Battleangel

Via Boing Boing …

While only about 9,000 of his namesake cars were ever built, John Z. DeLorean’s place in auto history was assured as soon as the gull-winged sports cars rumbled off the assembly line.

While apt to be remembered popularly as the man behind the car modified for time travel in the “Back to the Future” movies, DeLorean left a powerful imprint in automaking built on unique, souped-up cars.

DeLorean was a rising if unconventional executive at GM who many believe was destined for its presidency before he quit in 1973 to launch the DeLorean Motor Car Co. in Northern Ireland. Eight years later, the DeLorean DMC-12 hit the streets. Its hallmarks, such as an unpainted stainless steel skin and the gull-wing doors, have been ignored by mainstream automakers. The angular design, however, earned it a cult following.

But the factory produced only about 8,900 cars in three years, estimated John Truscott, membership director of the DeLorean Owners Association. That figure is dwarfed by the major automakers, who sell more than a million vehicles a month.

DeLorean’s company collapsed in 1983, a year after he was arrested in Los Angeles and accused of conspiring to sell $24 million of cocaine to salvage his venture.

Source: AP

John DeLorean was later acquitted on the drug charges and of defrauding investors, BUT spent more or less the rest of his life tied up in various court battles. One can’t help but wonder who was really behind these efforts to keep him out of business. His old “friends” from Detroit perhaps.

See also: #381 Anthem to the DeLorean