DeLorean to make a comeback THIS YEAR with electric car teased

DeLorean will unveil an electric sports car this year, it has been revealed.

The Texas-based DeLorean Motor Company, which has owned the rights to the DMC name since 1995, will showcase a fully-electric model in 2022, teasing the forthcoming motor in a clip released this week.

In a short video shared on the brand’s official Twitter and YouTube social media channels on Monday, dark and tightly-cropped footage shows a gullwing-door car in the shape of the original DMC it claims will be a luxury electric model.

The DeLorean was made iconic by the 1985 hit sci-fi film, Back to the Future, starring Michael J Fox as Marty McFly (right) and Christopher Lloyd as Doc (left)

The 15-second clip was released on Monday, showing the rising doors and two flashes of light across the front with the tag line: ‘The future was never promised’.

It is unclear from the video if the vehicle is an entirely new design or an electric conversion kit for the original ‘DMC-12’ made famous in the eighties sci-fi films, Back to the Future.

Current owners, DeLorean Motor Company, bought the rights to the Belfast company’s name in 1995 via British engineer Stephen Wynne.

Since then, the company, now based in Texas, has specialised in spare parts, restorations and other services dedicated to the 1981 classic, which was in production for less than two years with 9,000 cars built before the brand went bankrupt in October 1982.

The social media posts suggest its name will be the DeLorean ‘EVolved’, hinting at original-design models replacing the 2.85-litre V6 engine with batteries and electric motors.

Yet other references used in the cryptic posts suggest it will be a luxury EV.

It is unclear from the video if the vehicle is an entirely new design or an electric conversion kit for the original ‘DMC-12’ made famous in the eighties sci-fi films

The car used for the clip shares the same windscreen shape and long bonnet design as the classic, and also appears to have the brushed stainless steel body panels made infamous by the original DMC

An estimated 6,500 original DMC-12s remain on the road today, which three of the Back to the Future film cars surviving

The car used for the clip shares the same windscreen shape and long bonnet design as the classic, and also appears to have the brushed stainless steel body panels made infamous by the original DMC.

This week’s teaser clip isn’t the first time a revival of DeLorean has been hinted in recent months.

Just last year, Torino-based Italian design house Italdesign marked the 40th anniversary of the DMC with the release of a similarly mysterious teaser image showing the silhouette of the 1981 two-door coupe, which was originally penned by its owner, Giorgetto Giugiaro.

It also used its social media platforms to feature the same 15-second clips yesterday as part of its own 54-year anniversary celebration, hinting at its own involvement in the project.

Italdesign revealed this teaser image of a DeLorean Motor Company model last year. The Torino-based design house was founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro, who originally penned the DMC-12 shape

An original DeLorean DMC-12 converted to look like the car from the Back to the Future films

Briton Wynne has made multiple attempts to bring the car back to life in recent years, including talks in 2016 to have a low-production run of 300 ‘continuation’ cars that until now have failed to surface.

In 2011, DeLorean Motor Company also suggested the availability of 200bhp EV conversions for the cars.

Italdesign’s recent partnership with Williams Advanced Engineering – the development arm attached to the Formula One racing team – would likely give it access to the British specialist firm’s electric vehicle knowledge and platforms for a resurrection.

Williams Advanced Engineering recently won the contract to be the battery supplier for the 2022-2023 Formula E championship and has collaborated with a number of brands on EV projects in the past.

Michael J Fox pictured during filming of Back To The Future II, 1989, which also featured the DMC-12

While the original DMC shot to fame on the back of the success of the Back to the Future franchise, the vehicle’s themselves were deemed too underpowered to compete with the sports car elite at the time

The DeLorean in the films could famously time travel when it hit speeds of 88mph. The production car had a top speed of 110mph

While the original DMC shot to fame on the back of the success of the Back to the Future franchise, the vehicle’s themselves were deemed too underpowered to compete with the sports car elite at the time. 

Its weight and modest 130bhp V6 engine combined to provide a relatively pedestrian sprint time to 60mph of around 10 seconds and a top speed of 110mph.

It was unfortunately launched as economies were slipping into a recession and was also riddled with quality issues, which became a particular annoyance to those who had paid a premium over the £16,600 list price (around £73,000 today taking into account inflation) to get their hands on the first models.

An estimated 6,500 original DMC-12s remain on the road today, which three of the Back to the Future film cars surviving. 

The DeLorean was already out of production by the time it made its debut in the 1985 cult classic, though Robert Zemeckis’ sci-fi hit featuring Michael J Fox as Marty McFly and Christopher Lloyd as Dr Emmett ‘Doc’ Brown made it instantly iconic among movie fans. 

Its big-screen fame means original cars today are valued between £20,000 and £50,000, depending on mileage and condition. 

In December 2011, one of the remaining film cars – a heavily-modified example used in Back to the Future III – sold for a staggering $541,200 at a US auction.

The DeLorean was already out of production and the company bankrupt by the time it made its debut in the 1985 film

Current owners, DeLorean Motor Company, bought the rights to the Belfast company’s name in 1995 via British engineer Stephen Wynne. It has since specialised in spare parts for the original. Pictured: A scene from the 1985 Back to the Future film

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