The Drug Story Behind the Time Traveling Car

We all know the infamous time machine from Back to the Future, the DeLorean. John DeLorean, who would go on to create the DeLorean Motor Company, engineered the most iconic muscle cars like the Pontiac GTO and the Pontiac Firebird.  He founded the DeLorean Motor Company in 1975 with the goal to produce an ethical sportscar. 

The original story was that he approached a known drug dealer to get in on cocaine trafficking to fund DMC because it was failing financially. In reality, the drug dealer approached him with the bogus offer as a set-up in an attempt to provide information to the FBI and get his own sentence reduced in 1982, leading to DeLorean’s arrest. DeLorean was able to prove that Hoffman (the known drug dealer) threatened his family and he was going along with it after that. Eventually getting him acquitted in 1984. 

However, the company filed for bankruptcy 2 weeks after DeLorean was arrested. DMC never recovered and in 1999 John DeLorean declared bankruptcy and the story of his life was made into a film called Framing John DeLorean. The DeLorean was chosen for the infamous movie Back to the Future because of its radical look, and iconic gull-wing doors. Incidentally, its “spaceship” like appearance has been credited as one of the main reasons for it being chosen as well.