What You Get From Joining The DeLorean Owners Club UK

Joining The DeLorean Owners Club UK gives you four concrete things: the quarterly DeLorean News magazine, discount show tickets, preferential insurance rates when you quote your membership, and access to a community that helps with meets, spare parts and classic car insurance valuations. You do not need to own a DeLorean to join — the club describes members as "Team DeLorean" regardless of whether they have a car. Membership is a small annual contribution, and the club presents itself as the only accredited DeLorean club in the UK.

Who the club is for

The site is explicit that membership is open to owners and enthusiasts worldwide, not just UK car owners. It was formed in 1996 by Simon Lees-Milne and Dave Howarth with the aim of making the DeLorean an accessible car to own and use in the UK, and it now describes itself as a small but friendly group of owners and enthusiasts from all over the world.

That makes it relevant if you fall into any of these groups:

• You own a DeLorean and want parts leads, valuations and meet invitations.
• You are shopping for one and want to talk to people who already own them.
• You are an enthusiast with no car who wants the magazine and event access.

What membership actually includes

The club also runs a shop for merchandise, clothing, models and parts, and hosts galleries and event pages (Crich 2011, Coventry 2007) on the site.

How to join and what to check first

The site's "Joining!" section says joining is easy and involves "just a small annual contribution," but the exact figure is not stated in the page text available here. Before paying, work through this:

1. Open the Join section of deloreans.co.uk and read the Membership Packages page to see the current tiers and price.
2. Download or open the Membership Form and check what details it asks for and how payment is handled.
3. Confirm what you want from the club — if it is mainly the magazine and show discounts, any tier that includes those is enough; if you need valuation or parts help, ask via the contact page whether that is a member service or a general enquiry.
4. Check the Club Constitution & Privacy Policy pages if you care about how your data is used, since these are published on the site.

The site does not state that membership or forum access is free, so treat the forum's "free" description as applying to the forum itself rather than to club membership.

Where the club is most useful — and where it isn't

The strongest case for joining is insurance and events. The club says it assists with valuations for classic car insurance and that members get preferential rates when they quote membership, which is a direct financial reason to join if you are insuring a DeLorean. Discount NEC Classic Car Show tickets add to that.

The weaker case is if you only want technical repair instructions. The site points to parts help and a forum, but it does not present itself as a workshop manual or a paid technical support service. For restoration work, the forum and member contacts are the route, not a formal helpdesk.

If you are outside the UK, the magazine and forum still travel, but the in-person benefits — the Big Summer Meet, NEC tickets — are UK-centred. The club says it supports enthusiasts all over the world, so international members are welcome, just with fewer physical events to attend.

A realistic example

Suppose you have just bought a DeLorean and need an agreed value for classic car insurance. Joining gives you a route to the club's valuation assistance and a membership reference to quote for preferential rates, plus the magazine and meet invitations for the year. If instead you are still deciding whether to buy, the free forum and the club's DeLorean Essential Buyers Guide (listed on the site) are the lower-commitment starting points before you pay for membership.