Whereas the DeLorean
DMC-1s certainly had
radical looks, with the
gull wing
doors and the low
roof and
angular lines popular amongst 70s
supercars such as
those produced by
Lotus and
Ferrari, the project was really doomed from the start.
Had John DeLorean continued working for General Motors, where he had been tipped
to become the company's president, one of the sorriest affairs in recent British
history might never have come to pass. DeLorean persuaded the British
government to invest many tens of millions of pounds in his company, in return
for which he would site his factory in Northern Ireland, one of the most
economically depressed areas of Europe.
Had the DMC-1 been as successful as DeLorean claimed it was going to be, the benefits
for the area would have been enormous. However DeLorean had used his contacts
within the north American GMC dealer network to vastly inflate the apparent
demand for the car. The British government checked the figures
before handing over the cash but never asked for independent evaluation of
sales potential.
The DeLorean was launched just as the US car market started to go into recession,
with the sports car market particularly hard hit. The DeLorean sold well at first, but then
owners started complaining about shoddy workmanship and lack of power
compared to its rival vehicles. At the same time the situation in Northern Ireland
was steadily worsening: IRA prisoners were on hunger strike demanding to be
recognised as political prisoners. The British government refused to give in to their
demands, and when the prisoners started dying Belfast erupted in riots: amongst
the many buildings torched were the DeLorean offices.
DeLorean used this as an excuse to go cap-in-hand to the British government for
more money: this time the government refused. Within two months the factory had
closed down with the loss of nearly 3,000 jobs, and the British taxpayers found
themselves over £75 million down. The British government was severely
criticised by its own financial watchdog, and criminal investigations against
DeLorean were launched on suspicion that he'd used some of the public money to
start new companies of his own.
None of the court cases succeeded however, and DeLorean looked as if he was going
to walk away from the whole debacle unscathed. Then the FBI, who had long had
him under suspicion for narcotics dealing managed to arrest him during a deal to
import several million dollars of cocaine and heroin into the US. Despite the whole
thing being caught on camera he was ultimately found not guilty. John DeLorean has
kept a comparatively low profile ever since then, although his name does crop up from
time to time involved in various entrepreneurial projects.
The few DMC-1s that did get produced are now very much collector's items.
Despite the fact they weren't particularly brilliant cars, their rarity and the story that
goes behind them has helped make them desirable. Being featured in
Back to the Future probably did their status no harm, either!