Few people know, but the iconic car from the movie “Back to the Future” is a real vehicle, created in Northern Ireland by DeLorean, an automaker from Northern Ireland. And that’s not all! The automaker intends to launch an electric model later this year!
When we talk about pop culture, few vehicles have been as successful as the car represented in the film “Back to the Future.” With its doors opening upwards and a distinctive design, the vehicle caught the attention of the film’s producers, who were looking, at the same time, for the innovative, but not so popular vehicle, precisely to give the film a mystery.
When choosing the DMC model for the movie, the producers themselves did not expect the car to be so successful. However, if you think that this generated exorbitant profits for the manufacturer, this isn’t the case. When launched in 1982, DMC’s sales were a failure. With expected sales of around 12,000 units in a year, the first six months after launch saw only 3,000 cars sold.
The biggest criticism revolved around the, curiously, slowness of the car, which took about ten seconds to go from 0 to 100 km/h, which is considered a long time in the auto industry. According to engineers in the area, the biggest problem was the heavy chassis, which hindered all performance.
In the movie, the speed reached for the car to start its time travel was 88 miles per hour. The writers chose this speed precisely to satirize the car’s poor performance.
To make matters worse, manufacturing in Northern Ireland relied on unskilled labor and many vehicles had problems. As a result, some units were returned and others had to be exchanged, further reducing the profit margin.
In addition to the public failure, at the time, the United States went through an economic crisis, which directly affected the auto industry, the DeLorean DMC-12 model was discontinued.
The return of the DMC
Since then, with the success of the film, many assemblers have thought about the possibility of resurrecting the model, mainly aiming at selling to collectors. However, the high cost of manufacturing and the dubious financial return have always made projects to “revive” the DeLorean DMC model have failed.
However, to the delight of movie enthusiasts, this year a group made up of various industries, including automaker DeLorean, announced the release of the Alpha 5, based on the original DMC-12, which was used in the movie “Back to the Future”. .
Although there are still no commercialization plans, in August 2022, the vehicle will be officially presented in California, United States.
The idea is, initially, to launch 88 vehicles that will only be produced in 2024. An approximate value of US$100,000 per unit is estimated.
If the feedback is positive, manufacturers can expand their business and, who knows, you can also be the owner of one of the most iconic car models in theaters.
