DeLoreans Being Made Again for First Time in 35 Years

Texas maker of 'Back to the Future' car gets green light for new models
By Jenn Gidman,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 27, 2016 11:40 AM CST
DeLoreans Being Made Again for First Time in 35 Years
This file photo shows Christopher Lloyd, left, as Dr. Emmett Brown, and Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly with the famous DeLorean in the 1985 film "Back to the Future."   (Universal Pictures Home Entertainment via AP, File)

A car that's been stuck in the past can now go forward into the future, thanks to a government initiative that's allowing new models to be made for the first time in 35 years, KPRC reports. DeLoreans—the vehicle made famous in the Back to the Future movie franchise—are heading back into production in Humble, Texas, and it will be the first time the iconic car will be manufactured on American soil. "It's fantastic. It is a game-changer for us," DeLorean CEO Stephen Wynne tells KPRC. Wynne notes that he's got enough parts to put together about 300 cars, and although he anticipates initial output to be just one car a month, he's hoping to jack that to one a week. The first car is slated to be finished by early 2017. The anticipated price for one of these future throwbacks: $45,000 to $55,000 for a refurb, a vague "less than $100,000" for a new model.

The original Back to the Future gave the DMC-12—the only model DeLorean ever made, per the Daily Dot—a high profile, but the company went down the tubes in part thanks to founder John DeLorean's drug and money problems, notes NBC Washington. Wynne came along in the mid-'80s, scooped up what was left of the company, rebranded it as the DeLorean Motor Company, and moved operations to the Houston area, but he was limited to refurbishing existing DeLoreans: A government rule made it illegal for low-volume production of cars that didn't meet current safety standards. But a recent federal highway bill now allows for a company to build up to 325 such replicas a year under certain conditions, and the DeLorean qualifies. "It's huge for us. It means we're back as a car company," Wynne tells KPRC. (Website commenters once helped find a DeLorean.)

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