One of the most distinctive-looking...and best recognized cars to hit the road in the past quarter-century was the brushed stainless-steel, gull-wing DeLorean, DMC-12. Although it is popularly recalled more for its role as Dr. Emmitt Brown's quirky, ill-fated time vehicle in the Back to the Future trilogy rather than for its contribution to automotive history as a quirky, ill-fated sports car.

     Reviewing the DeLorean DMC-12, the editors of Consumer Guide (in their 1979 publication, Elite Cars) predicted, among other things, that the car would probably never reach the market. How wrong they were! Of course, they hedged their prediction by saying if it did sell, then it wouldn't last, but rather would become a collector’s item.

     Amidst its various flaws, it was pointed out that the South American-French-English- Northern Irish-built car had a production string that was just too long to be practical. They claimed that for the $93 million that John DeLorean borrowed to finance DMC, he could have bought controlling interest in American Motors. Of course, in the end, the car's demise was hastened by legal complications arising from governmental aversion to controlled substances.

     Interestingly, one of the book's chief complaints was that the stainless steel body would be hard to repair. Dent the door, body, etc... and the whole panel component would have to be replaced. Now that our cars are largely made of fiberglass and plastic—with a little aluminum foil thrown in for good measure—that's not a concern, right?...I said, am I right?

Acknowledgments: 27, 28

© Russ Brown, 1998