Car DeLorean DMC-12: specifications, photos

Delorean DMC-12 - the car which was issued in 1981-1982 by firm Delorean Motor Company. The release of this model was aimed at the American automotive market.

Its production was resumed in 2008 and continues to this day, however it is possible to get the car only by special order.

Biography of the creator Delorean DMC-12

The model, known for the film "Back to the Future" - the creation of John Delorean, one of the most mysterious and vivid names in the automotive industry of the 20th century. He was born on January 6, 1925 in the family of a Romanian immigrant. Ever since childhood, John has shown great interest in cars. The father, who was working at the Ford plant in Detroit at the time, noticed the ten year old son's craving for technology and bought him a second-hand Ford Model T. John spent hours in the car in the backyard.

Studying in a technical school, young Delorean showed outstanding abilities in drafting and physics. In 1941, he became a student at the Lawrence University of Technology, where he was accepted without entrance examinations.

But his training did not last long, as he was drafted into the army in connection with the US entry into World War II. But on the front John was lucky not to get, because his part was in reserve. After demobilization, he continued his studies and graduated with honors in 1948. Two years later he got a job at the firm Chrysler, while studying at the technical university of the concern specializing in Automotive Engineer. After receiving the diploma, he did not stay in Chrysler, but left in a troublesome firm Packard, which was engaged in the production of luxury cars.

In Packard, John Delorean revealed his potential in large part thanks to the team of the best designers and engineers of the US working in it. In just four years, he managed to become a head of the design department from a rank-and-file engineer. In 1956, Packard ceased to exist as an independent brand, and Delorean received an offer to head the development department in the elite division of the concern General Motors - Pontiac. He had to pull Pontiac out of the crisis and put several new models into production, which Delorean successfully coped with.

Already at that time John was obsessed with powerful sports cars. Two years later, he offered the company's management a draft of a two-seater sports coupe with a 6-cylinder engine. The idea was rejected because the "novelty" could constitute internal competition to the brand new Corvette. But Delorean found a way around the ban and equipped Tempest with a 325-strong V8 engine with a capacity of 6.4 liters. The car became so popular that it was selected from the Tempest line, renamed the Pontiac GTO.

The Pontiac GTO became a cult car, opening the era of American musk-cars. He brought Dolorean world fame. In 1965, at the age of 40, he became the head of the Pontiac division and the youngest vice-president in the history of General Motors. In 1969, he became the head of the main brand of the corporation - Chevrolet, and three years later John Dolorean took the place of vice-president of GM for production, that is, he became the second person in a giant concern. Up to the "top" there was only one step, but in 1973 Dolorean left GM, explaining this by the fact that he became uninteresting to work. There were rumors that the shareholders learned about the fraudulent schemes of John Delorean. In order not to bring the case to court, he decided to leave the company of his own free will.

After leaving Deloirean does not abandon his idea of creating a rear-wheel drive sports car. He registers the firm Delorean Motors and invites to the post of chief designer of his friend Bill Collins, with whom he worked in Pontiac. Together they went to the Turin Motor Show, where they met the famous Georgetto Judard and offered him to design a two-seater coupe. He agreed and got a carte blanche on one condition: the car should have wing-like doors, like the Mercedes 300 SL Gullwing. Soon, a sketch of the DMC-12 model was provided. The design of the car said that it falls into the category of "sports cars".

The first steps to a dream

Immediately John Dolorean buys from CTC the right to use special technology for the production of panels made of fiberglass and urethane foam. Delorean decided to make the entire body of a car made of plastic, and not just minor details. This design is not corroded and not less durable than conventional steel. But he decided not to limit himself to this and to polish the car with stainless steel. This was done not only to give the car extravagance, but also for economy: the exterior of the plastic part of the body is covered with stainless sheets not more expensive than the standard steel body, taking into account the painting.

Model development

Collect Delorean DMC-12 Delorean decided in Northern Ireland, not in the US. The reason for this is money: Britain promised to allocate a loan on the condition that 2,500 jobs will be created in the problem region of the state. In 1978, Delorean Motors received a loan of $ 100 million, after which the construction of an assembly plant in the city of Dunmarrie, a suburb of Belfast, began. At that time, Collins built the first two prototypes based on Dzhudzharo sketches, ordered equipment for making parts and found a suitable engine for the future Delorean DMC-12. The technical characteristics of the novelty with a 130-horsepower V6 engine of 2.85 liters, developed by Renault together with Peugeot and Volvo, would not surprise anyone even at that time. The decision to use it was made in connection with the lack of time to assemble the new engine, since according to the terms of the contract with the UK Delorian had to start the serial assembly of the model in May 1980. Sports cars of the world at that time were much better than the car in terms of technical characteristics, but could not compare with its design.

From scratch

The creation of a completely new car in two years is almost impossible even for a large corporation with several thousand engineers, since at that time all work was done manually, without computer designing. The creation of technical documentation for the model Delorean DMC-12 soon came to a standstill, so Delorean signed a contract to conduct all work with the company Lotus, giving work for 10 million. Lotus's chief designer sent to this job Michael Lausby, the best specialist in chassis and Suspension. Before him was a very serious task, since all of Collins's achievements were not good. For a car of such a non-standard design and materials, a serious approach to the organization of the development process was required.

In 1980, the project was completely redone, and from the developments of Collins there was only a mechanism for opening the doors. The work was slowed down due to errors of draftsmen, poor quality in the manufacture of models and low discipline in the factory. In order to save time, the design of Delorean DMC-12 used the technical solutions of the recent Lotus Espirit Turbo model project. For the most part, it concerned suspension and chassis.

Suspension and chassis

First, Lausbi took the chassis. The rectangular carrier frame and T-shaped front and rear power elements offered by Collins provided good rigidity and rigidity to the body. But it took time to refine it, which was not in stock at Delorean. Ultimately, the chassis of the car was made in the form of two letters Y connected in the base. The subframes for the engine, cooling systems and bearing suspension elements were attached to the chassis. The transmission and the gas tank were placed inside the frame. The result of the changes was a decrease in the longitudinal stiffness of the body from 7000 to 2400 lb-ft2 / deg.

The Delorean DMC 12 received a classic for the rear-wheel drive car by a weighting on the axes: 69% of the weight went to the rear axle and 31% to the front axle. The suspension of the car was developed in the likeness of Lotus Espirit Turbo. It was typically American - soft and comfortable. Front and rear wheels were of different sizes: the front stood narrow R14 195/65, and at the rear - wide R15 235/65.

Engine

130-strong 6-cylinder engine with a volume of 2.85 liters was bought in France. It had high reliability and an inexpensive price. Owners of Delorean DMC-12, whose technical characteristics were inferior to competitors, pointed to the low power of the car. In comparison with the "Germans" and "Italians" of the same cost, the dynamics of the car was "pale". Michael Lausby believed that a more powerful engine would not match the rigidity of the suspension. Before "hundred" the car was dispersed for 9 with, and its maximally developed speed made only 209 km / h.

A series of enhanced engines

In September 1982, the Danmarri plant produced several 156-horsepower Delorean DMC-12. The price of the 502 series, like the power, was significantly higher than the previous DMC-12: about $ 30,000. The development and tuning of the engine involved specialists from Legend Industries. These models were collected one of the last in a short history of the firm Delorean Motors. The power unit was paired with a 5-speed manual gearbox or a 3-speed automatic gearbox from Renault.

On the road

Soft suspension, sluggishness and grossness at maneuvers - so on the road was Delorean DMC-12.

Despite the huge difficulties, the development of the model still ended in the fall of 1980. The tests were carried out on the roads of Northern Ireland, where the test models produced a real sensation among the residents. Futuristic silhouette, non-standard doors and a shiny surface of the body attracted the attention of a huge number of onlookers. The car stops turned into half-hour lectures for the curious.

Release of the car

The machine Delorean received support from the press, but it became clear to everyone that the company Delorean Motors is in a difficult financial situation due to the huge unplanned costs.

In the summer of 1981, the design department of the Dunmarry plant began work on improving the DMC-12 engine to increase its power. Engineers began to change the suspension settings in the direction of "sportiness". At the same time, Delorean decided to prepare a concept for the new model. He assumed that it should be a four-seater sports car with a composite or Kevlar body on the concept Medusa, which was created in 1980 by the same Giorgio Giugiaro.

Financial difficulties

The firm tried in every possible way to find the means and get out of the debt hole, but time was lost. The recession of the US economy in 1981 still led to a drop in demand for cars, which further exacerbated the situation of Delorean. He is trying to get another loan from the British government, but this fails. In February, there was a scandal with the company Renault, which began to demand repayment of debts for the shipped engines, threatening the trial. Soon, the company Delorean Motors introduced an external management, after which all the property, including 2000 unrealized Delorean DMC-12 and about 900 doors were arrested. Delorean tried to find money in any way, promising to save the company and the work of his dream. These searches did not lead to anything good, moreover, he was on a judicial bench. Delorean was involved in a scam with cocaine. He explained this by saying that there were simply no other ways to find funds. A revolutionary car is a thing of the past.

Second wind

About DMC-12 temporarily forgotten, but the famous director Robert Zemeckis invited the car for filming in the trilogy "Back to the Future." After the release of the film in 1985, interest in the car broke out again. Its value in the secondary market immediately soared.

At this time, Delorean himself was acquitted, but this did not return his former glory. Until 1988 inclusive, the bankruptcy proceedings of the firm continued, and as a result, Deloirean lost everything.

Currently

In 2008, Texas-based Delorean Motor Company, which has all rights to the brand, resumed production of the car in the amount of 20 units per year. Before that, the company only provided the owners with spare parts and restored the old models.

The car often appears on TV screens in movies, programs, computer games.

For example, he starred in such films as The Beverly Hills Cop, The Idicocracy (2005), The Singer at the Wedding, The Hacker, The Big Thick Lie, Castle, Arthur. Ideal millionaire "and many others.

Results

The DMC 12 model has been and remains to this day one in the DMC catalog. For 1981-1982, Delorean Motor Company produced about 9,000 cars. Price Delorean with a 130-horsepower engine was significantly overstated and amounted to about 25 000 dollars.

Futuristic design challenged the caricature of the 80's. The model was aimed at an elite audience and was a celebrity in itself. Among all its unique features are the doors opening upwards. Such doors did not create difficulties during parking, landing or disembarkation from the car, because for them only distances of 35 cm were required.

The trademark Delorean, despite the relatively low technical performance of the models produced, still fell into the brand of sports cars.

In 1982, a factory in Northern Ireland ceased to exist due to the bankruptcy of the firm and scandals around John Delorean himself.