WORDS: ELLIOTT HUGHES | PHOTOGRAPHY: Delorean motor company
The arrival of the first new DeLorean in more than 40 years has been intimated by a cryptic tweet and a teaser video published by the company shortly before the Super Bowl on February 13: “The Future was never promised. Reimagine today. Sign up for the premiere of the DeLorean in 2022.”
Specific details about the new DeLorean are presently thin on the ground. However, it has been confirmed that the car will be called the DeLorean EVolved, suggesting it will be equipped with an electric powertrain.
Images also confirm that the new car will be fitted with gullwing doors, and will likely have a stainless-steel bodywork finish – both of which were signature features of DMC’s original.
Italdesign, the design house founded by the legendary Giorgetto Giugiaro, has also posted teaser images of the car, which suggests that the Italian company will collaborate with DeLorean on the EVolved just as it did with the original DMC-12.
The DeLorean DMC-12 was only in production from 1981-1982, and the car itself was an abject failure, stricken by shoddy build quality and an underpowered, naturally aspirated V6 engine.
Many of the model’s problems originated from the company’s underlying issues; its factory was in war-torn Belfast and it was crippled with spiralling debts. Company founder John DeLorean’s subsequent trial for cocaine trafficking sounded the death knell of the marque, and it went bust in 1982.
Rather than fade into obscurity, the DeLorean DMC-12 became an unlikely pop-culture icon in 1985 thanks to its starring role in Back to the Future as Doc Brown and Marty McFly’s time machine.
British engineer Stephen Wynne then acquired the rights to the original company’s name and branding in 1995, and set up a firm in Texas. Rumours of Continuation cars and restomod models have circulated occasionally ever since, but came to little – until now.
Further details are expected to be revealed in the coming months, and more information can be found on DeLorean’s website.
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