History of stainless steel DeLorean DMC-12 (9 photos + text) Bashny.Net

DeLorean name known to almost everyone, who is interested in cars. Everyone knows about this unusual machine with wedge-shaped silhouette and opening up doors that look alien from the future, even now. Meanwhile, it has long been would have been forgotten if it were not an unusual fate of the brand personality and bright person who gave it his name.

That man was John DeLorean (John DeLorean, 1925-2005 years), a talented American engineer and manager of the Romanian-Hungarian origin. It was he received at the beginning of the 1960s, the position of chief engineer Pontiac, offered to put under the hood of a conventional coupe Tempest huge 325-horsepower engine - so there was a famous monster Pontiac GTO, the progenitor of a whole generation of oil cars.




Approximately in the middle of the last century, people imagined alien spaceships.

Heading first Pontiac, followed by Chevrolet, General Motors DeLorean enriched many technical, stylistic and conceptual findings. But in the end, in this conservative Deloreanu Corporation, known for its eccentricity and non-conformism, it became cramped. In 1973, he was vice-president of General Motors, but unexpectedly resigned and founded his own company - DeLorean Motor Company (DMC). Under this brand, he decided to produce a sports car.



Do not worry because the color of certain body panels do not match. So conceived.

The design of this mid-engine two-seater car helped develop the famous Italian stylist Giorgetto Giugiaro (Giorgetto Giugiaro) - the one that would later be called car designer of the century. The car body consisted of a carbon-fiber frame, which is hinged on the exterior panels of stainless steel. There were 304 pieces. It was they who were the most original feature of the car. However, this decision was not only the advantages but also disadvantages. On the one hand, the machine is not afraid of corrosion and did not need painting, and the noble metallic color gave it a very classy look. On the other, it meant that all items coming off the assembly line have exactly the same shape. However, the days when Henry Ford could make his famous statement about "every black 'color, are long gone, and the consumer craved variety. Stainless steel bad resisted color. In addition, it was found that on the polished metal surface is very noticeable fingerprints banal.



Small "vents" in the windows of doors - a victim of beauty.

The doors of the car opened up the principle of "gull wing", as the legendary Mercedes-Benz 300SL 1950. But this beauty is also demanded of the victims - the door did not allow complex shapes to insert it into the sinking of the glass. We had to limit ourselves to a small "window leaf" on the bottom edge of the window. Another characteristic difference - different diameter front and rear wheels. Finally, if all plans go into a series of DeLorean, the car would be standing Wankel engine. But the fuel crisis that befell the world economy in the 1970s, forced to abandon the voracious rotor "engine" and choose instead the sheer V-shaped "six", developed jointly by Peugeot, Renault and Volvo. This motor working volume of 2 liters in the original 8 gave the power of 170 horsepower. But the main market DMC - in America - in those years have already introduced stricter environmental standards. The engine did not fit in them, and had to be redone. The power has fallen to a mere 130 hp, with which the car already could not claim to be the runner.



And here is John DeLorean near his car in every sense.

The car has received the official name of the DeLorean DMC-12. Incidentally, the number "12" is not carries no special meaning - apparently, it's just intrafactory designation project. Exotic design and reputation steel DeLorean car to a good advertisement. In the first days of sales DMC had on its 4000 car paid orders.



In order to reduce the costs of the car we decided to release in the UK in the Northern Irish city of Belfast - more precisely, in its suburbs Danmarri (Dunmurray). Local authorities interested in the development of local production, the plant promised financial preferences, but because unemployment dial manpower there was easy. The difficulty lies in the fact that these arms for the most part did not have the necessary qualifications. Production began in 1981, however, serious problems with the quality, and the questionable performance of the machine, have meant that the DMC-12 bought up bad. And this despite the fact that even before the start of sales of the machine lined up willing to willing to pay for a new creation DeLorean extra 10 thousand dollars over and above the sale price of $ 25 thousand (since then due to inflation, the dollar fell approximately three times, that is, for those times Vehicles can not be called cheap).



DeLorean Motor Company was close to financial collapse. But then the car part of the story ends and begins a detective. In connection with Deloreanom, desperately in need of working capital, came a certain James Hoffman (James Hoffman). His proposal involves the use of DMC as a cover for money laundering from the sale of cocaine. DeLorean so would receive the necessary investment, and Hoffman and other participants in the cartels were to be "clean" dollars. After lengthy negotiations, DeLorean, hoping to save the company, agreed to the deal, but it took a number of precautions. And, as it turned out, for good reason: Hoffman has long been an FBI informant, and his entire plan was developed in this department framed. US law enforcement agencies to improve accountability, too did not disdain provocations. In October 1982, DeLorean was accused of drug trafficking and hit the dock.



The engine behind - just like a supercar. It is a pity that power came from DeLorean bobble.

The process lasted eighteen months. Eventually DeLorean lawyers managed to convince the court that their client was involved in a criminal conspiracy by FBI agents, and DeLorean was acquitted. However, his reputation was badly tarnished, and in the meantime the company finally went bankrupt in general. Back in February 1982 due to bankruptcy, it was handed over to external control, but at the end of that year finally closed. Total less than two years produced about 9,200 cars DMC-12 - it was the only model of the brand.



Inside - quite a racing cockpit. There was also a version with a manual.

It would seem, and the company, and the car is doomed to oblivion, but this is not the first time in history, came to the rescue of art. DMC-12 "was held casting" and was approved for the role of the time machine in the famous fi comedy "Back to the Future» (Back to the Future - the first of its series was released in 1985). For, as one of the heroes of this film, Doc Brown (Doc Brown), «if we embed a time machine into a car, it is best to stylish." In addition, the futuristic look with silver panels, four rectangular headlights and door type "gull wing" makes the machine very similar to the spacecraft. Especially in terms of inhabitants in 1955, where the car and pushes it through the built-in "current drive", which is activated when the car accelerates to 88 miles per hour (141, 5 km / h).



Many owners of the DMC-12, subjected them to this tuning. Travel through time, they, however, still can not.

The huge success of the film led to the fact that the DMC-12, there was a large army of fans. "Promoted" through the movie machine has become a cult object, in contrast to many other low-volume sports car. Moreover, the new Texas company DeLorean Motor Company (which has no relation to John Deloreanu), which owns the rights to the brand, has announced that in 2008, resumes edition DMC-12 in limited quantities. That's really really made the car leap in time, hitting back to the future!