Please keep in mind that a good deal of this information has been collected from various sources. So if you find an error of some kind, please don't hesitate to E-Mail me!
John Zachary DeLorean, the creator of the Pontiac GTO, concealed windshield wipers, and the in-window antenna left GM and a 1/2 Million dollar a year job to create his own company and car. He thought that cars should last a lot longer than people are used to, yet be affordable. He wanted to make a sophisticated sports car that would be reliable, fun and durable. Because of this, he designed the DeLorean DMC-12 out of stainless steel layered over a fiberglass body, and outfitted it with one of the most reliable engines around at the time, the PRV-6.
The DeLorean cost about $28,000 new in 1981 and around $26,000 in 1982. These cars were made in Dunmurry, West Belfast in Northern Ireland. In 1983, a company called Kapac bought the remaining DeLorean parts and assembled the 1983 models.
Catering to John Delorean's wishes, the cars were made with a rear-engine layout mounted on a Lotus designed frame. The outer panels of the car are fiberglass, with sheets of high quality brushed stainless steel covering them. In 1982, he had major financial problems, was arrested for drug charges (which were a setup by the large American auto companies) and the DeLorean Motor Company went under in 1982.
There were around 8,400 DeLoreans made, about 4,000 of which made it to the United States. There are even 4 or so gold-plated DeLoreans, which are worth over $100,000 a piece.
Besides the stainless steel exterior, the DeLorean had a standard luxurious glove leather interior, power everything, air conditioning, dolby stereo and gull wing doors, with a choice of an automatic or 5-speed transmission. (see spec section below for more info)
A rush to get cars produced resulted in quality control problems at first, but update kits have eliminated all of the bugs in recent years. Performance was not as lively as John DeLorean wanted, so he designed a twin tubo model for 1983-1984, with a 0-60 mph time around 5.6 seconds. John Z's personal DeLorean was outfitted with the twin turbos, and reportedly outran every Ferarri on its test day at the track. Unfortunately the company went under and it was never produced. Twin turbo kits are now available for the remaining DeLoreans which produce about the same acceleration results.
The car itself has a very low and wide stance, with excellent handling to match. The gull wing doors were necessary to make the DeLorean low enough (about belly-button height on a 6 foot tall driver), and still allow a tall driver to get in and out easily (John DeLorean was about 6'3"). This was accomplished by setting the pivot point of the doors close to the center of the car, so a section of the roof actually opens up with the door, eliminating the need to duck below it.
An earlier gull winged car, the Mercedes 300SL, had doors that were very light to overcome the weight problem associated with such doors, while another gull winged car, the Bricklin SV-1 used a compression system located in the bumper. The Bricklin system would pump up pressure to support the doors, but was sometimes unreliable. The Mercedes design resulted in doors that were very thin and required a large, high door sill to step over when entering or exiting. The DeLorean used cryogenically twisted tosion bars and hydraulic arms to lift the 90 pound doors effortlessly.
The second reason for the gull wing doors was for safety purposes. The gull-wing doors create a sill on the door frame which puts more space between you and a side impact. John Delorean originally wanted to make his car one of the safest on the road, but cost problems eliminated the possibility of extras such as air bags. (The Delorean was actually supposed to be the first production car with an airbag, but the cost was very prohibitive at the time.) The third reason for the doors is the most obvious - appearance. A Delorean with one or both doors raised is very impressive.
Going back to safety, the rear engine design, besides eliminating understeer, allowed for greater safety by leaving the entire front of the car available for crush zones. (Oversteer was countered by using unequal tire sizes in the front and rear, with the rear being larger).
John Delorean reportedly has plans to build a new sports car, called the Firestar 500, which may emerge soon, with an IROC racing derivitive engine, producing over 500 stock horsepower. 0-60 acceleration is an extremely fast 3.2 seconds and a top speed of 220 mph, making it one of the fastest production cars in the world today. It's styling is based on the original DeLorean, with gull wing doors, a large rear fin and Boneville-type tires. John DeLorean is also working on a roadster and an SUV.
Only time will tell if it actually happens, but more info is available on my "Pictures" page under the "Firestar 500" picture. Click here for Firestar 500 info.
Type Light-alloy 90deg V6, two overhead camshafts.
Displacement 2.85 liters
Bore & stroke 91x73mm
Compression 8.8:1
Block type Light-alloy with cast iron cylinder liners.
Cyl. heads Light-alloy, cross-flow, hemi-chambers.
Cooling sys. Water/Ethylene Glycol, radiator forward with twin thermostatically controlled fans
Fuel system C.I.S. Fuel-injection, Bosch K-Jetronic
Ignition sys. Breakerless, electronic/Bosch.
Emission ctrl. Lambda Sond/catalytic, unleaded fuel.
Engine loc. Aft-mounted.
Transmission 5 speed, fully synchronized or 3 speed auto
Final drive Trans-axle/dbl. univ. half-shafts, ratio 3.44:1.
Construction Structural-composite single piece underbody with corrosion free outer body panels; 304 stainless steel.
Construction Corrosion protected steel backbone frame with fore and aft wishbones, supporting cross members and 4-wheel independent suspension; controlled impact crush.
Front Compliant, unequal length wishbones and coil boxed spring, telescopic shock absorbers and anti-roll bar.
Rear Compliant, diagonal trailing radius arms with upper and lower links, coil spring with telescopic shock absorbers.
Stainless steel body panels. Counter-balanced gull-wing doors with cryogenically pre-set stainless steel torsion bars. Leather seats and trim. Air conditioning. Multi-speaker, high output stereo system. Power windows. Adjustable steering wheel. Electric door mirrors. Full instrumentation. Electrical locking system. Tinted glass.
Power: 130 SAE NET HP @ 5,500 RPM
Torque: 208Nm (153 ft lb) @ 2,750 RPM
Weight: 2844 lbs (1290kg) with full fuel tank
Max speed: 130 mph stock *(150mph+ w/factory turbos, 140mph w/aftermarket twin turbos)*
Overall Length 166.0"
Wheel Base 95.0"
Height (Door Open) 77.2"
Height (Door Closed) 44.9"
Width (To Open Door) 11.0"
Width 73.1"
Track - Front 62.6"
Track - Rear 62.8"
Ground Clearance - Front 5.6"
Ground Clearance - Rear 6.1"