Unfortunately, changing safety standards in the U.S. required modifications to the suspension system and an increase in the vehicle’s factory ride height, both of which had adverse effects on the car’s handling capabilities. After that, the American company Kar Kraft produced a first prototype, which was ready to drive in early 1977. The car differed from the later production model in some details – for example in the position of the rear-view mirrors and in the side windows – but apart from that largely corresponded to the specifications of Bill Collins and John DeLorean. It adopted many of the safety features of the Allstar safety concept, so it was equipped with airbags, among other things. Initial tests of a 3-litre V6 engine from Ford yielded unsatisfactory results, and DeLorean resorted to a four-cylinder engine from Citroën. The first prototype received the engine and transmission from the Citroën CX, which had an output of 75 kW (102 hp).

Delorean Dmc-12 Goes Back To An Electric Future With Electrogenic

In October of 1982, DeLorean closed—and John DeLorean was arrested and charged with trying to save his company by selling cocaine. The body of a car can be made from a variety of materials including metals, fiberglass, carbon fiber, and plastics, just to name a few. Regardless of the material they are usually finished, primed, and painted. The DeLorean Motor Company took a different approach by finishing the DMC-12 with brushed stainless steel panels. Over half of the 16 right-hand drive cars had these modifications carried out.

Delorean Dmc 12 Europe Brakes, Tires, Steering And Suspension

Before the start of series production, two cars had been manufactured and tested for a total of just 60,000 miles to pass the US emissions test. However, this effort was too small to track down all possible defects and rectify errors before the start of series production. The fact that DeLorean nevertheless started production was due to the growing pressure from its investors and dealers, who finally wanted to make money after six years of waiting. Most notably in the United States, owners have gathered bi-annually (in even numbered years) for the De Lorean Car Show which draws people from all over the world to a different location each time. Back to the Future cast and crew including Bob Gale, James Tolkan, Jeffrey Weissman, and Claudia Wells [2] have made appearances, and even John De Lorean was known to attend before he died.

Latest Models

For shorter people, the addition of a pull strap made closing the doors much easier from the inside. Pull straps were manufactured as an add-on for earlier vehicles in November 1981. Late-model 1981 cars, and all cars from 1982 and 1983, have doors with integrated pull straps.

Chapman replaced most of the unproven material and manufacturing techniques with those then employed by Lotus. All-in-all the DMC-12 was a solid car, even though it did have its share of production problems and quality control issues. However cost overruns and the release of DMC-12 during very bad economic times of the early 1980s, hit DMC very hard. So bad that by the end of 1982, it went into bankruptcy after only 2 model years of production. And before the final cut was made there was a brief third year (1983) of production output.