DeLorean DMC-12 History

Marketed simply as 'the DeLorean' — the 'DMC-12' tag came from its intended ~$12,000 price — the car was the only model the DeLorean Motor Company ever built. Its body was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro of Italdesign and is unmistakable: angular wedge styling, brushed (unpainted) stainless-steel exterior panels, and twin gull-wing doors sprung by cryogenically pre-set torsion bars and gas struts developed with Grumman Aerospace. Underneath sat a fiberglass underbody on a steel backbone chassis.

DeLorean's ambitious original engineering proved unworkable for mass production, so Lotus founder Colin Chapman was brought in to re-engineer the car around a steel backbone chassis derived from the Lotus Esprit. Power came from a rear-mounted 2.85-liter PRV (Peugeot-Renault-Volvo) V6 making about 130 hp, driving the rear wheels through a 5-speed manual or 3-speed automatic. The result was distinctive but underpowered — performance was the car's weakest point against its exotic looks.

The cars were assembled at a purpose-built factory in Dunmurry, near Belfast, Northern Ireland, financed in large part by the British government to create jobs in the region. Production ran from January 1981 to late December 1982, spanning model years 1981–1983; an estimated 8,975 cars were built (roughly 6,500–6,700 1981 models, around 1,999 for 1982, and a few hundred 1983 cars assembled from remaining parts). Three gold-plated DeLoreans were factory-built for an American Express promotion.

The company unraveled almost as fast as it was built. Plagued by quality problems, weak demand, and a collapsing financial position, DMC entered receivership and bankruptcy in 1982; that October John DeLorean was arrested in an FBI cocaine-trafficking sting he claimed was meant to raise rescue funds (he was acquitted on entrapment grounds in 1984). The factory closed and the marque died — but the DeLorean became a cultural icon in 1985 as the time machine in 'Back to the Future,' which turned the failed sports car into one of the most recognizable vehicles in film history.