by: Jag Dhatt
If you watched any movies in the 1980’s, chances are you watched Back to the Future. Without a doubt, one of Back to the Future’s unsung heroes is the DeLorean time machine. Built over the course of nearly thirty years and using his entire family fortune in order to fulfill his vision of the “Flux Capacitor”, Doc Brown selected the DeLorean DMC-12 as his vehicle of choice for traveling through time. After the success of the first film, the sequels all featured the DeLorean in various forms.
Thanks to the stainless steel construction of the DeLorean, fluxdispersal is generated at an optimum level from the Flux Capacitor, providing the entire vehicle and its passengers a smooth passage through the space-time continuum during temporal displacement.
The DeLorean DMC-12 was the brainchild of automotive engineer John Z. DeLorean, a former executive at General Motors who’s most notable contribution was the Pontiac GTO. He founded the DeLorean Motor Company in 1974. The DMC-12, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, and engineered by Lotus Cars of England, consisted of stainless steel body panels, a rear-mounted 2.85 litre V-6 PRV (Peugeot, Renault, Volvo) engine, and stylish gullwing doors, which only require 14-inches (35.5cm) of side clearance to open. The car was built in a brand new state-of-the-art factory located in Dunmurray, Northern Ireland, just outside of Belfast. The first DMC-12 rolled off the assembly line in January 1981. All DeLoreans came from the factory in bare stainless steel (there were no factory painted cars), and were available with either a five-speed manual or three-speed automatic, all with standard interior colors of either black or grey.
DeLorean Motor Company filed for bankruptcy in 1982, and the factory was closed. The last car was manufactured in December 1982. Approximately 9,200 cars were built, consisting of three model years, 1981, 1982 and 1983.
The Back to the Future DeLorean has become an icon, with models still on display at Hollywood’s Universal Studios. Who knows, with the prospect of another Back to the Future movie, we could see the DeLorean again.
