When most people think of 80’s cult classic Back To The Future, they picture Marty, ‘Doc’ Brown and of course that amazing stainless steel DeLorean sports car that the films projected into cult status.
As incredible as the story of ‘Back To The Future’ was, the story behind the DeLorean and its creator John DeLorean, is almost equally the stuff of a Hollywood script.
Its no surprise then that it is to become a new high budget documentary starring actor Alec Baldwin as the controversial magnate who created the Belfast-made car, John DeLorean.
Alec Baldwin said: “John was a legendary automotive designer who had great success at GM. . . John made his name in the business, and that business was like a movie. . . . You release something and if it’s a hit, you’re the king for the time being.”
The motor industry was bowled over when, in 1981, John DeLorean released his design for the DMC-12. Featuring gull-winged doors and body work made entirely from brushed stainless steel the motorcar looks futuristic even by today’s standards – in 1981 it looked positively space age!
The Hollywood-esque plot twists don’t stop there though. With the company struggling to make ends meet, John found himself embroiled in a cocaine smuggling operation in a vain bid to raise the necessary $17m to help keep the business afloat. What John hadn’t realised is that James Hoffman, the guys who suggested the dodgy deal, had passed all the details to the FBI. Fortunately for John he avoided a prison sentence, but the following 15 years of legal cases finally caused the collapse of the company and his personal bankruptcy in 1999.
John DeLorean later passed away in 2005, and on his grave stone is a depiction of that famous DeLorean sports car that made him so famous.
Whilst we’ve never travelled ‘Back To The Future’ in a stainless steel gull winged DeLorean, our Stainless Steel Cupboards will last well into the future with their 25 year Guarantee - they’ve got Stainless Steel Doors just like the DeLorean … unfortunately ours aren’t ‘Gull Winged’!