1981 DeLorean DMC-12

The Story

The DeLorean DMC-12 was the dream of John Z. DeLorean, a former General Motors executive who set out to build an ethical, durable sports car in a brand-new factory in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. Its unpainted, brushed stainless-steel body and dramatic gullwing doors made it look like nothing else on the road in 1981 — futuristic, cold, and utterly unforgettable.

Underneath the Giorgetto Giugiaro-styled wedge sat a 2.85-liter PRV V6, mounted behind the rear axle and shared with Peugeot, Renault and Volvo. Detuned to just 130 horsepower for emissions compliance, it delivered looks that wrote checks the engine couldn't quite cash. A 0-60 sprint of roughly 8.8 seconds was respectable but hardly thrilling for a car that looked this exotic.

The company's story ended almost as fast as it began. Cost overruns, a collapsing sports-car market, and John DeLorean's 1982 arrest in an FBI sting sent the firm into receivership. Only about 8,583 cars were completed before the lights went out in Dunmurry, with the original $25,000 sticker putting it in Corvette-and-Porsche territory.

Then came 1985 and Back to the Future. As Doc Brown's time machine, the DMC-12 became one of the most beloved movie cars ever made, transforming a commercial failure into a pop-culture immortal. Today, clean originals trade in the low-$60,000s, and the stainless wedge remains the definitive automotive symbol of the 1980s.