Lot details
Registration No: EU-Reg
Chassis No: SCEDT26T58D003564
Mot Expiry: None

Immortalised by its starring role in the `Back To The Future' film trilogy, the DMC-12 was the only product of the DeLorean Motor Company that manufactured cars in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland from January 1981 until it went into liquidation at the end of the following year. Some 9,000 were created, about 6,500 of which are thought to remain in existence. Impossible to confuse with any other car, the DeLorean was penned by Italian maestro Giorgetto Giugiaro and notable for its gullwing doors and unpainted stainless steel outer panels. Following pre-production problems, the vehicle was largely re-engineered by Lotus, resulting in a backbone chassis and running gear very similar to that of the Esprit. Power came from a rear-mounted 2849cc V6 engine provided by the Peugeot-Renault-Volvo consortium. This gave 150bhp in European specification but some 20bhp less when equipped with emission equipment for the US market - the region in which most examples were sold. The positioning of the engine resulted in a weight distribution of 35F/65R. To keep production simple, there were only two options within the standard specification - the choice of manual or automatic transmission and either a Grey or Black interior.

The left-hand drive example offered here was constructed in the first year of production for export to the USA, and has a Federal specification engine mated to the three-speed automatic transmission. It has reportedly covered just 10,000 miles and had four keepers to date - three in the USA and one in Ireland, to where it was repatriated at a cost of 11,000 Euros. A very considerable amount of work was carried out on behalf of the last owner by Paul O'Malley (the representative for the DeLorean Owners' Club in the Irish Republic), in order improve the performance and reliability. The vendor now regards this low mileage DeLorean as, quite simply, "one of the best in Europe".