Apparently Delorean is coming out with a “new” car this year (or possibly next year).
No, it won’t look like these amazing concept designs by spanish car designer Ángel Guerra (although that would be cool), it’ll look the same as the classic 1980’s version from Back to the Future, just with an updated chassis, electronics and a few other upgrades.
The original DeLorean DMC-12, a sports car designed by Georgetto Giugiaro, was manufactured for the American market from 1981 to 1983. It only had a short run as the company went bankrupt and the founder and executive, John Delorean ran into legal troubles (he agreed to finance drug trafficking but was later acquitted after the jury found the FBI had entrapped him illegally).
Thanks to the success of the Back to the Future films, the Delorean’s popularity improved and the company was revitalized by CEO Stephen Wynne in the early to mid 90s.
If you wanted one of these back in the day you’d have to part with $25,000/£17,920 (equivalent to just over $70,000/£50,180 today). That was a pretty hefty sum especially since the car was considered underpowered for a sports car with a 0-60 mph time of just 10.5 seconds. On the flip side though, owning a car with a stainless steel body you’d never have to worry about rust...🤷♂️
Three specialised Deloreans were built for the making of Back to the Future (1985) and the crew apparently swapped out the original V6 Powertrain motor for a Porsche engine to make the car go faster. A few other adjustments were also made to make it look more like a “time machine”, like adding blinking lights, aircraft parts and the all important flux capacitor (“which is what makes time travel possible”).
The Delorean is 40 years old this year.
I’d NEVER want Back to the Future remade but if it ever was, this would be a cool upgrade to the time machine we all know and love! 👌
Film fact: In early drafts of the Back to the Future script, the time machine was a reconfigured refrigerator. The idea was scrapped as the writers were worried that kids would start climbing into, and getting trapped in their own fridges. 😳