Back to the Future fangirls and fanboys who always wanted to get their hands on a DeLorean get ready, because they are backing a come back. Based out of Detroit with manufacturing done in Northern Ireland, the DeLorean Motor Company died an early death in 1982, but since 1987, businessman Stephen Wynne has independently operated a DeLorean refurbishing and maintenance business called DMC out of a 40,000 square foot location in Humble, Texas. In 1997 they acquired all the remaining parts inventory and the rights to reproduce parts, and after a lengthy court case finally settled with the widow of John DeLorean for the rights to use the DeLorean Motor Company name, trademarks and logo last year. Now they’ve told Click2Houston that new cars are on the way for the first time in over three decades!
“It’s fantastic. It is a game-changer for us. We’ve been wanting this to happen,” Wynne said. “That was a green light to go back into production. That was prohibited. It was against the law to do it. It’s huge for us. It means we’re back as a car company again.”
If you’re unclear of how momentous this is, just know that only 9000 DeLoreans were ever produced, and of them only roughly 6500 still exist. While refurbished models typically go for $45,000 to $55,000, Wynne is hoping to sell the new ones for less than $100,000. Oh, and if you’re at all worried about the new DMC modernizing the iconic stainless steel look of the vehicle, don’t be, because the only major changes are likely to be under the hood.
“There’s no reason to change the appearance of the car,” Wynne assured. “As we go into the program, we’ll decide what areas need to be freshened up.”
The first new specialty DeLoreans are expected to roll out by 2017, with production eventually ramping up from one a month to one per week, with enough current inventory to produce at least 300 vehicles. If you’re too far from Humble, please note that DMC Texas has franchised dealers in Bonita Springs, Florida; Crystal Lake, Illinois; Huntington Beach, California; Bellevue, Washington; and Hem, The Netherlands.
