The shortage of DeLorean DMCs is pushing prices for the sports car, which has become a pop culture icon, ever higher. At the same time, this sports car, which was once produced in Northern Ireland, can be seen on the roads of European countries and craftsmen using homemade copies of futuristic devices in the DeLorean interior, just like in the popular Back to the Future film trilogy.
Reported by UNN with reference to Bild and The Telegraph.
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The number of DeLorean DMC cars, famous worldwide thanks to the film "Back to the Future", is decreasing every year. According to the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA), about 303 DeLorean cars are currently taxed for use on public roads in Great Britain.
Another 114 vehicles have a special 'Sorn' declaration, meaning they are likely gathering dust in garages or elsewhere away from public roads.
According to estimates by Collecting Cars, a fully restored DMC-12 can fetch over $106,000 at auction. But only two DeLorean cars have been sold since bidding began in 2019. The last one changed hands for just over $74,000 in 2022.
Prices for the iconic car continue to rise.
The DeLorean is a pop culture icon that still captures attention after all these years. The combination of their scarcity and the 'Back to the Future' phenomenon has pushed their prices higher than people might imagine. In 1981, the sticker price was about £18,000, making it more expensive than a Porsche 911. Today, a fully restored model that has undergone restoration to be a cinema-accurate replica of the car can fetch over £80,000.
The cinematic spectacle requires not only fun but also great discipline and hard work. In Hasloh, Germany (a community in Germany, in the state of Schleswig-Holstein), the legacy of the DeLorean Motor Company is being preserved by Michael Wagner, who is transforming the pop icon into a fully functional car. Anyone who buys a DeLorean is buying more than just a vehicle. "You are buying yourself a movie star," Wagner analyzes and smiles.
For reference
The DeLorean DMC-12, conceived as the sports car of the future, was intended to become popular in the USA as a small, safe, and more environmentally friendly alternative to standard American models with thirsty V8 engines. Built in the early 1980s at a state-of-the-art factory in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland, it was both a 'beacon' of technological progress and a dream with gull-wing doors - but in retrospect, also an economic nightmare.
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Quality assurance problems associated with thousands of semi-skilled workers and liquidity issues broke the back of the ambitious brand. In October 1982, DeLorean faced a difficult bankruptcy. However, about 6,500 of the 9,000 cars once built still exist worldwide, automotive reviewers familiar with statistics write.
In the film "Back to the Future", Michael J. Fox travels to the past in a DeLorean as Marty McFly. The central element of the time machine is the 'flux capacitor', constructed by Doc Brown (actor Christopher Lloyd).
People come to Wagner's workshop in Hasloh from all over Germany and Europe with wishes regarding the DeLorean, and he claims that he not only repairs cars but also cultivates the myth:
Many owners come not for repairs, but with wishes
A classic conversion option is a fully functional flux capacitor.
With sound and light, of course. And yes, it looks exactly like in the film
In his workshop in Hasloh, Wagner fully assembles cars to individual order and has ideas for improving performance.
In this sense, it's not such a surprise that during a traffic check on "Carfriday" in the FRG, a real cult classic that had "traveled to the past" drove up to the police.
It is possible that the driver recently repaired the car and traveled to the past. "Because who knows how the check ended before the time jump," a police representative winked.
The Telegraph mentions other famous cars from cult films whose numbers have decreased over time.
According to DVLA statistics, only 311 examples of James Bond's iconic Aston Martin DB5 were registered in 2024. According to official data compiled on the How Many Left website, another 73 were written off.
Slightly more Lotus Esprit cars, which Bond drove in the film "The Spy Who Loved Me", are on the road, with 330 registered with UK authorities.
But there are 950 classic Mini Coopers, famously featured in The Italian Job, in drivable condition across the country – while the number of roadworthy Ford Anglias used in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets stands at just over 2,400.
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