Meet D Rex, the Monster Truck That’s Part Chevrolet Part DeLorean

There’s a DeLorean mad scientist / builder in Chicago, Illinois that has a bunch of them and they’re all impressive in their own right. That said, the D Rex, one of his earliest creations, is perhaps the most famous – and relevant to our monthly theme, Chevrolet Month.

Rich Weissensel is a software engineer and a DeLorean hot rod builder that moved to the U.S. from the UK back in the ‘80s. He bought his first DeLorean in 1985 and, as the saying goes, the rest was history: he became utterly in love with this very impractical and hard to fix car, and decided he would do his best to help out fellow gearheads who shared his passion.

Since he couldn’t get parts to fix the DeLorean that he came across, he came up with another idea: turn wrecked ones in hot rods using whatever else he found. The D Rex is a fine example of that: it’s often described as a DeLorean monster truck, but in reality, it’s as much a DeLorean as it’s a Chevrolet. Weissensel bought it in early 2000 and he was determined to re-work it so it would become the monster truck of his dreams.

Weissensel is very popular in the DeLorean community, where he’s often dubbed the mad scientist. He’s always in attendance at conventions and even got to meet the man himself, John DeLorean, at one such event in 2000. He told him about his ideas to convert existing DMCs into hot rods, and DeLorean encouraged him: if you can make it happen, don’t let anyone stop you, he told him in more or less words. And that’s how Weissensel got started.

As noted above, the D Rex came about in 2000 and not much else is known about it from before that date. When it ended up in Weissensel’s shop, it was a strange vehicle called Beast: a 1981 DeLorean body on the chassis of a 1979 Chevrolet K5 Blazer, with a Chevrolet 350 V8 engine, and a Chevrolet 350 Turbo Transmission. As it was, it was clear the Beast has seen better days.

“It is tough driving a small sleek sports car in a world dominated by SUVs. To remedy this situation, I decided to build the ultimate DeLorean. What would you say to a DeLorean that could crush another DeLorean? How about sedans? How about SUVs???!!! How about trucks??? MADNESS!!!! Not madness, just truth,” Weissensel writes on his official website.

He took the Beast to a local shop called Godmudders and immediately started working on it. Renamed D Rex, the monster truck was lifted, had a new paintjob, and old fiberglass panels were replaced with new ones. The wheels and rims were replaced, new seats were put in and everything that had fallen into disrepair was made functional again.

The D Rex, with a new interior, a chromed-out engine, and considerable upgrades to the original build, made its debut at the World of Wheels show in Chicago that year, just one month after Weissensel had started working on it. In the following months, he would continue to improve on it, changing the bumpers and undercarriage, adding a custom audio system and cameras for the driver, and even a nitrous button, changing the electrical system throughout, and adding exterior light effects and air horns.

The D Rex soon became a local celebrity – and a fixture on the specialized automotive circuit. It was even invited as a “guest” of honor at the Volo Auto Museum outside of Chicago and was featured extensively in media at the time.

Weissensel’s impressive collection includes more DeLorean hot rods, like a limousine (with no less than six gullwing doors), a roadster and a hovercraft, and a handful of unaltered cars. Weissensel’s approach to making hot rods out of a limited-edition vehicle is admirable, too: with only 9,000 cars ever produced and only some 6,500 on the road today, he doesn’t want to take a good one from a potentially loving owner. So, instead, he only works with wrecked ones, those DeLoreans no one would want or, if they did, couldn’t fix for a variety of reasons like lack of funds or inability to find parts.

In the process, he’s turning his creations into automotive celebrities, like the D Rex.