nose job?
- 5:57Did you have your face lifted? You know,
- 5:58I had my my nose busted about five times
- 6:01when I played basketball and I didn't
- 6:04have a nose job, but I had it
- 6:05straightened and uh and I had to have
- 6:08some I had a little work back when I was
- 6:11a kid. I had a a serious injury to my
- 6:15jaw and I had a piece of impacted bone
- 6:16which had to be removed about 18 or 19
- 6:18years ago. And I had such a horrible
- 6:21experience that when that happened that
- 6:23I've really never felt, you know,
- 6:26impelled to go back and have it
- 6:28straightened out. And of course, my face
- 6:29is about half scar tissue now. Well, it
- 6:31looks okay.
- 6:33But it's going to last the rest of my
- 6:35life anyway. That's true. The other
- 6:36thing that intrigued me about you was
- 6:39that you said you preferred a certain
- 6:41kind of woman. A woman that was very
- 6:43attractive, nonthreatening,
- 6:45non-challenging, and any woman that was
- 6:47intelligent threatened you. Do you still
- 6:49feel that way? No, I I think I realized
- 6:52that that was a mistake and that somehow
- 6:55uh psychologically I've been trying to
- 6:57readjust myself to understand why I felt
- 7:01that because certainly I met a lot of
- 7:03very intelligent, intriguing women and I
- 7:06guess I felt somewhat intimidated by
- 7:08them and so uh you know today I have a
- 7:11different attitude although you know
- 7:13it's I'm going to lose my reputation as
- 7:15a womanizer if I don't get a date pretty
- 7:17soon. It's been a year and two months.
- 7:19Well, that was the other thing about the
- 7:21GM detractors. They said that you were
- 7:23indeed a womanizer. You liked women who
- 7:25a great deal younger than yourself. Um
- 7:28Liz Kelly, I think Kelly Harmon, the
- 7:30daughter of Tom Harman. She was what,
- 7:32about 19? No, she about 22. In fact, I
- 7:34just saw her in the street the other
- 7:36day. We But how much younger is she than
- 7:37you? Uh about 24 years. What was the
- 7:40reaction at GM? Yeah, it was pretty
- 7:42although the president at that time Ed
- 7:44Cole's wife was 25 years younger than
- 7:46him and my boss that's Dolly Cole,
- 7:48right? Yeah. And uh and Pete Estus who
- 7:51was my immediate boss's wife was 24
- 7:53years younger. So I think that that was
- 7:55not unusual. You said something in the
- 7:57Playboy magazine interview that I saw
- 7:59where a friend of yours said we love you
- 8:01and we hate you. While they're jumping
- 8:03into bed with their ugly wives, you're
- 8:05going to bed. I was a PR director at
- 8:07Chevy said that, you know, one of the
- 8:09problems and, you know, I never thought
- 8:11much about I've never concerned myself
- 8:13much about what other people think.
- 8:14Anyhow, really, John? I can't believe
- 8:16that. That's true. Changing your image,
- 8:18you're you're in an image business, the
- 8:19automobile business, you don't care what
- 8:21other people think. Well, certainly
- 8:22that's much more true now even than it
- 8:24was then. But I've always sort of, you
- 8:26know, believe that if you live your life
- 8:28the way you should and do the things
- 8:30that you believe are correct that
- 8:31everything ultimately will turn out. I
- 8:33still you're a maverick. Then you really
- 8:34are a maverick, aren't you? Well, I get
- 8:37even today I wind up in, for example,
- 8:39I'm so depressed by what I see going on
- 8:42in South Africa. It drives me insane.
- 8:44But uh and those things bother me. I'm
- 8:47just made that way. That's all. I met
- 8:49her through the my divorce attorney, as
- 8:51a matter of fact, who had handled her
- 8:53divorce. That's how we met. What about
- 8:56the Christianity? You're born again. A
- 8:58lot of people say that's what they all
- 9:01say. They go to jail and they come out
- 9:03and they're born again. It's a cop, but
- 9:04it's part of John Delorean's new image.
- 9:06He's created for himself. Well, I don't
- 9:09know that. Of course, no true Christian
- 9:12would say that because that's part of
- 9:14being a Christian. On the other hand,
- 9:16it's not unusual. You know, throughout
- 9:17the Bible, most of the conversions
- 9:20happened under times of great duress
- 9:21because when your life is going
- 9:23perfectly and there's no problem, you
- 9:25have no tendency to to seek solutions
- 9:28and particularly those from uh from
- 9:31Christ. Although today, Christ is the
- 9:33most important factor in my life and and
- 9:36I don't care what people think about
- 9:38that. It's between me and him. But you
- 9:40do understand that people feel that way.
- 9:41I mean, I even Chuck Coulson, you talk
- 9:43about Chuck Coulson in the Playboy
- 9:45interview, so you know, he's an example
- 9:47that's been compared to you. Well,
- 9:49Coulson, I think, is of course, you
- 9:51know, they everybody said this is a fake
- 9:53conversion, and it's turned out now. I
- 9:56think he's finally worn them all down
- 9:57just over a period of time. But it's
- 9:59also true in my opinion that he's an
- 10:01infinitely more relevant human being
- 10:03today than he was when he was the power
- 10:05behind the president. The suicide, when
- 10:08did you think about suicide? Well, I
- 10:11went through a period of, you know,
- 10:13feeling pretty morbid about it. My real
- 10:14concern was a family. The thought of
- 10:17going through years and years more of
- 10:20the same aggravation, you know, it's
- 10:21clear that the government's not going to
- 10:23let up on me that if uh when we win the
- 10:25case in Detroit. Now, I'm sure they'll
- 10:27come back and back and back until I'm
- 10:29dead. Now, Christina brought you the
- 10:31Bible, you said. Yes. To the to the
- 10:33jail. And that's when you pretty much
- 10:35became born again. Well, what happened
- 10:37was uh uh for some reason I couldn't
- 10:40quit reading it. I read it from the
- 10:42break of day till late at night. And one
- 10:44of the guards was a seminary student. He
- 10:47spent a lot of time with me. Uh helped
- 10:49me, talked about Jesus a lot. And then
- 10:52eventually I had my experience there in
- 10:54prison and it was marvelous. What was it
- 10:55just a moment you thought of suicide?
- 10:57You didn't really contemplate it for
- 10:58Well, I wasn't thinking about it that in
- 11:00prison at all. But what about the effect
- 11:02on your children? And the one thing that
- 11:03interested me in reading your book,
- 11:05John, is how are your children, now you
- 11:07talk about what a Christian would say or
- 11:08not say, how are your kids, Zachary and
- 11:10Katherine, going to feel about you when
- 11:12they read the things you say about
- 11:14Christina in the book?
- 11:17Well, I don't think I treat her badly. I
- 11:20mean, you know, truth is a truth is a
- 11:22truth. And I tried to be perfectly
- 11:24candid really about everything. You
- 11:25know, I've told parts of my life, but I
- 11:28mean, I really wart. The public need to
- 11:30know that, John, about Christina's
- 11:32so-called attitude and ambitions and how
- 11:34she fainted in court and later on said,
- 11:37"See, you said I wasn't a good actress.
- 11:39I fooled you." I mean, is that Well, as
- 11:42I said, I just tried to be absolutely
- 11:44honest about everything. I felt it was
- 11:45important because the story is a story.
- 11:48I'm interested in your third child, your
- 11:50dream to fulfill this this lifelong
- 11:52dream of yours to have your own your own
- 11:54company. So you go to uh Europe and is
- 11:58it true that McKenzie brought him as
- 12:00consultant by the Brit Brits said
- 12:02absolutely not feasible. It probably
- 12:04won't work. But a man named Roger Mason
- 12:05who was Secretary of State for Northern
- 12:07Ireland ultimately put up 77 million to
- 12:09start Delorean Car Company. What went
- 12:11wrong, John? Well, most of those facts
- 12:13that you just said are wrong, but we
- 12:16went to Nor, you know, obviously I'd had
- 12:19this dream. I wanted to build this uh
- 12:21automobile company. Uh we went to
- 12:24Belfast because no one else would have
- 12:26us in the world. Everybody said it's
- 12:28inconceivable that in today's day that
- 12:30any new automobile company could
- 12:33survive. It's not possible. Who did give
- 12:34you the money? So we went to Belfast
- 12:36because nobody else would go to Belfast.
- 12:38You know Belfast is the the worst. You
- 12:41tried Puerto Rico first, didn't you? We
- 12:43went through a whole series of
- 12:44alternatives and ultimately none of them
- 12:46worked until we went up there. And the
- 12:47reason they gave us financial support
- 12:49was that they put us in a battlefield
- 12:51between major Catholic and Protestant
- 12:53developments. And remarkably, and this
- 12:55is the one real tragedy of that whole
- 12:58thing, is we built a successful company
- 13:00in 1981, the only year we were in
- 13:01business. We made I think like $27
- 13:04million in the last half of the year.
- 13:06The only profitable motor company in
- 13:08Great Britain. Did the Brit British
- 13:09people British government give you the
- 13:11money? What happened is under the
- 13:12Conservative government, we started the
- 13:14project under not Roger but Roy Mason
- 13:17who was the Secretary of State under the
- 13:19Conservative government when the I mean
- 13:21the Labor when the Conservatives were
- 13:24elected, they decided not to honor the
- 13:27contract signed by labor just like the
- 13:29remember when uh President Carter was in
- 13:31they start building all those missile
- 13:33sites in Utah and Nevada when the Reagan
- 13:35administration came in they changed
- 13:36their mind. They still own all So you
- 13:38didn't get $77 million. Oh, we got much
- 13:40more than that. But we never got the
- 13:42last part of the contract which was 93
- 13:44million under the working capital clause
- 13:46and that put us out of business. When
- 13:48was that? Well, when was when were we
- 13:50supposed to get the 97 million? When we
- 13:52opened the factory which was well we
- 13:54started in production in about March of
- 13:571981.
- 13:58Then um financial arrangement to try to
- 14:01bail out the company. Well, we when I
- 14:03knew they weren't going to honor their
- 14:05contract and that's where my own ego got
- 14:07in my way because when that happened,
- 14:09anybody who had intelligence would have
- 14:11said, hey, if they don't want it to
- 14:12live, it's not going to live. You might
- 14:14but why would they want it to live when
- 14:15ultimately they did in the first place
- 14:16to stimulate employment? But it was a
- 14:18different government. It says I just
- 14:19want But don't they still want to
- 14:20stimulate government in Belfast? No,
- 14:22they've been selling off and closing all
- 14:24the businesses up there. Many of the big
- 14:26almost every business in Belfast has
- 14:28been closed. All right. the involvement
- 14:29with cocaine. Talk about that. Why did
- 14:32it happen? You say it was Well, it's a
- 14:34peculiar thing because, you know, in my
- 14:36life, I have never, even to this day,
- 14:38with the exception of that one suitcase
- 14:40they threw in front of me, and I'm not
- 14:41even sure what that was, but I've never
- 14:43ever seen cocaine, touched cocaine, used
- 14:46cocaine, or been in the presence of
- 14:47anybody who's ever used it. I mean,
- 14:49that's just not the, you know, the the
- 14:52social group that we went with are
- 14:55basically wine and cocktail drinkers and
- 14:57they don't they just don't use cocaine.
- 14:58But you say they didn't tell you it was
- 15:00cocaine. They just said that they had an
- 15:02arrangement and that you suddenly
- 15:04thought you were involved with the mob
- 15:05and you were fighting for your life and
- 15:06children's lives. Really what happened
- 15:08is that when the government, the great
- 15:10British, the the conservative government
- 15:12elected not to live up to their
- 15:13contract. I knew I was in financial and
- 15:15I talked to everybody anywhere in, you
- 15:18know, any era that came along, anybody
- 15:20who had the potential to try to save our
- 15:22company because, as I said, my ego got
- 15:24in the way. I said, "My name is on this.
- 15:26I'm not going to let it die." Well, then
- 15:29I got a call from a man in California
- 15:32who turned out later to be a government
- 15:34informant who'd been given
- 15:36$360,000 tax-free for what he did. And
- 15:40he he said he had investors. He gave me
- 15:42a bank reference, one of the largest
- 15:44banks in California. I talked to the
- 15:47president. The president of the bank
- 15:48said, "Yes, this man has an 8 figureure
- 15:50deposit, which is more than $10 million,
- 15:52and he has good credit with us, and if
- 15:55he says it, we'll be glad to help
- 15:57finance other parts of your company."
- 15:59Well, that's the guy I started dealing
- 16:01with among 50 others simultaneously.
- 16:04Well, then suddenly, about two months
- 16:06later, he mentioned a subject of
- 16:08narcotics. I tried to escape and I
- 16:10couldn't. How what do you mean you tried
- 16:12to escape? Well, the when they mentioned
- 16:14it, I said, "Well, you know, I don't
- 16:16have the money now. No, I can't. In
- 16:17other words, this commission
- 16:18arrangement, I just tried to get to get
- 16:21out of it. When I got out of the room, I
- 16:22called my attorneys in New York and I
- 16:24said, I think I've stumbled into a into
- 16:26a nest of organized crime. And I
- 16:28described the fact that suddenly what
- 16:30had started as a legitimate transaction
- 16:33was turning into an illegal one. And
- 16:35yet, you've been asked this many times
- 16:36on that tape. You look relaxed. You're
- 16:38laughing. You're toasting. You say
- 16:40people who really know you would know
- 16:41that's not the real John Delorean. Of
- 16:42course. Well, I was uh do now the
- 16:45attorneys advised me three things. They
- 16:47said first, don't confront them. Go
- 16:48along with them because at this point,
- 16:50the alternatives are that or they'll
- 16:52probably kill you. Number two, don't
- 16:54make any kind of a deal with them. Don't
- 16:56take any money. Don't give them any
- 16:58money and don't enter in any agreement,
- 17:00which is what I did. And of course,
- 17:02that's what the jury found. Now, that
- 17:04tape you have to talk about. That was
- 17:06totally orchestrated because the
- 17:08prosecutor had decided I had not
- 17:10committed any illegal act. and he had no
- 17:12chance unless they could somehow get me
- 17:14on tape with, you know, with some
- 17:16cocaine. So, they they demanded that I
- 17:19come to California on the threat of my
- 17:21children's lives. And when I got and I
- 17:24thought I was dead. That's why I wrote a
- 17:26letter to my attorneys before I left.
- 17:27And I said, "Look at in the event of my
- 17:29death, this should be opened." And this
- 17:31tells all the people and what they've
- 17:32done. Just a final question in this
- 17:34segment. You say that you feel in the
- 17:36bottom of your heart. I've read you said
- 17:37this. All right. that you say that
- 17:39General Motors might have been with the
- 17:41with the United States government, the
- 17:43FBI and even the English government in
- 17:45cahoots that they were threatened by the
- 17:47Delorean success being a threat to
- 17:48Corvette. You feel they were all in
- 17:50cahoots together and that's why this
- 17:52whole thing happened. No, I think what
- 17:53is absolutely clear is that the British
- 17:56and the and the US government worked
- 17:58together because for example during the
- 18:00times uh of this of this sting operation
- 18:05uh I had a contract with the British and
- 18:07it expired and they kept extending it
- 18:09and they extended it four times and each
- 18:11time they extended it it coincided
- 18:14exactly with a meeting with the fake
- 18:16banker and the but what I don't
- 18:18understand in closing in the segment and
- 18:19we'll come back with more. What I don't
- 18:20understand is why would the British
- 18:22government on purpose put egg on their
- 18:24face? Because it is egg on their face.
- 18:25They closed a plant that gave employment
- 18:27to people in Northern Ireland. Why would
- 18:29they fall prey to what the United States
- 18:31wanted? What you say the United States
- 18:32wanted? No. No. I think that the British
- 18:34had made up their mind not to see.
- 18:36They've been selling off all the
- 18:37government-owned businesses. They've
- 18:39sold off. They're selling off British
- 18:40land, British Airways, British
- 18:42petroleum, British steel. And they had
- 18:45elected not to not to do any more
- 18:48industrial development. And that's the
- 18:50reason they would not honor the balance
- 18:52of our contracts because I think I'm
- 18:55essentially irrelevant. I really can't
- 18:58imagine that that so many people could
- 19:00be interested. Well, maybe irrelevant
- 19:02but not boring. Two technicalities. The
- 19:04technicality of your aquid. You did not
- 19:07testify in your own defense yet. You got
- 19:09an aqu quiddle. Can you explain that?
- 19:11Yeah. What happened is that almost from
- 19:13the very beginning of their case, the
- 19:15the government frame up became clear.
- 19:18The first witness who testified was an
- 19:20FBI agent who was caught not only
- 19:22destroying valuable evidence but
- 19:24fabricating new evidence. And then it
- 19:26turned out later that the prosecutor and
- 19:29the informant had perjured themselves 31
- 19:31times that the uh every other agent was
- 19:34caught either backdating documents or
- 19:36faking evidence that tapes had been
- 19:38modified and changed. They broke into
- 19:41houses and stole you know everything. So
- 19:43their case collapsed in a so but by the
- 19:44time we got and then a miracle happened
- 19:48in that one of the case agents on the
- 19:50case had gotten so offended by the gross
- 19:53injustice that he resigned and and he
- 19:56came and he decided to testify for us
- 19:59and he told the whole story. He said the
- 20:00prosecutor one night got drunk with $400
- 20:04worth of taxpayers money. He stood up
- 20:07and he said I'm going to be on a cover
- 20:08of Time magazine for nailing this guy.
- 20:11the technicality of your divorce. But
- 20:13before that, before I ask you, are you
- 20:15really divorced? Were you shocked that
- 20:18she divorced you? Two weeks after the
- 20:19trial, we saw her standing by you
- 20:22looking very chic all the time and then
- 20:23suddenly we read in the papers that
- 20:25she's divorcing you. Yeah, I was really
- 20:27shocked. In fact, after going through
- 20:28the whole trial, you know, which I think
- 20:31I survived rather well, I went into a
- 20:34fit of horrible depression. I think I
- 20:36lost about 35 pounds and three. Oh,
- 20:39yeah.
- 20:40Are you really divorced? Because I know
- 20:42she's remarried to an ABC executive, but
- 20:44there was some technicality about venue
- 20:47California, New Jersey. Yeah. Actually,
- 20:48what the judge in New Jersey found was
- 20:51that her California divorce was not
- 20:54valid because she had misrepresented her
- 20:57residency. And so he found that she they
- 20:59were that she and I were still married.
- 21:02Oh, no. She and I were still married and
- 21:04her new marriage is not valid. But you
- 21:06know that's those are moot technical
- 21:09points. You face u the indictments in
- 21:12Detroit and I know you can't talk about
- 21:13those but I can talk a little bit about
- 21:15it. Are you going to take the the stand
- 21:17in your own defense on this trial? I
- 21:18believe so. You think you will? Yes. I
- 21:20was on the phone this morning at 6
- 21:22o'clock with the London Observer and
- 21:23they told me something. And they said
- 21:25that after this that there have been
- 21:26fraud charges brought in Geneva for
- 21:28$17.5 million that was paid to GPD, a
- 21:32company set up that it's claimed was a
- 21:34Panameanian company with a Swiss account
- 21:36that was used to bring money back for
- 21:38your own personal use. Uh Colin Chapman,
- 21:41who was head of Lotus, has died of a
- 21:42heart attack. I guess that further that
- 21:44complicated things and because he he was
- 21:46part of
- 21:46GPD. You're aware obviously of these
- 21:49fraud charges. Are you involved in them?
- 21:50Will you then go to Geneva to face
- 21:52charges? Well, the fir you're telling me
- 21:55the something that I had never heard
- 21:57before. I never heard of anything over
- 21:58there. But I have to say this that
- 22:00first, all of these allegations had been
- 22:03previously investigated by Scotland Yard
- 22:05and we have documents from them saying
- 22:07that there's absolutely no basis in
- 22:09them. Number two, when I was acquitted
- 22:11in California after this horrible
- 22:14embarrassment that the Department of
- 22:15Justice uh
- 22:18uh suffered, uh I was told by many, many
- 22:21people, including agents, that they're
- 22:23not going to quit. In fact, an agent got
- 22:25on a phone interview last night on radio
- 22:27and said said, "You know, when you win
- 22:29this, that isn't going to be the end of
- 22:30it. They're going to keep coming after
- 22:31you to know with your book coming out
- 22:34that they're bringing this up at the
- 22:36same time." Well, what's really peculiar
- 22:37is that grand jury is in its third year
- 22:40and suddenly the week my book comes out
- 22:43and I start the book tour so that of
- 22:45course people like you can try to
- 22:46humiliate me about this subject, it
- 22:49suddenly comes up which is completely
- 22:51illogical. But I will say this uh first
- 22:53we expect to prove unequivocably that
- 22:56every single penny was honestly and
- 22:58legitimately come by. Number two, that
- 23:01all these charges are absolutely and
- 23:04totally false. And you know, and
- 23:07finally, uh uh when you get all through
- 23:10with it, hopefully somewhere down the
- 23:13line, they'll leave me alone and let me
- 23:14have a little You have a new car coming
- 23:16out. You were quoted in Playboy saying,
- 23:17"I think there were a lot of things I
- 23:18did wrong. I think my ultimate sin and
- 23:20it was really terrible was that I had
- 23:21this insatiable pride. I really was
- 23:22insane. Looking back, I see that I only
- 23:24had arrogance beyond that of any other
- 23:26human being alive." Will you do it
- 23:27differently this time, John? Yeah, I
- 23:28think I'm a different person now. this
- 23:30experience the the horror of it has been
- 23:32one thing it's destroyed my life my
- 23:34family my company and my what my good
- 23:37name and everything else on the other
- 23:38hand having found Christ I really am a
- 23:41different individual and I believe that
- 23:42I'm going to be a very different person
- 23:44in the way I conduct all of my affairs
- 23:46so you don't think 60 is too late no I
- 23:49don't think so will this new automobile
- 23:50be handled this whole where will it be
- 23:52built well we're in the process now the
- 23:55parts are all in Columbus Ohio the cars
- 23:58are ready to be assembled and a man down
- 23:59there has made us a very attractive
- 24:01arrangement in which he will finance the
- 24:03the components right to the back door of
- 24:05the factory until they're sold. So, it's
- 24:07a really easy deal. There's a movie very
- 24:09attractive there's a very attractive
- 24:10offer being made for the movie rights to
- 24:12your book. Uh, a less serious less heavy
- 24:16question. John, who do you want to play,
- 24:17John Delorean?
- 24:20I don't know. I haven't thought about
- 24:21that very much. I don't know. It's hard
- 24:23to tell. I don't think I'd be a good
- 24:25judge of who should play me.
- 24:28I got a few people in mind. Do you think
- 24:30the do you think the John Delorean of
- 24:31the future will find some happiness and
- 24:33maybe a sense of internal peace that you
- 24:34haven't had for quite a while now? Well,
- 24:36I tell you what shakes you up right now
- 24:38is that of course uh the only re the
- 24:40only time I really find peace is of
- 24:42course I'm like I'm going to LA this
- 24:44weekend and of course my two kids hug me
- 24:46and our our little sheep dog jumps up
- 24:49and licks your face. Suddenly you forget
- 24:51all of the other things in the world.
- 24:53But I I pray that someday I will have
- 24:55some peace and that my children can have
- 24:57some. Well, John, we really hope that
- 24:59for you, too. For better or for worse,
- 25:00whether you're right or wrong, we're not
- 25:02the ones to judge you. This is John's
- 25:05new book. It is called Delorean. It is
- 25:06his explanation of all that he has gone
- 25:08through. And I promise you, it is
- 25:10fascinating reading.
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