The original Delorean Motor Company is an automobile manufacturer formed by automobile
industry executive John DeLorean in 1975. It is remembered for the one model it produced
— the distinctive stainless steel DeLorean DMC-12 sports car featuring gull-wing doors—and
for its brief and turbulent history, ending in receivership and bankruptcy in 1982. Near
the end, in a desperate attempt to raise the funds his company needed to survive, John
DeLorean was filmed appearing to accept money to take part in drug trafficking, but was
subsequently acquitted of charges brought against him on the basis of entrapment.
The DeLorean DMC-12 featured memorably in the Back to the Future movie trilogy, as the
model of car made into a time machine by eccentric scientist Doc Brown, although the company
had ceased to exist before the first movie was made.
In 1995, Liverpool-born mechanic Stephen Wynne started a separate company using the "DeLorean
Motor Company" name and shortly thereafter acquired the remaining parts inventory and
the stylized "DMC" logo trademark of DeLorean Motor Company. The current DeLorean Motor
Company located near Houston is not, and has never been, associated with the original company
but supports owners of DeLorean cars. DMC, as they are known, has an additional five
authorized, franchised dealers in Bonita Springs, Florida; Crystal Lake, Illinois; Huntington
Beach, California; Bellevue, Washington and Hem, The Netherlands.
History Beginning
John DeLorean founded the DeLorean Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan on October 24, 1975.
He was already well known in the automobile industry as a capable engineer, business innovator,
and youngest person to become a General Motors executive. Investment capital came primarily
in the form of business loans from the Bank of America and from the formation of partnerships
and private investment from select parties, including The Tonight Show host Johnny Carson
and entertainers Roy Clark and Sammy Davis, Jr.. Money was also gained later through a
dealer investment program in which those dealerships offering DeLorean's cars for sale were made
shareholders in the company. DeLorean also sought lucrative incentives
from various government and economic organizations to pay for constructing the company's automobile
manufacturing facilities. To gain these, he looked to build his first factory in a country
or area where unemployment was particularly high. One candidate was the Republic of Ireland,
although the country's then Minister for Industry and Commerce, Desmond O'Malley, decided not
to support the project. A deal in Puerto Rico was about to be agreed when DeLorean took
up a last-minute offer from the UK Northern Ireland's Industrial Development Board. Besides
taking some early seed capital from Hollywood stars Sammy Davis Jr. and Johnny Carson, DeLorean
Motor Company relied on the British government for about $120 million of its $200 million
startup costs according to the newspaper The Times. The British government was very keen
to create jobs in Northern Ireland to reduce sectarian violence by reducing unemployment.
As part of this offer, DeLorean was apparently under the impression that the British government
would provide his company with Export Credit financing. This would provide a loan of 80%
of the wholesale cost of the vehicles upon completion and delivery for shipping.
Manufacturing facility In October 1978, construction of the six-building,
660,000 ft² manufacturing plant began in Northern Ireland and was completed in 16 months
by Farrans McLaughlin & Harvey. Officially known as DMCL, the facility was located in
Dunmurry, a suburb of Belfast. It was situated on an interface between two communities with
differing religious predominations: Catholic Twinbrook and Protestant Dunmurry. The facility
had separate entrances for each side, but this was more of a geographic convenience
than it was for religious segregation. Unit production was scheduled to begin in
1979, but engineering delays and budget overruns caused the assembly lines to start only in
early 1981. Workers at the factory were generally inexperienced; many never had jobs before
joining DMC. This may have contributed to the reported quality issues attributed to
the early production vehicles and the subsequent establishment of Quality Assurance Centers
located at various delivery locations. QACs were set up in California, New Jersey and
Michigan where some of the quality issues were to be addressed and resolved before delivery
to dealerships. Some of the issues related to the fitting of body panels, higher-output
alternators, and gullwing door adjustments. The combined efforts of quality assurance
improvements at the factory and the post-production quality assurance done at the QACs were generally
successful, although workmanship complaints would still occasionally arise; the 1981 DeLoreans
were delivered with a 12-month, 12,000 mi warranty. By 1982, improvements in components
and the more experienced workforce meant that production quality was vastly improved. Disputes
between dealerships and customers arose later because many dealerships refused to do warranty
work because they were not reimbursed. Vehicles
DMC-12
Reception by the car-buying public and automotive magazines was mixed. Although the early vehicles
had impressive waiting lists of anxious consumers, the MSRP sticker price of $25,000 was cost-prohibitive
for the majority of the market — especially for what many considered to be an under-powered
and impractical plaything. "It's not a barn burner," observed Road & Track, "(with) a
0-60 mph time of 10.5 seconds. Frankly, that's not quick for a sports/GT car in this price
category." The stainless steel body panels were an attractive design concept and impervious
to corrosion, but in practice the sheen surface tended to show fingerprints. It also meant
that the car could not be easily painted; every factory original DeLorean looked virtually
identical. Some dealerships painted their cars on delivery to help make theirs more
distinctive. DMC was testing the use of translucent paint to help provide different color options
on the cars while also allowing the stainless steel grain to show through, but no cars were
sold with factory painted body panels. The only factory option initially available was
an automatic transmission. A grey interior was offered later in 1981 as an alternative
to the standard black interior. Several accessories including pinstriping and luggage racks helped
provide further individuality. In 1981, it was reported there were plans
to have made a 4-door version of the car for 1983. It was to have been of stainless steel,
and with gullwing doors. Downturn
The lack of demand, cost overruns, and unfavorable exchange rates began to take their toll on
DMC's cash flow in late 1981. The company had estimated their break-even point to be
between 10,000 and 12,000 units, but sales were only around 6,000. In response to the
income shortfall, a restructuring plan was devised where a new "DeLorean Motors Holding
Company" would be formed, which in turn would have become corporate parent to DMC and each
of its subsidiaries: DeLorean Motor Cars Limited, DeLorean Motor Cars of America and DeLorean
Research Partnership. In January 1982, due to United States Securities and Exchange Commission
questions about the company's viability, the company was forced to cancel the stock issue
for the holding company that DeLorean had hoped would raise about $27 million.
John DeLorean then lobbied the British government for aid, but was refused unless he was able
to find a matching amount from other investors. What followed is a matter of debate between
the British government, the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration,
DeLorean, his investors, and the US court system. At some point in 1982, John DeLorean
became the target of an FBI sting operation designed to arrest drug traffickers. He was
arrested in October 1982 and charged with conspiring to smuggle $24 million worth of
cocaine into the US. The key element of evidence for the prosecution was a videotape showing
DeLorean discussing the drugs deal with undercover FBI agents Benedict Tisa and West, although
DeLorean's attorney Howard Weitzman successfully demonstrated to the court that he was coerced
into participation in the deal by the agents who initially approached him as legitimate
investors. He was acquitted of all charges, but his reputation was forever tarnished.
After his trial and subsequent acquittal, DeLorean quipped, "Would you buy a used car
from me?" In the end, sufficient funds could not be
raised to keep the company alive. DMC went bust in 1982, taking with it 2,500 jobs and
over $100 million in investments. The British government attempted to revive some usable
remnants of the manufacturing facility without success, and the Dunmurry factory was closed.
DeLorean himself retired in New Jersey, and the dream with which he had mesmerized Britain's
Labour government, of industry rising out of the ashes of Northern Ireland's sectarian
conflict, was shattered. He claimed that the DMCL was deliberately closed for political
reasons, and at the time of closing was a solidly viable company with millions of dollars
in the bank and two years of dealer orders on the books.
Approximately 9,000 cars were made between January 1981 and December 1982, although actual
production figures are unclear and estimates differ. Some of the cars manufactured in 1982,
but not shipped to the states, with 15XXX and 16XXX Vehicle Identification Numbers are
actually 1982 models that were given later VINs, dated 1983, by Consolidated International,
a company that had a buyback program with DMC and had bought out the remaining unsold
cars and also the inventory of unused parts left in the factory after the bankruptcy.
Today
A large number of the original cars are still on the road after over 30 years; most estimates
put it at 6,500 cars surviving out of just over 9,000 built. There is an active enthusiast
community around the cars, with strong owners' clubs. A number of businesses were set up
after the demise of DMC to provide parts and service, and most of those are still in existence.
In particular, DMC, operates under entirely new ownership and with no direct ties to the
original DeLorean Motor Company. It purchased the parts surplus from Consolidated International
and offers many aftermarket parts solutions to replace exhausted stock.
Many aftermarket improvements have been offered over time to address some of the flaws in
the original production cars, and to improve performance. A common opinion of the car is
that in stock form it is somewhat underpowered, and a variety of solutions have been implemented,
from complete engine swaps, turbocharger kits, down to simpler solutions such as improved
exhausts and other normal engine tuning work. Despite being cleared of all drug trafficking
charges, DeLorean still had to battle many legal cases well into the 1990s. He declared
bankruptcy in September 1999 and was evicted from his 434 acres New Jersey estate in March
2000. He died of stroke complications at 80 years of age on March 19, 2005.
In August 2007, it emerged that due to demand for the DeLorean DMC-12, DMCH would start
selling refurbished cars. Businessman Stephen Wynne has purchased all the remaining parts
for the car and builds them in Houston. Currently, a DeLorean can be assembled from the ground
up using a combination of new, original and reproduction parts for US$57,500 and still
carry a 1980s title, while unrestored but good condition vehicles run from about US$25,000
upwards. On December 3, 2009, DMC released a collection
of t-shirts and hats in collaboration with streetwear brand The Hundreds, featuring modernized
images of the DMC-12 in Los Angeles culture based graphic designs. The collaboration project
also includes a special edition DMC-12 painted in The Hundreds recognizable JAGS pattern
in black and flat black which will be also for sale on December 3, 2009 and displayed
at The Hundreds flagship store in Los Angeles the entire day.
In November, 2010, in collaboration with DMC, Nike released a limited edition DeLorean Dunk
shoe with an estimated production of 1,000 pairs at a suggested retail price of $90.
In October, 2011, the DeLorean Motor Company of Humble, Texas, announced intentions to
sell custom-made electric DeLoreans by 2013. See also
List of defunct United States automobile manufacturers Logan Machine Company, the snowcat company
owned by John DeLorean Thiokol sold DeLorean its snowcat division
in 1978 List of car manufacturers of the United Kingdom
References
Further reading John Z. DeLorean, Ted Schwarz, Delorean, Zondervan,
ISBN 0-310-37940-7 Ivan Fallon, James Srodes, Dream Maker: The
Rise and Fall of John Z Delorean, ISBN 0-399-12821-2 William Haddad, Hard Driving : My Years with
John DeLorean, ISBN 0-394-53410-7 J Lamm, DeLorean Stainless Steel Illusion,
2nd edition, ISBN 0-9744141-0-7 R. M. Clarke, Delorean 1977-1995 Gold Portfolio,
ISBN 1-85520-331-6 External links
DeLorean Motor Company DeLorean Motor Company at DMOZ