De Lorean DMC-12 is an American sports car manufactured by De Lorean Motor Company from 1981 to 1983. For various reasons, only one model of the brand saw the light, and she was lucky to be immortalized in cinema - the car starred in the "Back to the Future" trilogy.

The company's founding father, John DeLorin, in 1969 "raised" sales of Chevrolet, and in 1972 became vice president of General Motors for the production of cars and trucks. A year later, he left GM to organize his own car company. It is also rumored that the reason for his departure was dismissal due to constant scandals in society and the press. And in revenge, he wrote the book "General Motors in True Light", for the fee from which he began his own production.

In March 1977, the first prototype of the car was released. The development was performed by Lotus Engineering, and was led by William T. Collins, Pontiac Chief Designer. The project was completed in October 1976, another six months was required for assembly in iron. But even after that, it took more than a year to begin the construction of a plant in Belfast (Ireland).

On January 21, 1981, the first DMC-12 rolled off the assembly line at the DMC in Danmerry. It was a double coupe. The manufacturer gave a guarantee for 5 years or 80 thousand kilometers. Despite the fact that the production was located in Northern Ireland, the DMC-12 was primarily intended for the American market. Therefore, the machines were equipped at the factory with left-hand drive. Only four right-hand drive copies of De Lorean have been redone for use in the UK.

The car body was made of unpainted stainless steel. Three gold-plated cars were also assembled. De Lorean, together with American Express, planned to produce 100 of these machines for owners of gold plastic cards, but only two were bought. The third car was assembled from spare parts in case of damage to the first two. The DMC-12 was powered by a 170-hp Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 engine. After refinement, 130 hp remained from the engine power to meet American standards. The doors of the car opened upward (the “gull wing”).

At first, the car was sold for 25 thousand dollars. But the cost of the car was too high for this class, and sales began to fall. The company went bankrupt, and DeLorin himself was put on the wanted list by the British government for embezzlement of public funds. In 1982, he was arrested by the FBI while selling a batch of cocaine. But later, John DeLorin was found not guilty, although it was no longer possible to save the DMC-12.

In 1983, car production was discontinued. During this time, more than 8.5 thousand DMC-12s were assembled. About 6 thousand copies have survived to this day. And in 1985, the film "Back to the Future" was shot, where one of the "main characters" was the car De Lorean. The car was chosen for a futuristic appearance, ideally suited for the implementation of the director's plan. In total, 4 cars were used in the process of filming - one for outdoor filming, one for filming inside the cabin, one with equipment for "time travel", another was used when shooting a collision with a train.

On March 19, 2005, John DeLorin died at the age of 80. Before his death, he worked on a venture project for a business selling expensive watches.

In 2008, the production of the legendary brand was resumed in a limited edition - 20 cars a year. The rights to the trademark were bought by the American company Espey’s Company, which plans to produce collectible cars for exotic lovers. By the way, buying parts for De Lorean is still not a problem.