BACK TO THE DELOREAN

Hello sports fans!

A few days ago, I got the email below (unsolicited):

From: Danny at Classic DeLorean Motor Company California 
Date: Thu, Jun 18, 2026 at 8:16 AM
Subject: Doug, book your DeLorean in for summer service!

As fate has it, I’ve never owned a DeLorean automobile. As a matter of fact, I’ve not even spied one on the streets and byways populating this site’s namesake town in quite a little while now.

And just for the record, the last one I saw was (and screw spellcheck at this point) REALLY half-assedly (I hit “save to dictionary” on that one, so it’s a word at least for this piece) done up as that silly tech-wacky movie car from: “Back To The Future”. 

In their brief epoch on Earth as new model motorcars, DeLoreans were actually pretty darn smart looking sports/touring machines.  

Of course, in those days (the early 80’s) you could have put gullwing doors on a potato crate and just about anyone at any point on the official car person spectrum would be all arms and elbows over it, mad for the sight of those sexy, swoopy, swing up doors that had blown many a mind back half a century ago when Mercedes-Benz unleashed them on a gob-smacked public in back in ‘55.

As things would have it (and while the day was still young), I decided to call Danny to ask how I got on an email list that would total a click or two under 10,000 (actual total lifetime DMC-12 production count: of 9080 manufactured between Jan ‘81-Dec ‘82) people who could possibly own and operate owned one of those sleek, silvery (stainless steel) gull-wing (oh, Yea-yah, Mama...) door sports cars that have something of a phalanx of books written about them including Matt Stone’s recent (deep breath) tale of the cool car that became a movie plot point, a car collector’s favorite, and the hinge of a nightmare illegal drug running/company financing deal entitled:“DeLorean The Rise, Fall, and Second Acts of the DeLorean Motor Car Company” (Quarto Publishing Group USA  ©2024 $40.00 US, CAN $52.99. www.Quarto.com).

Danny was solicitous but was unsure of how my name got on the list of owners of the svelte, stainless steel bodied, short-lived but long-storied cars that were brainstormed by a flamboyant automotive lighting rod, engineered by Lotus, and (mildly) powered by a 130 horsepower V6 consortium powerplant company called PRV (sound that one out on your own time) those initials standing for: Peugeot, Renault, Volvo, and built Dunmurry, Ireland.

Anyway, my inadvertent inclusion in the owner email was nooooo problem. It’s really almost like a fever dream, but a fun one in spite of the gimmickry and double talk involved.

And to get back to the repair deal for DMC automobiles if you own one: 

There’s a tight network of what can be characterized as automotive sanitariums, where DeLoreans are not “funny, odd movie cars” but are given good care and respected as a legit (even if short-lived) special automotive brand. (Friends and neighbors, here’s where the oft-misused term: “limited edition” can be so very well-applied.)

We like to point out pages from the Classic DMC website, just to show their involvement. Go there for more proof of life if you need to. 

The DeLorean was as sleek as it was silly, but owning one now is getting to be something of an honorable idea.

Oh, and give our friend Danny a call if yours needs any parts of service, or if you’re looking to step (boldly) through the looking glass and into the gawking, grinning, ever-evident world of ownership of one of these machines. He can find you a good one.

Being ever careful of what one wishes for, with Danny and the dedicated DMC disciples at “Classic”, your future can time-warp (oops, wrong movie) back forty years to July of 1985 and actually, really, honestly owning your own stunning car of the future (today).  Have I mentioned that before?

Seems late, but not yet “too late”. You know what I mean? - Stokes

About the DeLorean Motor Company

John Z. DeLorean founded the DeLorean Motor Company after a string of successes at General Motors as a legendary automotive engineer, turning around the fortunes of the Pontiac Motor Division, green-lighting the Pontiac GTO, and with it, launching the American muscle car era.

The DeLorean Motor Company (DMC) produced just one model, from early 1981 to late 1982—the DMC-12. A combination of factors contributed to its demise:

High Price, Low Performance – While the DMC-12 was more expensive than a Corvette or Porsche 911, it was far below either in performance. Its heavy stainless-steel body and PRV V6 engine produced only 130 horsepower.

Financial Setbacks – The company needed to sell 10,000 to 12,000 units to break even, but only sold around 6,000 in 1981. Moreover, the company had to battle unfavorable exchange rates, high production costs, and a depressed car market . 

DeLorean's Arrest – John DeLorean was caught on tape in an FBI sting operation agreeing to a cocaine operation in order to bankroll his company. He was later acquitted based on entrapment. While this all took place after the major factors weighed in on the company, the scandal destroyed the company's reputation and made any further efforts to revive the original company unlikely. 

In 1985, the blockbuster motion picture “Back to the Future” made the DMC-12 famous. Two sequels followed. While the company was no longer in operation, the films forever turned the DeLorean automobile into a cultural icon. - Editor