“I didn’t like his aloof egotism. He’d sit in a meeting and open his briefcase and brush his hair, and he’d dress floozy, you know, and he called us the establishment. He was a queer guy. But, you know, where he changed — I’ll never forget this — in my dining room he’d come up, they’d all come up and eat at different times. I inherited that from Earl — beautiful dining room, push-button lazy Susan, control the music and everything. And, he’d been gone a week or two, and he’d go away being a vice president, and nobody knew where the hell he was! Nobody else would dare do that. But, he’d just like to flaunt this, and he was sitting to my left, and I was looking into the sun, and I couldn’t see him too well, but he was talking, and he always ate fast and left.
I got up, I called Knudsen on the phone, and I said, ‘Bunkie, have you seen John?’ I said, ‘He doesn’t look the same. It’s like — I don’t know, he’s like a guy that’s changed.’ The Dorian Gray story, you know. I said, ‘What the hell is it.’ So, went the other way — he had his teeth pulled out and all screwed in, had his face lifted, and then he said that he’d been in a wreck. Well, hell, he didn’t — and when his face changed, he changed. He had an outfit in California who were making their commercial movies for Pontiac, and that’s when he met Kelley Harmon, and the guys I knew out there that got him into wearing shoes with no socks, turtleneck sweaters, he just changed.”
— William “Bill” L. Mitchell (1987)
RE:SOURCES
- Crippen, David R.; 1987. “The Reminiscences of William L. Mitchell.” Automobile in American Life and Society. Posted May 8.
ADVERTISING & BROCHURES:
- oldcarbrochures.org: DeLorean (1981)
Also see ‘1963-65 Buick Riviera shows GM’s struggle with personal coupes’
When I told the retired Bill Mitchell that I was considering a job offer from DeLorean, he said, “If you go to work with that son of a bitch John DeLorean I’ll never speak to you again.”
Welp, that’s awkward. However, if the gig was with DeLorean’s automobile company, Mitchell’s career advice wasn’t so bad.
It was between John’s auto company and a job with Ford of Europe in the UK. I chose the latter — which is why I still live in England.
For all of Ford’s political complexities, that sounds like a much better gig. Joining even an exceptionally well-run startup can be a big gamble.
I still wonder whether DeLorean would have done at least somewhat better if he had landed at an established automaker such as Chrysler instead of launching his own company.
A very long story there…but don’t forget…he came close to succeeding!