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<<In my experience as a bodyman/painter,I have found that painted DeLoreans are usually the result of an accident.Parts are hard to come by,and the price to pay for them is not chump change.A vin number check could tell a lot of the history of the car.

I bought a supposedly new RED Delorean off the showroom floor and I later found out the dealers owners son had put it in a ditch and as you have stated, you can't do bodywork on a stainless w/o painting it. The bs story the dealer told me was they has purchased a bunch of DeLoreans and once they had sold a few the local market was saturated so they painted the rest they had for sale. That freaks me out that GEEK had one too, I gave mine to my daughter for her 16th birthday. A regular pickup truck was faster as they only had a small Volvo motor.

Body work can be done on stainless steel.It is hard and an art unto itself.A proper repair is cost prohibitive,hence the paint jobs.I would guess that the dealer may have gotten a good deal,possibly buying a wrecked shipment or some other.Special preparations have to be made to stainless steel for paint products to have good adhesion.Just curious,does your paint job seem to be holding up?Also check and see if the shop that painted it placed the paint code somewhere on the auto just in case a future repair is necessary.When I change a color on an auto,I place all the pertinent info in the glove box,and also the owners manual if it has one.It should include paint type[lacquer,enamel,3 stage,etc.]year of paint selected,Ford,Chevy,etc.,and whatever info that can help a repair shop do as best they can.It is something I learned from old timers when I first started out.[Before uni-bodys]Many times,I find that shops do not do that.It makes a painters job very difficult.Go to a store that sells automotive paint and just ask to see the white colors alone.You will be amazed at how many color variations there are!Now days,there is a computer that scans a paint color,and will spit out a formula.The scanner looks something like a grocery store hand held gun type looking thing.It is not always accurate,but will bring a paint color within adjustable ranges.The machines are very expensive,and a lot of paint distributors don't have them.[15,000 and up].Don't mean to be long winded,but you will understand if you are in need of a repair.If you are located near a place that has a machine,usually one that has a high turnover rate,have them scan your auto for a code,providing you do not have one.Chances are good,you do not.NAPA,DUPONT,MARTIN SEYNOR,PPG,etc.Sorry for being long winded.