The DeLorean Story second edition: The Car The People The Scandal second edition

Overview


his is the inside account of the DeLorean saga written by a senior manager who worked with the company from beginning to end. The short life of the DeLorean DMC-12 sports car – a vision of the future with its gullwing doors and stainless steel body – began after John DeLorean secured financial backing from the
British government for his car-making venture.
In a blaze of publicity the DeLorean dream arrived in Belfast in the summer of 1978. The challenge was to build a car and a factory in 18 months, with two prototypes and 72 acres of muddy fields in West Belfast as the basic ingredients. Money shortages and civil disturbances – the result of the IRA hunger strike campaign – caused major disruptions.
Four years and almost 9,000 cars later the company went bust and John DeLorean's dream turned into a nightmare as he was tried for alleged drug offences, eventually to be found ‘not guilty' due to entrapment by the FBI. His apparent charmed life continued when he was also found ‘not guilty' of embezzling the missing equity money from the Belfast factory. His big ally, Colin Chapman of Lotus, also drew posthumous scrutiny.
Prior to John DeLorean's trials, Margaret Thatcher vetoed a plan by a UK consortium to restart the DeLorean site, which would have provided over 1,000 jobs, but she decided this recovery plan was not for her. What were her reasons? This book offers one possible answer.
Who were the real heroes and villains in this saga? The DeLorean Story reveals everything about the car, the people and the scandal, from 1978 to 2004.