“Wait a minute, Doc. Ah... are you telling me that you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean? The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine out of a car, why not do it with some style?!” As Russians, hearing Marty McFly’s skepticism for the DeLorean in the legendary 1985 film, “Back to the Future”, is confusing. After all, back in the Soviet Era with the so-called “Iron Curtain”, the DeLorean was still popular in Russia.

The history of the DeLorean brand is a very interesting story involving one shady character, the “Ostap Bender” of the American automotive industry, and a long history of cheating both private and state investors out of hundreds of millions of dollars. The actual financial pyramid itself collapsed long ago, but it is still possible to buy a brand new DeLorean, complete with shining body panels of stainless steel. All it takes is 60 thousand dollars and a little bit of patience. And the latest version of the DeLorean is fully updated with the latest technology – it can be fitted with a navigational touchscreen and Bluetooth or iPhone connector. The electronic model goes on sale in 2013. The concept of this modern DeLorean was the most exciting surprise at the 2012 New York Auto Show, and it is clear that John DeLorean’s dream is still a large part of modern culture.

The Career of a Child Prodigy
When John DeLorean was a child, living in Detroit in an immigrant family, he had one goal. He wanted to become rich. DeLorean studied hard in school, graduated from college, and went on to the prestigious Faculty of Engineering at the Lourens Institute of Technology in Detroit. He started working for Chrysler after graduating, but felt like just another gear in a giant machine. So, at the age of 27, DeLorean joined the Department of Research and Development at the Packard Company, which he became the head of four years later. And from there, DeLorean became the Director of Design and Engineering of Pontiac, a part of the General Motors empire.

At 31 years old, John DeLorean clearly had a fantastic career lying in store for him. John was the one who came up with the idea for the Pontiac GTO, the first American muscle car, and when he was 40 years old, DeLorean was promoted to General Manager and Vice President of Pontiac.  Four years after that, he found another job as the Head of General Motors’ largest and most troubled department, Chevrolet. And at the age of 47, DeLorean had moved to the 14th floor of the GM Headquarters in downtown Detroit as the Vice President in charge of manufacturing cars and trucks.

The Engineering Celebrity
It seemed, at that point, that John DeLorean would become the president of the entire corporation. But less than a year after becoming VP, he left General Motors, never to return.

So what led to DeLorean’s sudden change of heart? The problem lay in his behavior – despite his credentials, his position as the manager of a major corporation, and his talent as an engineer, John DeLorean behaved like a Hollywood celebrity. He got himself a face lift, got divorced, and started hanging out with young actresses and models. DeLorean once said, “I love women that are stupider than me.” He also started wearing Italian suits, pastel-colored shirts with wide collars and loose ties, and wore his hair long enough to cover his ears. His style was a very direct contrast to the rest of the managers at GM, where the dress code was black or blue suits and baggy pants. And after some time, DeLorean could no longer cope with the daily schedule of meetings and clerical work, and started doing his own thing. The “Playboy” even received media attention when he was featured in gossip columns.

In the end, DeLorean was forced to resign. The official cause was said to be his appointment as the new head of the Cadillac Sales Department. There was no such department at the time, however, and the story was just a cover so that the company could give DeLorean a ending bonus of $500,000 with no trouble

Retirement
In his spare time, John DeLorean came up with a new idea – to name a car named after himself that was ethical, inexpensive, economical, and sporty all at once.

On the way to creating his dream, DeLorean did not hesitate to get involved in all sorts of real estate and patent scams. He had a hypnotic effect on people, and used it to his advantage. When the engineer was younger, he used to sell insurance policies, and his salesman habits came in handy in launching the DeLorean Motor Company. DeLorean also go Bill Collins, a former engineer at Pontiac, to come work for the company, which was officially formed in 1975. The actual design of the car was entrusted to Giorgetto Giugiato, and by 1976, the first prototype was ready. The plant itself was going to be built at an abandoned air field in Puerto Rico.

But unfortunately for DeLorean, the British government took an interest in his project. The British invested £100 million to construct the plant in Northern Island, and the government-conceived project created jobs and distracted the people from their fight for independence. Construction on the plant began in 1978, on the outskirts of Belfast in Northern Ireland, in the village of Danmari Antrim. The plant itself was completed in nearly a year, but cars still couldn’t be completed there.

Several misfortunes got in the way of DeLorean’s dream. The sports coupe, for example, was designed as a mid-engine car. But the Wankel rotary engine was no longer manufactured, and the Monocoque body, which was created by new fiberglass and urethane foam technology, was unsuitable mass production. But the British company Lotus came to the aid of the designers and agreed to get the car ready for mass production in just 18 months. The curious thing is that the order didn’t come from DeLorean, but from a company called GPD, registered in Panama.

The Lotus engineers actually created a new car sitting on a steel frame with the same suspension used in the Lotus Espirit model. The stainless steel panels were glued onto the body of the car, and at the back of the car, they installed an unremarkable V6 engine with 130 horsepower. Installing a more powerful motor was impossible because the rigidity of the body was insufficient. And because of this, the gull-wing doors are skewed. Even though they can be easily lifted by younger teenagers, they were originally designed for DeLorean, who was very tall, and people of average height often had trouble closing the doors again. And the polished sides of the vehicle made every fingerprint clearly visible.

The Beginning of the End
DeLorean’s counselors were very anxious about the actual production of the car. They believed that, if he started producing the car, things would go very wrong. DeLorean himself was also nervous because of his latest project, a book called “General Motors in its True Light”, and the reaction it may have provoked. He also feared the Irish Republican Army terrorists. Because of all this, DeLorean started wearing a bulletproof raincoat wherever he went.

The first DeLorean car rolled off the assembly line in January, but the DMC-12 was only certified in the USA by summer. Soon after that, complaints about the quality of the car started rolling – the Irish workers that DeLorean hired had very low qualifications, as it turned out.

In those days, the DeLorean was not cheap – the car’s starting price was at 25 thousand dollars. And while customers were initially willing to pay more money for the car, the buying craze eventually faded. John DeLorean, on the other hand, continued spending money right and left. He bought himself expensive manors, paid his top managers huge salaries, and declared that by Christmas, he would sell hundreds of cars covered in gold. And he started hiring more workers to double the company’s production.

But the plant was still producing only 80 cars a day, with dealers selling only 20 in all of North America daily. The area in front of the plant was crowded with unsold cars. And to make matters worse, DeLorean started having trouble with his suppliers as well.

The Final Blow
Even if the DMC-12 was assembled at a higher quality, the project still would have failed because of DeLorean’s biggest mistake: he bet on one single model of car, which was sporty and expensive, and targeted only the North American market. The engineer did not even start selling the car in Europe, and the plant, despite the fact that it was on British soil, didn’t produce RHD versions for British drivers.

And on top of that, the Labor Party in the government was replaced by conservatives in the new election, who denied DeLorean a new loan. Scotland Yard simultaneously started an investigation to figure out what happened with half of the old loan. The Head of Lotus died of a heart attack while all of this was happening in 1982, just in time to avoid all of the complications of the DeLorean Motor Company. Finally, the company was taken over by outside management, and two thousand brand-new cars were confiscated.

Over in the USA, John DeLorean was arrested, mostly for trafficking large quantities of cocaine. At first, he tried defending himself by explaining that he was going to be using the money to save the company. But the authorities soon figured out that his defense was fabricated.

In May of 1983, DeLorean Motors was sold by auction, which unfortunately didn’t help the British government much – the company left $64 million of outstanding debt and $119 millio of unpaid subsidies. John DeLorean argued that production would continue for a long time, but people stopped taking him seriously. Eventually, he declared bankruptcy in 1999, and died in 2005.

A New Fandom
When “Back to the Future” hit theaters in 1985, the DeLorean DMC-12 became popular once again, forming an almost cult-like fan group. And its charisma remains strong to this day. Even though the Belfast plant has been shut down for a long time now, buying a brand new DeLorean is easy now, thanks to Texas businessman Stephen Wynne.

Wynne first served the DMC-12 in his service station, and realized that things were going well in 1997, allowing him to take a risk. So he purchased the remains of the company – everything from spare parts and equipment to the brand name and design – and announced his intention to produce a small amount of new DeLoreans in 2007. He was hoping to produce a couple dozen cars throughout the year, but the DMC-12 turned out to be much more popular than he realized, with a wait-list of six months for each car.

The current cycle of production is nowhere near being a complete cycle. The car is placed on a plastic frame, those salvaged from the Irish plant. But the body panels and electric components are all new, as well as the stainless steel frame. The original frame of the DeLorean, made from steel with a layer of epoxy, suffered from corrosion. And customers also get an improved suspension and more powerful engines with the new model.

At the same time, Wynne’s company is restored the original DeLoreans. A surprising amount were left over from the 9 thousand produced – almost two-thirds – and the company sells those originals along with a wide range of souvenirs with the legendary brand, such as bicycles, baseball caps, T-shirts, and sneakers.

The company also took new trends into account, especially the latest environmental awareness campaigns. In 2013, the DeLorean Motor Company is planning to release an electric DMC EV (a joint project with Epic EV, which specializes in the production of electric buggies). The car will be equipped with a liquid-cooled electric motor that is capable of producing 194 kW (260 hp) and 490 pounds/feet of torque available at low rpm’s. The lithium iron phosphate battery can be charged for 3 and a half hours and run for 100 kilometers, and the car is capable of accelerating to 100 kilometers per hour in less than 5 seconds, making the DMC DV the fastest DeLorean car ever. And the most expensive make of DeLorean will cost $90,000. As the famous Doc would say, “Great Scott!”

Text: Nadezhda Gordeeva