Very few cars define their era quite like the DeLorean. It is a car with one of the most delicious back stories and one of America’s most charismatic figures from its car industry, and despite being doomed to failure has gone on to become something of an icon of its times, one that has been celebrated by Hollywood no less. So Chip Foose is bound to ruffle feathers by tackling a redesign of the DMC-12.
John DeLorean was the man behind the machine, a high-flying Detroit executive who’d climbed through the ranks to oversee cars like the Pontiac GTO. Yet by 1973, certain he wasn’t cut from the right cloth for the top job at General Motors, he struck out to create a car company of his own – the DeLorean Motor Comany.
It wasn’t until 1981 that the first cars reached drivers. During the lull, DeLorean secured incentives for a new factory – in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland – from the Northern Ireland Development Agency that totally £100 million. Renault helped build the factory, and supplied the V6 engine, while Lotus designed the chassis. While the body was penned by none other than Giorgetto Giugiaro, it’s clear that the DeLorean was a product of its time and originally designed with safety in mind: the DSV-1 prototype even got its name for being the DeLorean Safety Vehicle.
So how can Chip Foose take this stylistic success from another era and make it even better? Watch the video to see how it takes shape.
All the changes make the Delorean a significantly different car, while remaining true to the dramatic, futuristic effect of the original. What do you think of the finished product? Is this reboot worthy of Mr. Fusion and the flux capacitor?
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