COMPANY

The DeLorean DMC-12 sports car is most remembered in pop culture as the iconic time machine from 'Back to the Future'. Despite its tremendous popularity from the 1980s movie, DeLorean was a short-lived automobile manufacturer.

Created by John DeLorean in 1975, the company produced the first DMC-12 prototype in late 1976. William T. Collins, formerly of Pontiac, served as chief engineer and designer for the project. John DeLorean needed $175 million to build his proposed motor company, so he enlisted the help of Hollywood celebrities like Sammy Davis Jr. and Johnny Carson. Once investors were on board, DeLorean was able to build the DMC-12 in a Dunmurry, Northern Ireland factory.

Perhaps a sign of things to come, the unemployment was already high in that part of Northern Ireland and locals were lined up to apply for jobs with the automobile manufacturer. This meant they were largely inexperienced but quality issues were resolved by 1982.

The instantly recognizable DMC-12 had an MSRP sticker price of $25,000, which was excessive for the market at the time. Being that it was a sports car and despite the fact that it set flames to the sidewalk on the big screen, it wasn't even all that fast, only going from zero to sixty in 10.5 seconds. John DeLorean had intended his car to have around 200 horsepower, but he settled on 150 horsepower with an added reduction of 20 horsepower due to catalytic converter requirements in the United States.

The DeLorean is best known for its distinctive body style. The unpainted stainless steel shell, rear-mounted engine and futuristic gull-wing doors have made it a memorable icon in automotive history. The heavy doors required cryogenically preset torsion bars for extra support as well as gas-charged struts to hold up the weight.

Perhaps the most interesting fact about the DeLorean lies in the misconceptions surrounding it. Most people think that gull-wing doors require extra clearance in parking spaces in order to open them. In fact, the opposite is true. The DMC-12's gull-wing doors require less clearance, only 11 inches outside of the door, than regular side-hinge doors.

Despite the revolutionary style of the DMC-12 DeLorean, demand was not forthcoming. A lack of demand combined with unfavorable exchange rates and cost overruns ran the company into the ground by late 1981, before the car had gotten off the ground. John DeLorean saw his dream end in receivership and bankruptcy by 1982.