Well really it's an open and shut case. Sure there have been some contenders for the title of 'World's Most Over Hyped Car', but even the front runners are miles behind that most heinous of automobiles, the DeLorean DMC-12.

Everything about this car was advertised as being so right, so good and so futuristic. How wrong they were. Sadly everything about the DMC-12 summed up the 1980s. It was poorly designed, high maintenance and had a shady background.

It was designed for the North American market, but produced in Northern Ireland. The first production models were in service by the early 1980s. The first breakdowns were also in the early 1980s. In fact they were so bad production only lasted just over a year. During the manufacturing run around 9,000 DMC-12s managed to escape through the factory gates and into the wild.

The DeLorean DMC-12 venture was made possible by the shady business practices of John DeLorean. DeLorean secured the millions needed to finance his project by persuading Hollywood legends like Sammy Davis Junior and Johnny Carson to invest in his startup company. From day one the things started to go wrong. The factory was staffed with highly paid but also highly unskilled workers who pretty much put the cars together using nails and bits of string. Then John DeLorean was arrested on drug trafficking charges only a year into the cars production run. Even though he was later found not-guilty, the company in the meantime had declared bankruptcy. Needless to say Sammy and Johnny didn't make money on their investment.

But it wasn't just the whole depressing saga of the company as a whole which made the DeLorean DMC-12 an over hyped failure. It was also a fantastically bad car itself.

200 horsepower had been promised, as had a rotary engine. In the end however it was fitted with an asthmatic 170 hp V6 unit. Add to that the emissions regulations which were required by the US government and power dropped to a woeful 130 hp - a pitiful figure for an expensive sports car. The DMC-12's handling was also less than stellar thanks to other US regulations which required the ride height to be increased.

The stainless steel bodywork, which had been touted as being rust and maintenance free was rust free - of course, but far from maintenance free. Even small imperfections were easily spotted and difficult to rectify. Not to mention how easily it showed up fingerprints!

The extravagant gullwing doors were also a flop. Literally. Many owners found that the gas struts used to hold them open gave out after a short space of time due to the disproportionate weight of the doors.

Pretty much everything about the DMC-12 failed to live up to expectations. Any way you look at it the DMC-12 was a waste of space. It wasn't fast, it couldn't go round corners, it wasn't cheap, it wasn't easy to live with, and it wasn't profitable.



All Delorean DMC-12 images by Kevin Abato