It seems that an iconic sports car from the 80s will find new life this year due to a minor adjustment in federal regulations. Some changed language tucked away inside the “Low Volume Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Act” (H.R. 2675) will help pave the way for the DeLorean Motor Company to make car aficionados’ and movie buffs’ dreams come true.
Automakers are subject to thorough regulations and costly examinations before being allowed to get their cars on the road. Large corporations take these processes and fees into account while developing and selling new makes and models. For smaller automakers, such as DeLorean Motor Co. and Superformance LLC, these regulations are extremely costly compared to the size of their revenue. These processes can be so expensive, in fact, that they prohibit the small manufacturers from producing vehicles at all.
The Delorean had its share of fame (and some would say infamy) since well before it was featured as a time-traveling vehicle in Back To The Future. In the 1970s, John Z. DeLorean was still the youngest person to ever be an executive at GM when he left the company and founded his own: The DeLorean Motor Company (DMC). His brainchild was the DMC-12, the only car manufactured by the company, and it took over eight years to come to the market. When the car finally became available in 1981, it was far from a commercial success, selling only 9,000 models amidst middling reviews. DMC couldn’t shoulder the losses, and went bankrupt. In a bizarre aside, DeLorean himself did try to help fund the company by trafficking cocaine, but was acquitted of the crime after a jury found him to be entrapped.
So the Delorean parts sat in a warehouse somewhere for a few decades; meanwhile a film called “Back To The Future” was released in 1985. The movie staged the futuristic-looking car as a dynamic centerpiece, and cemented its image in American pop culture for years to come. One decade later, in 1995, a mechanic named Stephen Wynne created his own DeLorean Motor Company, and bought the logo, name rights, and remaining parts. Since Wynne’s move, DMC has been offering Delorean parts to owners who wish to refurbish their vehicles, but found it financially difficult to move forward on actual production.
Republican Senator John Thune from South Dakota is the chairmen of the Commerce Committe, and he is excited about Delorean’s prospects, saying “I’m excited to see this part of our reform bill is making a difference for a small business and fans of an iconic 1980s car.” DeLorean announced its plans with a page on its website, saying that at first, it plans to produce only four cars each month, at an estimated $100,000.
2015 marked both the futuristic year the “Back To The Future” characters travelled to, and the 30-year anniversary of the film. Fans’ passion for the movie has reached a new high. If the excitement keeps up, we could see more and more DeLoreans on the road in the nonfiction future.