De Lorean Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
The De Lorean Motor Company was founded in 1975 by flamboyant automobile industry executive John De Lorean, to make the sports car of his dreams. The company was founded in Detroit, Michigan, and later moved to a Park Avenue skyscraper in New York City.
The car as he dreamed it, with its distinctive top-hinged gull-wing doors and stainless steel skin, was never fully implemented. The unfettered ambition of the prototypes designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro was whittled down at each stage closer to production, as deadlines and budgets were hopelessly overrun.
Approximately 9,200 cars made between 1981 and 1983 in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland (actual production figures are unclear, and estimates differ), of which 6,000 are still on the roads. Officially designated as model DMC-12 but known as simply the De Lorean, the vehicle garnered worldwide attention and recognition as the basis for the time-machine in the 1985 movie Back to the Future.
In 1982, De Lorean was charged with selling cocaine to undercover police. The Dunmurry factory closed with the loss of 2,500 jobs and taking over $100 million in British government subsidies down with it. De Lorean was later acquitted of all charges (due to entrapment) but went into retirement in New England. The dream with which he had mesmerised Britain's Labour government, of industry rising out of the ashes of Ulster's sectarian conflict, was shattered.
A very large number of the original cars are still on the road after over 20 years; most estimates put it at 6,000 cars surviving out of just over 9,000 built. There is a very active enthusiast community around the cars, with strong owners' clubs. A number of commercial enterprises set up after the demise of the De Lorean Motor Company to provide parts and service, and most of those are still in existence. In particular, DeLorean Motor Company of Texas (not affiliated with the original company) now owns the large remaining original parts stock from the factory, US stock and original suppliers.
Many aftermarket improvements have been offered over time to address some of the flaws in the original production cars, and to improve performance. A common opinion of the car is that in stock form it is somewhat underpowered, and a variety of solutions have been implemented, from complete engine swaps (either to a larger PRV engine, or to completely different engines such as the Cadillac Northstar engine), turbocharger kits (single or twin-turbo), down to simpler solutions such as improved exhausts and other normal engine tuning work.
As of 2004, one can buy a fully restored De Lorean DMC-12 for approximately US$35,000, while unrestored but good condition vehicles run from about US$15,000 upwards.
De Lorean is more often seen spelled without the space: DeLorean. Typewritten company documents universally use the space, however, so this appears to have been the company's chosen form. In typeset documents, a half space, not a full space, appears between the two portions, and the same is visible in more stylistic representations, as on the automobiles themselves. This use of a half space probably influenced many people to see no space there.
The company's founder originally spelled his name as John Delorean. At some point in his life he began using the more European-looking De Lorean instead. During the period the De Lorean Motor Company was operating, he used a space exclusively when spelling his name in the course of business.
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