The DeLorean DMC-12 was made famous by the legendary "Back to the Future" saga and its owner in the film, Marty McFly. A real commercial failure upon its release, this car was destined to fall into general oblivion, leaving behind a dark history. However, by an incredible stroke of fate, it perfectly matched the search of Robert Zemeckis, who is none other than the director of the Back to the Future films.
The creation of the DeLorean, a dream...
The story of the DeLorean officially begins in 1975. John Zachary DeLorean graduated as a technician after several years of study at the Chrysler school. For 15 years, he worked for the best car companies: from General Motors to Pontiac and Chevrolet, he accumulated incredible experiences that allowed him to acquire an unparalleled knowledge of the sector. At 47, after a lifetime dedicated to his passion, he was promoted to vice-president of the General Motors group. He was then the youngest vice-president the brand had ever known, and he owed his promotion to his peers' recognition of his brilliant and visionary mind.
However, John Zachary DeLorean did not want to spend his life working for others. He had a dream that he wanted to accomplish since childhood: to set up his own car brand and offer the public a car that had nothing to do with the standards in force in the United States at that time. For him, the car of the future had to be ethical and responsible. He then promised to develop a car that would be sporty and in which drivers could place all their trust: safety and respect for the environment would be essential, notably through the choice of eco-responsible materials that would guarantee the longevity of the vehicle.
...Which turned into a nightmare
In 1975, he resigned from General Motors. On October 24 of the same year, he founded the DeLorean Motors Company. To get started, he obtained funding from the Bank Of America, and he used his network to collaborate with stars of the time, notably Johnny Carson, a famous TV host, who invested $500,000 in his project. Later, he replenished his capital through car distribution networks: every dealer who committed to selling DeLoreans could become a shareholder in the company.
Production was initially planned to start in 1979, but it eventually only began in 1981, following various technical problems that severely slowed down activity. What was bound to happen, unfortunately, happened in 1982, when the brand began its descent into hell. The numerous delays and accumulated design flaws, coupled with very poor internal management, caused the DeLorean Motors Company to collapse. Sales projections were completely unrealistic, and the ambitions promised to investors seemed absurd in the face of reality. The lack of capital was therefore felt very quickly, and while 30,000 units of the DeLorean DMC-12 were estimated per year, only 9,200 were produced between January 1981 and December 1982.
A car designed for the future but manufactured in the past
The failure of the DeLorean can be explained in particular by the multiple problems with the materials used, but also by the fact that the workforce at the time, the factory being located in Ireland, was too unskilled to fulfill its creator's dreams. The choice of engine proved to be bad at first, as it was too energy-intensive and not powerful enough to support the vehicle's weight, which was then 1233 kilograms. Potential buyers were extremely disappointed, not to mention that the asking price was $25,000 for a car clearly below expectations. Added to this was a mechanical problem concerning the gullwing doors. Thus, the first models exported to the United States had to be disassembled and then reassembled in a new factory specially created for the occasion, and this generated enormous costs despite an already very limited budget...
However, John Zachary DeLorean had surrounded himself with the best. To create the chassis of this futuristic car, he had called upon Colin Chapman, the founder and CEO of another well-known brand: Lotus. Chapman imposed a manufacturing method similar to that used at Lotus, equipping the DeLorean DMC-12 with the suspension and chassis used on the Lotus Esprit. As for the car's design, Giorgetto Giurgiaro was in charge of it. He drew numerous sketches and a model faithful to John Zachary DeLorean's aspirations, with a rear mid-engine and an aerodynamic style. For the engine, after many failures, it was finally the Peugeot-Renault-Volvo trio that undertook its creation, because this V6 engine was then the only one capable of meeting the anti-pollution standards prevalent in the United States.
A drug trafficking and money laundering case
At the end of 1982, a dramatic turn of events hit the DeLorean Motor Company. John Zachary DeLorean was arrested for drug trafficking after a video showed him buying cocaine to resell it and thus replenish the company's accounts. According to FBI information, he allegedly helped spread the equivalent of 24 million dollars worth of drugs in the country. Following the trial and after 29 hours of deliberation, he was finally acquitted in August 1984 thanks to his lawyer's defense.
Why was the DeLorean chosen for Back to the Future?
As the sad fate of the DeLorean unfolded, Robert Zemeckis, the creator of the Back to the Future films, offered a last hope. Completely seduced by the DMC-12's design, he recounts that he had initially imagined the famous time machine based on an old refrigerator that the technical team had tampered with. But, quickly, it became obvious that the time machine had to be a vehicle. According to him, the choice to use a DeLorean came from a joke he had written for the film. In one of the cult scenes, the machine arrives in the past and the inhabitants of the farm where the protagonists land think it is a spaceship. Thanks to its eclectic design, due notably to its gullwing doors and stainless steel color, the DeLorean was at the time the only car to truly resemble a futuristic machine from space.
Eternal Recognition
Robert Zemeckis commented on the DeLorean's story in an interview. He said: "We hadn't foreseen this cocaine story or that it would become so infamously known. John DeLorean wrote us a letter expressing his admiration for the film shortly after its release, thanking us for perpetuating his dream and offering to hire everyone who worked on the film's car into his design team."
A beautiful story thus unfolded between the two men!
Origins of the DeLorean in the Back to the Future film
The DeLorean DMC-12 is used by Doctor "Doc" and his character Emmet Brown, in the movie Back to the Future. On August 11, 1982, he spots what will be his time machine in the Hill Valley newspaper. Doc will buy it a month later, in September 1982, for $4,800 from another character named Bob. Emmet Brown will then add numerous elements to customize the Back to the Future DeLorean, notably a flux capacitor which is the key element allowing this simple car to be transformed into a real time machine.
The machine embarks on its first time journey on October 26, 1985, at 1:20 AM. It is Einstein, Doc's dog, who will be the first to use this technology, allowing him to travel into the future for one minute. He will be teleported to the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall. Shortly after, Doc will be assassinated by Libyan terrorists, and Marty McFly, the hero of the Back to the Future saga, will take refuge in the car, also trying to escape the Libyans. Aboard the vehicle, Marty will unintentionally activate the DeLorean's temporal circuits and make it reach the famous 88 miles per hour that trigger the time machine's flux capacitor. The DeLorean and he will then be sent to the morning of November 5, 1955, the last date entered by Doc on the machine's control box dial, when he showed Marty how it worked.
How does the DeLorean work in the Back to the Future films?
To be used as a time machine, the Back to the Future DeLorean must meet two essential conditions:
- The flux capacitor must be charged with energy
- The car must reach a speed of 88 miles per hour
More precisely, it is the flux capacitor that needs to be moved through spacetime at this speed. Whether the car is moving or not, and whether its engine is running or not, if the two elements mentioned above are met, the time machine will work. Indeed, the DeLorean DMC-12's engine is powered by ordinary gasoline, but its flux capacitor requires 2.21 gigawatts of electrical power to operate. It is initially powered by plutonium, then, a little later, by garbage such as banana peels, eggshells, or beer cans, thanks to modifications made by Doc in the future. This is made possible by changing the nuclear reactor to a nuclear fusion reactor.
Finally, in Back to the Future 2, the DeLorean is capable of flying! It will even continue to be perfected throughout the saga (Back to the Future 2 and 3).
