Chevrolet Vega - DeLorean Influence

DeLorean Influence

GM Vice President John Z. DeLorean, appointed Chevrolet’s general manager a year before the Vega's introduction, oversaw the Vega launch, directing the Chevrolet division and the Lordstown Assembly plant. He put additional inspectors and workers on the line and introduced a computerized quality control program in which each car was inspected as it came off the line and, if necessary, repaired. He promoted the car in Motor Trend and Look magazines. He also authorized the Cosworth Vega prototype, and requested initiation of production.

In Motor Trend's August 1970 issue, DeLorean promoted the upcoming car as one that out-handled “almost any” European sports car, out-accelerated “any car in its price class”, and would be “built at a quality level that has never been attained before in a manufacturing operation in this country, and probably in the world."

In the 1979 book On A Clear Day You Can See General Motors - John Z. DeLorean's Look Inside The Automotive Giant by J. Patrick Wright, DeLorean spoke of hostility between Chevrolet Division and GM’s design and engineering staff; of trying to motivate the division to finesse the car before introduction; and of initiating quality control to make the cars the best quality ever built. "While I was convinced that we were doing our best with the car that was given to us, I was called upon by the corporation to tout the car far beyond my personal convictions about it."