The price was right but the workforce knight rider kitt auto was inexperienced, and that would come back to bite DeLorean in the long run. A factory was built with the express purpose of pumping out DeLoreans to the tune of 30,000 per year, but those numbers were never realized. John DeLorean had hoped to make his namesake vehicle at General Motors, but the company declined and DeLorean struck out on his own, founding the DeLorean Motor Company in 1975. The first DeLorean rolled off the factory floor in 1981, just two years later it was dead. In the early ’80s the DeLorean’s design conjured images of an exciting new future just around the corner. It’s no wonder that it was chosen as the shell for Doc Brown’s famous time machine.

 

It’s Official: The Delorean Is Coming Back As An All-electric Sports Car

 

That just leaves the iconic wedge-shaped body with its feature gullwing doors, this is unmistakably the work of Giorgetto Giugiaro, famous for penning many of the greatest wedges of the 80s. Interestingly the DMC-12 was only the third car in history to feature gullwing doors, they look great, but we have to question just how practical they would be in a confined space. The DeLorean was featured in the Back to the Future film trilogy (1985, 1989, and 1990) as the car made into a time machine by eccentric scientist Doc Brown, although the company had closed before the first film was made.

 

Parts were used on other replicas, and the body panels were on display at Planet Hollywood in Hawaii until it closed in 2010. There’s a solid chance that the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about the DeLorean DMC-12 is its central role as the time machine in the iconic ’80s movie series Back to the Future. But the DMC-12 was an actual sports car produced by DeLorean Motor Company in the early ’80s. In fact, the DMC-12 was the only model that DeLorean Motor Company produced, and despite the car’s gull-wing doors and overall sleek and futuristic look, it was not a hit with consumers at the time. The collaboration graced the cover of the 1980 American Express Christmas catalog. Prices for DMC-12s vary widely with quality and demand, which varies over time.

 

Delorean Dmc-12

 

The necessary manual adjustment and alignment of the cladding panels was therefore not easy. With its streamlined body shape, the DMC-12 reached a top speed of 200 km/h. Because of US law at the time, the car’s speedometer only showed speeds up to 85 mph (140 km/h).

 

The car became particularly well-known through the film trilogy Back to the Future, in which it was converted into a time machine. This happened to De Lorean owner Johnny Carson shortly after he was presented with the vehicle. Of the 20 right-hand drive cars listed above, three had automatic gearboxes and the remainder were manual.

 

Sales And Production

 

A U.S.-based company, headquartered in Texas, purchased the remaining DeLorean parts inventory and set up shop in 1995 selling all things DeLorean. There was plenty of hype for the DeLorean even before anyone had a chance to drive one. In 1980, the year before the first DeLoreans would arrive, American Express and DeLorean announced a collaboration, offering a gold-plated car to a select few consumers. For $85,000 (about $325,000 in 2024) American Express members could commission their very own shimmering DeLorean. In 2021, a TikTok video made the rounds online, ostensibly showing a woman happily washing her car with gasoline from the pump. A closer look reveals what is likely just a water hose with a false “gas pump” attached to the end.

 

Very few cars were produced between February and July 1982, although serious production returned in August that year. At least one source indicates that only 8,583 DMC-12s were ever produced. In 1981, the De Lorean came stocked with a Craig radio; this was a standard 1980s tape radio with dual knob controls. De Lorean switched to an ASI stereo in the middle of the 1982 production run.

 

The DeLorean Motor Company went bankrupt in late 1982 following John DeLorean’s arrest in October of that year on drug trafficking charges. He was later found not guilty, but it was too late for the DMC-12 to remain in production. Approximately 100 partially assembled DMCs on the production line were completed by Consolidated International (now known as Big Lots).

 

A surge in De Lorean interest is evidenced by the cars’ eBay availability, and pop-culture references abound. During the final battle, Parzival uses the DeLorean to race through the battlefield to get to Castle Anorak, keeping his wing door open and firing out of it. Soon into the battle, Art3mis, disguised as one of the Sixers, crashes through the windshield and joins him, both firing their weapons out of the open doors, aided by weapons thrown to them by other players. The DeLorean makes it most of the way to the castle, but is wrecked when Nolan Sorrento hits the vehicle with Mechagodzilla’s tail, forcing them to continue on foot. He discovers that it is low on fuel and is forced to go to the back of the race to skim coins from destroyed vehicles.

 

Beneath the plastic side rubbing strips is a common trouble-spot but you’ll need to check the whole body. Barely two years after DeLorean opened their Dunmurry base, the dream was over. John DeLorean, facing prosecution for a host of charges — including drug trafficking and embezzlement — was forced to close the doors for the final time.