the 'Back to the Future' DeLorean

The DeLorean DMC-12, usually called simply The DeLorean as it was the only model ever produced, was manufactured by John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company for the American market in 1981-82, and is one of the more celebrated 'white elephant' cars anywhere.

Just as well known is the modified version appearing as a time machine in the Back to the Future movie trilogy, now displayed at Universal Studios, California.

The car featured gull-wing doors with a fiberglass underbody to which non-structural brushed stainless steel panels were affixed, including gull-wing doors, and a rear-mounted engine. 

The first prototype appeared in October 1976, and production officially began in 1981 in Dunmurry, a suburb of south west Belfast, Northern Ireland with the first DMC-12 rolling off the production line on 21 January. The "12" in the name reflected the intended selling price of $US 12,000, however, the list price was actually over twice this at a relatively expensive $25,000.  During its production, several features of the car were changed, such as the hood style, wheels and interior. Approximately 9,000 DMC-12s were made before production halted in late 1982 following the company's bankruptcy.

One of the major problems was that US emissions regulations required that parts such as catalytic converters be added to the vehicle before it could be sold there which seriously reduced the car's performance. John DeLorean had originally envisioned that the car would produce somewhere around 200 hp (150 kW), but eventually settled on a 150 hp (110 kW) output for the engine.