Candidate Is Willing to Pay a Price to Run for Congress

William Yacobozzi Jr., one of 14 Republican candidates for the 40th Congressional District seat being vacated by Rep. Robert E. Badham (R-Newport Beach), said Tuesday that he will auction off the prototype DeLorean automobile to finance his campaign.

Yacobozzi paid $37,000 for the stainless steel car in 1984 and said he expects to get nearly 10 times that at an auction in Universal City this weekend.

“There’s only one of a kind in the world and that’s it,” Yacobozzi said. “It belongs in a museum.”

According to Yacobozzi, the automobile was the first prototype for DeLorean’s now defunct car that was famous for its stainless steel body. He said there were 6,800 models of the DeLorean car produced in 1981 and 1982, the only two years it was built. The company folded in 1982 after John Z. DeLorean was arrested--and later acquitted--on cocaine conspiracy charges.

Yacobozzi, 46, a Newport Beach attorney, said the entire proceeds from sale of the car will be dumped into his campaign account. He said he bought the DeLorean to keep at least 20 years as a long-term investment.

“It’s hard to sell that car because I know what it will be worth in the future, but the sacrifice is worth it because I want to win the campaign,” Yacobozzi said.

Yacobozzi has hired Mark Howell and Gloria Zigner as his campaign consultants.