Just reading the name “DeLorean” makes one imagine traveling back in time, like in the movie that revealed this car with an extraordinary and tumultuous destiny, forever marking the automotive world. Like in the film Back to the Future, let’s go back to the past, in 2012, at the beginning of the project. That year, we had the chance to discover and test an authentic and perfectly maintained DMC-12 coupe. This Christmas 2024, let’s dream again with this test. This article is also a tribute to Richard Quaderno, the owner of the DeLorean DMC-12 in question, as unfortunately, our friend Richard passed away in 2018. So, back to 2012…
Before making you relive our Parisian evening in 2012 with the DeLorean DMC-12, the car from Back to the Future (1985) that allows time travel, full of lights and effects, and presenting its technical innovations of the past but created forever, let’s take a quick “time travel” back into the history of this indispensable and timeless car.
Who has never thought of quitting their job after their boss rejects one of their projects? Well, that’s exactly when it all started for General Motors’ vice president, John Zachary DeLorean, who at the age of 48, left his position in 1973 and created his company the following year in Detroit: the John Z. DeLorean Corporation. In 1962, General Motors had indeed rejected his project. Zachary’s goal was then very specific: to market a different sports car with a rear engine, a stainless steel body, gull-wing doors, and unparalleled safety.
In 1981, eight years later (everything is a matter of “time” with this car), and after multiple imagined but unrealizable technologies, production began in Ireland in a factory financed by the English government, which at the time was trying to calm the Irish conflict between Protestants and Catholics. However, the quality of the local workforce was not the best, and the first DeLorean DMC-12 delivered to the USA would be disassembled and then reassembled in “Quality centers” called “Quack”. The majority of the problems were quickly resolved in 1982. The DMC-12 were then offered with a five-year or 50,000 miles warranty. DeLorean wanted to compete with the Corvette Stingray and other Porsche 911.
Then everything accelerated. At the end of 1982, the car wasn’t selling, the American market shunned the car, and English funding was stopped. The outcome was inevitable: the John Z. DeLorean Corporation went bankrupt, and the production lines were turned off permanently on December 24, 1982, the day before Christmas, exactly 42 years ago today. The most Hollywood-like event in the history of the DeLorean DMC-12 coupe happened in the same year, 1982. Indeed, John DeLorean, needing several thousand dollars, became involved in a drug trafficking operation! And like in a movie or an American trial series, DeLorean was arrested on October 19, 1982, then acquitted in 1984 on the grounds that the FBI had fabricated the trafficking.
Official figures announce that 8,583 DMC-12 were manufactured. Consolidate International then completed the assembly of the last models. The main parts were stored for over 10 years and, after being repatriated to the USA in Columbus. In 1997, these parts were bought by the DeLorean Motor Company, a new company taking up the original name, with the purpose of distributing and developing new parts. Let’s move on to the DeLorean DMC-12 test. In 2012, we had an appointment at the Château de Villiers-le-Mahieu, located in Yvelines, with Richard Quaderno, the proud owner of the DMC-12 No. 10330, which came off the production line in December 1981.
Before hitting the road to Paris in this “four-wheeled UFO”, Richard explained why, at the beginning of 2011, he bought a 29-year-old DMC-12 when the Renault Latitude had just appeared on the market (joke):
“As a child, watching Back to the Future, I thought this car was a pure invention of Hollywood studios for the movie.”
But a few years later, thanks to the arrival of the web in our civilization, Richard realized that the car existed, and he had only one dream in mind: acquiring the DMC-12! (As for me, I’m still waiting for the Millennium Falcon to arrive at the dealership)… And it was precisely on March 10, 2011, that his dream became a reality with the purchase of the model that had been imported by Radio Nostalgie in 2008 for a contest.
The time has come to get on board the Back to the Future car, and this happens with disconcerting ease despite its height of 1.14 meters (3.74 feet). We are indeed helped by the gull-wing doors, the key part of the opening mechanism being a very special torsion bar for which it is interesting to detail the operation. Developed by Grumman Aerospace, this bar has the property of twisting three times on itself. This technological feat is possible thanks to cryogenics. It was more than 40 years ago, and today the only things we are offered to cryogenize are our own bodies to perhaps be reborn after a possible viral plague. Once the doors are lowered, it’s a strange sensation between claustrophobia and comfort.
On the highway towards the capital, the PRV (Peugeot Renault Volvo) V6 engine developing about 130 hp is rather just for the car’s 1,420 kg (3,131 lbs). Nevertheless, the DeLorean DMC-12 can be compared to a real GT, as comfort and driving pleasure are very present. The Y-beam chassis developed by Colin Chapman lives up to the reputation of Lotus, being rigid and giving the sensation of being on rails. Richard describes the atmosphere on board:
“The DMC-12 lives. All its creaks and other noises give me the feeling that each trip is unique. The overall design of the car and the materials used at the time fill the cabin with an incomparable atmosphere.”
Arriving in the city, its imposing 1.98-meter width (6.50 feet) and 4.27-meter length (14.01 feet), along with its small turning angle, make the DeLorean DMC-12 not very comfortable. Near the Champs-Elysées at dusk, the looks of tourists and passersby quickly make us realize that this DeLorean is not just a car but a myth. An owner of a Ferrari California even offered us a trade, NO WAY! We will never know if he was serious.
At the Place de l’Etoile, the main scene of our night shoot, the stainless steel body reveals all its magic. The DMC-12 design was created by Giorgetto Giugiaro, the most fashionable designer of the moment. And guess which car he was inspired by? The answer is the Porsche Tapiro, the concept car he designed for Porsche in 1970. Indeed, the Tapiro appeared to be the closest, aesthetically speaking, to the requirements ordered by John Zachary DeLorean. The DMC-12 had to have a durable visual appeal, timelessness, and a drag coefficient (CX) not exceeding 0.33. Add to that other essential parameters such as the rectangular headlights, the gull-wing doors, and the windshield’s 60-degree inclination. The specifications were insane, but we will skip them.
At night, the 1981 stainless steel reveals all its beauty, and its reflections are striking. The shoot proved delicate given the number of passersby who stopped to look at the DeLorean DMC-12 and take pictures. Even the most beautiful model would probably not have attracted as many people! That’s the DeLorean and Back to the Future effect.
We decided to go to a quieter place, and it was at the 4 Temps parking lot in La Défense that we continued the photos in a rather offbeat atmosphere. The classical music echoing in the basement of the shopping center doesn’t go at all with the DMC-12! Sébastien Alvarez, our photographer, could then let his inspirations run wild. Here are his impressions:
“The DeLorean DMC-12 is obviously a myth for people of my generation and perhaps even those after: who hasn’t dreamed in front of Back to the Future? It’s a car marked by a very strong capital of sympathy. One immediately imagines that once the “gull-wing door” is closed, this carriage will lead us to wonderful adventures, full of promises. What better source of inspiration for an artist!”
And Sébastien even performed a beautiful stunt, almost like in the Back to the Future movie, disappearing behind the car in a “flash.” From the sound of his fall, we realized that it might be dangerous to organize photo sessions in underground parking lots with floors lubricated by engine oils…
Sébastien’s analysis and his work with the DeLorean reinforce the idea that this car is timeless:
“Looking at the DeLorean DMC-12 is already a pleasure, so photographing it! Its unique stainless steel body makes it a photogenic object, allowing for exceptional and very interesting light effects. For me, it was important to try to bring a new perspective on this car, to take it out of the context in which the public is used to knowing it, to give it the full dimension it deserves for its aesthetics alone. The pleasure of a photo shoot is also living the moment, seeing the reaction of passersby, their questions, their amusement… And during the shoot, at Place de l’Etoile and in the parking lot of La Défense, we saw many passersby.”
And from the photos taken, we are sure we have shared that evening with you. A big thank you to Sébastien Alvarez for his friendly collaboration.
Finally, our 2012 adventure with the DMC-12 ended with a final photo nod to the Back to the Future movie. We (virtually), at the time, connected the DeLorean to an Autolib’ charging station, 2.21 gigawatts… THE END? Well, no, except for the Autolib’ service which disappeared from Paris in 2018. Indeed, the DeLorean brand has been back since 2022. The new DeLorean Alpha5, unveiled in 2022, should soon be marketed. Rest in peace, Richard.
Text : Frederic Lagadec
Photos : Sébastien Alvarez
