1981 DeLorean DMC-12 - Rolling Joke or Movie Prop? Both?

Having lived through the seemingly endless news cycle that was the DeLorean soap opera I find it hard to look at a DMC-12 and not see it at worst as a rolling joke or best as a movie prop. I rely on my twenty-one-year-old son for affirmation of my initial reaction to them; despite the movie fame, he knows nothing of the scandals that swallowed up the company, and he says they're cool as all get out. Nice to know my teenage impression of these cars has stood the test of time.

I remember seeing one of these for the first time and, like many people, being very impressed with it. Fresh, futuristic yet contemporary; it had to be great, right? Road test reviews at the time were generally favorable but not overflowing with praise with critics dinging the rustproof, stainless steel, two passenger, rear-engine, gull-winged wedged beauties for having a lack of power and for a rear end that could swing out dangerously if drivers weren't careful; with the engine out back, they did have 62 % rear weight bias. They also cited their high sticker prices as a liability - 1981 DMC-12's  like our subject here had asking prices of $25,000, that's about $65,000 today; that was a lot of money for a totally new car with no cache not to mention one that's inherently impractical.

Not that all cars need to be practical but still, for a car like this to be the initial product launch by a brand new company, even back then, was highly unusual. Those that did buy these were either people who like the latest new thing or loved the design. In total, only about 9,000 DMC-12's were sold; less than a third of the total John DeLorean bragged he'd sell in the first model year.

After a remarkable career at General Motors, John DeLorean's name was synonymous with high performance or at least perceived high performance; practical four-door sedans back then were hardly the stuff of aspirational car dreams. Through that lens the DMC-12 sort of makes sense; again, sort of. Makes you wonder what would have become of the company had DeLorean launched with a sedan instead and came with this after wards. I see a DeLorean sedan looking like a stainless steel, 1980's Aston Martin Lagonda; weird and cool (kind of) but with more upside than a two passenger "sports car". And, most importantly, you'd still stand out in a crowd.

Somewhat ironically, although made for less than two full model years, DeLorean DMC-12's have appreciated greatly in value. Our restored subject here has an asking price of $70,000; that's 1981 Porsche 911 money for something that, again, perhaps its just me, is something that's a movie prop or a rolling joke. Maybe it's both?

Purportedly, John DeLorean sent the director and writer of "Back to the Future" a thank you letter shortly after the film's initial release. Licensing fees from toy rights for the DMC-12 also went a long way towards paying off DeLorean's enormous legal bills.