The DeLorean DMC-12 was born out of an enthusiast and engineer’s dream. During its initial design and development phase, the man behind everything, John DeLorean, gave his full efforts to make the car as advanced and sporty as possible. During its launch, the DMC-12 was aimed to compete with other sports cars in the market and DeLorean was confident about the sales numbers due to the car’s gullwing doors. However, the final production models had almost none of the promised features apart from the gullwing doors.
The car was launched in the market in 1981 and had a short production run with the same ending in 1983. During its entire production run, an estimated 8,975 units were produced excluding the test mules and the prototypes built prior to the commercial launch. The dying popularity of the car was resuscitated back in 1985 when it got featured extensively in the Back To The Future franchise.
How were the design and development conducted?
The initial plans and designing of the DMC-12 started back in the 1970s when John DeLorean successfully set up his own automotive brand, Delorean Motor Company. There was plenty of hype created around the car regarding its design such as it will carry an elastic reservoir molding, Pirelli P7 performance tires, gullwing doors, and a driver’s airbag. However, apart from the doors, nothing made it to the final production model. John hired the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro to design the DMC and the gentleman did his job brilliantly. The end result was a car having plenty of advanced techs along with a pair of ever-popular gullwing doors.
In October 1976, the first prototype of the DMC-12 was built by William T. Collins, a former Pontiac engineer. During showcasing, the first prototype had some impressive features such as a full-width knee bar for safety, gauges from Stewart-Warner, and a flat steering wheel with space for an airbag module. Post that, further development responsibility was given to Lotus cars, especially to its founder Colin Chapman. During that phase, almost all the base engineering of the car was dropped for more feasible production methods while keeping the gullwing doors intact. The final production models are still known for their unpainted stainless steel body panels, door design, and sporty design.
What was the powertrain like?
During the initial phase, the Ford Cologne V6 engine was considered the final powertrain for the DMC-12 since the plans for having the Wankel Rotary Engine were scrapped soon. After the very first prototype was completed, the Ford V6 was dropped in favor of the 2.0-liter powertrain from the Citroën CX 2000. After the French automaker’s refusal to supply the powertrain to DeLorean, the V6 developed by PRV was chosen as the motor that’ll be heading into the final production model.
Coming to the engine, it was a 2.85-liter naturally aspirated SOHC V6 that delivers 130 hp and 153 lb-ft of torque only. The motor was based on PRV’s original 2.7-liter V6 but the DMC’s unit was built on special order from DeLorean. The motor features a lighter alloy engine block with cast iron cylinder liners along with lightweight cylinder heads featuring cross-flow hemispherical chambers. The motor was offered with two transmission options, a 5-speed manual and a 3-speed automatic. The power figures delivered by the V6 weren’t adequate for the DMC and almost all the buyers complained of the car being quite underpowered. DeLorean however, did not upgrade its powertrain since the car’s production ended shortly after.
Did the car sell well?
The sales figures were decent for the first year but the car had several quality issues which were rectified with the subsequent batches of units. The initial price of the DMC was $25,000 as compared to the projected price of $12,000 only. During the final year of production, the MSRP was raised to $34,000.
Prior to the launch of the DMC, plenty of excited buyers reserved their cars by paying the full price and after the launch, all 720 units were sold out by October of that year. However, the US recession hit the economy hard and sales dropped dramatically. As of 1983, DeLorean managed to sell only 6,000 units of the DMC-12.
