I rarely post about non-Japanese cars, but this slowly decaying DeLorean DMC12 in Japan is an exception to that rule! The DeLorean DMC12 is a very special car and it is strange to see one neglected like this. I would even say this is the US counterpart of the Fujiwara Tofu-ten special!

Neglected DeLorean DMC12 in a Japanese parking lot
Neglected DeLorean DMC12 in a Japanese parking lot

What is a DeLorean DMC12?

The profile of a super car
The profile of a super car

For those not familiar with the DeLorean DMC12, the DeLorean DMC12 is the first and last car by the DeLorean Motor Company (hence DMC) and DMC12 is its model number. John DeLorean was a brilliant car designer who wanted to build the best car ever. The DMC12 is a beautiful sports car featuring gullwing doors and designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro. The car had to overcome all the shortcomings he encountered during his time with the Chrysler Corporation. One of these features is to make the car rustproof by making the body from stainless steel. However, stainless steel is heavier than normal sheet metal. So the downside of this is that the car became very heavy and its PRV engine proved to be slightly underpowered.

DeLorean downfall

Stainless steel body proved to be a bit too heavy
Stainless steel body proved to be a bit too heavy

Being a shrewd businessman, John DeLorean set up his factory in Northern Ireland to receive additional funding from the British government to fight off unemployment. However, even with the funds from the British government, this wasn’t enough to create a whole new car brand, invest in tooling and survive the first few years of low sales. To make matters worse, he let himself in some drugs-trafficking deal to drum up money but got busted. This was the end of his career, his company and the end of the DMC12. According to Wikipedia, a total of 8,975 cars were ever produced.

Back to the Future

This DeLorean once drove the New Jersey streets
This DeLorean once drove the New Jersey streets

With the nod in the title of this post, I’m not going to skip over the Back to the Future DeLorean. In the 1985 Back to the Future movie, the protagonists Doc Brown and Marty McFly drove a modified DeLorean DMC12 to the past. Doc Brown allegedly modified his DeLorean into a time machine. As Marty has to evade a group of bad guys, he accidentally drives back to 1955. Stuck in the past, he needs to restore the time machine to get back to the Future. Naturally, everyone now associates the DeLorean with this movie. It’s the same as driving a panda white Trueno AE86: everyone associates it with a certain tofu-shop.

Rustproof?

The amount of moss indicates how long it has been here
The amount of moss indicates how long it has been here

You might think having a stainless steel body would make this DeLorean rustproof and survive till infinity. Not like the Mazda Cosmo Sport I featured a few weeks ago. But it can’t be further from the truth than that! The body may be made from stainless steel, but its chassis isn’t! The chassis is a steel backbone chassis as often found on the Lotus Esprit. This is no coincidence as Colin Chapman helped to redesign the backbone chassis when John DeLorean’s design wasn’t good enough. This steel backbone chassis is prone to rust.

Conclusion

So even though the car in the photos looks relatively fine, its chassis is probably in dire need of replacement after standing still in a parking lot for many years. Luckily some fine blokes started DMC Texas and this company produces new chassis for the DeLorean.

Found here: https://www.teppayalfa.com/entry/2020/04/22/002506#google_vignette