New electric DeLorean springs to life after 40 years — and an IPO may accompany it
One of the things that the “Back to the Future” movies made famous (aside from certain Nike sneakers) was Doc Brown’s DeLorean.
The iconic car, which was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and originally manufactured by the DeLorean Motor Co. (DMC), was in production for only two years — from 1981 to 1983 — but it has remained one of the most popular and iconic cars.
In addition to its association with the beloved franchise, part of DeLorean’s appeal was also its unique design — a stainless-steel body and gull-wing doors — which gave it a futuristic look. (Tesla TSLA, +1.60% gave its Model X SUV so-called falcon-wing doors as a reference to futuristic cars from previous decades.)
Although a number of them survived the passage of time and can still be found on the road today, the original DeLorean Motor Co. wasn’t so lucky.
It went under in December 1982, shortly after production reached 9,000 units. In the mid-1990s, DMC was acquired by Stephen Wynne, a Liverpool-born mechanic who had moved to the U.S. and was running the company from Texas.
Now, almost 40 years later and after a series of announcements in 2011 and 2016, DMC’s new team is finally releasing preliminary details and images of the Alpha5 — its upcoming electric sports car and a spiritual successor to the iconic DeLorean. There’s a planned reveal at the Pebble Beach car show in August.
Italian studio Italdesign, which designed the new model, drew inspiration from the “Back to the Future” movies, but added a considerable amount of innovative and futuristic features.
Alpha5 will feature four seats, gull-wing doors, a 100 kilowatt-hour (kWh) battery with an expected range of over 500 kilometers (over 310 miles) with one charge and acceleration from 0-60 mph in 2.99 seconds. As a fun throwback to the franchise, the company announced acceleration from 0-88 mph in 4.35 seconds — 88 mph was the time-travel speed in the movies. Top speed for the base model will be 155 mph.
The production of the new DeLorean should start in 2024 at the company’s San Antonio, Texas, factory. The first series will consist of a limited number of vehicles (88, another throwback to the franchise) whose price could start at around $175,000 for the base model.
Don’t expect to see new DeLoreans on the road, though. Joost de Vries, DMC’s CEO, said the first batch will be suitable only for racetracks. Later production runs will make street-legal vehicles.
Alpha5 isn’t the only vehicle on DeLorean’s roster. Upcoming models include a sports coupe, a sedan and a premium SUV.
Finally, if you’re reading this story as an investor, you’ll appreciate the fact that de Vries plans to take DMC public. DMC has recently completed a seed round of funding, so there’s a good chance the next one could be tied to an IPO.
De Vries has considerable experience in the automotive world. He most recently worked at Karma and also did stints with Tesla and Mack Trucks.
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