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DeLorean with the DMC-12 prototype "Dream Car." Image: The Daily Telegraph (UK)
John Zachary DeLorean was probably one of the most misunderstood automotive personalities of the 20th century. His outspoken behavior, playboy lifestyle, rebellious personality, and the ability to talk himself out of just about anything, made him a target to a lot of people. He was friends with many jet-setting celebrities that included Johnny Carson and Sammy Davis Jr., he dated and married beautiful actresses, and while at GM, he dressed flamboyantly; which included wearing love beads and open-topped casual shirts along with keeping his hair longer than what was considered to be ideal at the time.
Trouble was he was GM’s golden boy, bringing them cars like the Pontiac GTO, Firebird, and Grand Prix. He also went on to oversee the development of the Chevy Vega and Monte Carlo, while performing his tenure as the general manager for Chevrolet.
As much as he went against protocol, they couldn’t really fire him since he contributed so much of his incredible talent to the Chevrolet and Pontiac brands.
After leaving General Motors on his own in March of ’73 partly due to do some internal conflicts, John Z. took the Cadillac dealership and severance check awarded to him by The General, and went off with an idea to start his own car company.
Enter the DeLorean DMC-12. The DMC-12 never got much respect in terms of design, performance, and build quality. Throw in the fact that they retailed for $25,000 in 1981 and were built in then-economically struggling Danmurry, Northern Ireland probably didn’t help matters either.
The sole engine offering was a PRV (Peugeot-Renault-Volvo) all-aluminum, naturally-aspirated V6 that developed 170hp in Europe, but thanks to US Federal emissions regulations, produced a measly 130hp in The States. Performance was dismal, and so were sales, despite the first few hundred flying off the showroom floors at a markup.
The body was of a stainless steel construction that was penned by Giorgetto Giugiaro of ITAL Design, while the chassis was the same unit as the one used under the Lotus Esprit.
The factory in which the DMC-12 was built would only produce cars for roughly three model years, before being forced to shut down by the British government, after both the US and UK governments had invested hundreds of millions dollars combined in order to keep the operation running and the Irish working, not including the close to $200M DeLorean had acquired from celebrities and American car dealers to build the plant.
But it wasn’t enough. Soon DeLorean found himself on the verge of bankruptcy and in the middle of an FBI sting to smuggle and sell a large amount of cocaine in an attempt to save his company. He was charged with trafficking cocaine by the US government on October 19th, 1982. He would be cleared of all charges nearly two years later, citing entrapment. To make matters worse, DeLorean was facing charges in Ireland as well, being charged with fraud and using government funds for his own expenses. He never returned to the UK to face the charges.
The final cars were built utilizing a skeleton crew, with the remaining unsold DMC’s being auctioned off, along with their dies, tooling, and everything else that was needed to build them. The rights to the DMC name bounced around a few times over the years, before ending up being owned by a small firm in Texas that currently builds “new” DeLoreans using NOS parts, and specializes in rebuilding the ones screwed together by the Irish in the ‘80s as well.
Although the car wasn’t a financial or sales success, it would go on to have a huge cult following, mostly in large part to its reoccurring role in the Back to the Future trilogy, as the DMC-12’s are bringing in the same amount of cash in today’s used market of around $25,000 as it had 30 years ago. The indie rock group, Neon Neon would dedicate their entire 2008 album entitled, Stainless Style, to the life and cars of John DeLorean.
John Z. himself would basically leave the spotlight after all of the madness of the early ‘80s, only popping up occasionally at Pontiac and DeLorean car shows in the late ‘90s and early ‘00s. He would pass away at age 80 on March 19th, 2005 in a New Jersey hospital due to a stroke.
While browsing through YouTube the other day, we came across this 1981 documentary that was shot in parts of the US and United Kingdom during the development of the DMC-12. Not only does it show some of the development of the car, but it also gives us a peak into a few of the board room meetings with both the DMC team, and the guys from Lotus. Racing driver Jackie Stewart and John’s then wife, Christina Ferrare both make cameo appearances. There’s also prototype development footage, and discussions with then members of the British government. If you’re a secret DeLorean fan like us, you’ll enjoy the 52-minute video.
