The Demise of the DeLorean

When the name "DeLorean" is uttered, two images immediately come to mind for many people: the "Back to the Future" car and the auto exec busted with a briefcase full of cash at a meeting with fake drug dealers. For other people, particularly the 5000 members of the DeLorean Owners Association, DeLorean the car and DeLorean the man both got the ultimate bad rap.

DeLorean the Man

He was the automotive design genius of his generation. That's what's been forgotten.

John DeLorean arrived at General Motors' engineering department in the fifties. In 1965, he was promoted to head the Pontiac division at age 40, becoming the youngest department head in GM's history. By 1972, GM promoted him as VP of car and truck production for the entire company. In 1973, he resigned from General Motors. Some say that it was because DeLorean's more casual personal style clashed with GM's top level button-down corporate culture.

DeLorean the Car

By the late seventies, John DeLorean was preparing to launch his own car company - not in Detroit, but in Northern Ireland. He had decided that it was time for him to build the car of his engineering dreams, the ultimate sports car.

The DeLorean was a revolutionary design with a stainless steel body, gullwing doors, and a Peugot-Renault-Volvo-designed "Douven" V-6 engine. While the car was assembled in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, the engine was manufactured by Renault, and the chassis was designed by Lotus.

DeLorean the Company

The DeLorean Company barely lasted two years from early 1981 to late 1982, when the British government shut the factory down and put the company in receivership. During this brief period, 9,000 DeLoreans were produced.

Busted

Like many great creative geniuses, John DeLorean wasn't a great businessman.

In 1982, desperate for a cash infusion for his ailing company, DeLorean was pulled into a cocaine smuggling scheme that was actually an FBI sting. At the same time, the British government was trying to close him down.

In 1984, even though John DeLorean was found not guilty due to illegal entrapment, his auto-making career was over. However, bottom-line: 9,000 of his cars were made.

Back to the Future

In 1985, the Robert Zemeckis film, "Back to the Future", debuted. DeLorean the Car was a major part of the film. It was popularized as the ultimate car of the future. When the film became a huge hit, John DeLorean wrote Zemeckis a thank-you for immortalizing his car.

In 1999, John DeLorean declared personal bankruptcy. In 2005, he died at age 80.

SOURCES:

"For the Delorean, it's back to the present", Martin Zimmerman, LA Times, URL: (http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-garage28jul28,0,7786124.story?coll=la-home-center)

"The Delorean to re-enter limited production", Rob Beschizza, Wired, URL: (http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/07/delorean-to-re-.html)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_De_Lorean

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DeLorean_Motor_Company

http://www.deloreanowners.org/association1.php