DeLorean Memorabilia Collector Guide

A short history of DeLorean Motor Company

John DeLorean, a former GM executive, founded DeLorean Motor Company in Detroit. Its car, the DMC-12, paired a body shape by Giorgetto Giugiaro with engineering done largely by Lotus, and wrapped it in unpainted, brushed stainless steel with gull-wing doors. In 1978, backed by an investment from the British government, the company signed a deal for a purpose-built factory at Dunmurry, six miles southwest of Belfast in Northern Ireland.

The factory was projected to fill orders for 30,000 cars a year. By the end of 1981 Dunmurry had built 7,500 cars, but the company had sold only 3,000. DeLorean Motor Company was placed into receivership in February 1982, production stopped that year, and the factory was liquidated in 1983. The Texas company that later bought the leftover parts puts the total at 8,987 cars built between January 1981 and December 1982, sold through 345 original dealers in all 50 states.

That short life defines company-era memorabilia: everything the original company printed or handed out comes from a few years around the start of the 1980s.

Why DeLorean items are collected

DeLorean collecting draws on two stories. The first is the company itself: a new carmaker, a factory built for it in Northern Ireland and a stainless-steel car that sold far below plan. The Ulster Transport Museum, which has a DMC-12 on display, presents it as part of the history of Northern Ireland’s automobile industry, built by the 2,500 people employed at Dunmurry.

The second story is Back to the Future. The 1985 film cast the DMC-12 as its time machine about three years after the company had stopped production, and the role gave the car cult status. Universal Studios acquired three DeLoreans for the first film. The film’s hero car is now on the National Historic Vehicle Register, whose entry calls it likely among the most replicated film cars in history.

Knowing which story an item belongs to is the first step in judging it. A factory brochure and a time machine model share a name and a silhouette, but they come from different decades.

What collectors find

National Museums NI holds an archive of DeLorean company material, and its contents list is a useful map of what the original company produced. The groups below follow that list, with later merchandise and film items added.

• Sales literature: brochures, specification leaflets and promotional booklets made to sell the DMC-12
• Dealer and company paperwork: dealer lists, order forms, training documents, status reports, name badges, company newspapers and stationery such as DMC airmail envelopes and memo notepads
• Owner materials: owners handbooks, warranties and consumer information, including the handbook delivered with new cars
• Press and display material: press material and reviews, motor magazines, posters, photographs and chassis posters
• Later company merchandise: apparel, models, books and posters sold new by the Texas company that now uses the DeLorean Motor Company name
• Film items: prop replicas and other pieces based on the Back to the Future time machine. The Ulster Transport Museum’s own collection includes replica time circuits, a replica DeLorean remote and a replica hoverboard

The original company and the Texas company

The DeLorean Motor Company name is in use again, but not by John DeLorean’s firm. After the Northern Ireland factory was liquidated in 1983, its remaining parts, some tooling, a full set of engineering drawings and other company documents went to a company in Columbus, Ohio. Separately, Stephen Wynne, originally from Liverpool, ran an independent auto service business in Southern California. In 1985 he formed DeLorean One with a DeLorean owner to sell parts and service the cars, and it opened a Houston location in 1988.

When that partnership dissolved in 1995, Wynne kept the Houston location and renamed it DeLorean Motor Company. In 1997 it bought what remained of the Columbus inventory, along with the exclusive distribution rights, tooling, engineering drawings and company records. It moved more than 60 tractor-trailer loads of stock into a 40,000 square foot facility northeast of Houston that was completed in 2002. Its website now uses the name Classic DMC and states that the stylized DMC and DeLorean logos and word marks are registered trademarks of DeLorean Motor Company.

For collectors, the practical point is that the Texas company sells three kinds of stock: new original parts from the old factory and its suppliers, more than 300 reproduction parts introduced since the 1980s, and accessories and gifts such as apparel, models, books and posters. Its new merchandise is later material, not a relic of the original firm, and should be described and valued that way.

What to check before buying

Reproduction owner material is made openly. The Texas company sells a reproduction of the factory owner’s handbook, following the version produced for 1982 and 1983 models, and a reproduction valet and owner’s manual set. Those are honest products when sold as reproductions. Ask any seller of an owner’s handbook, valet or manual whether it is original or reproduced, and how they know.

• Original or reprint: compare paper, printing, binding and any printer’s marks with a known original, and ask for close photographs of the cover and back page
• Version: owner material was produced in more than one version, so the edition should match the car or the claim in the listing
• Company-era or later: anything showing the Back to the Future time machine dates from the making of the 1985 film or later, after the original company had stopped production
• Logos are not dates: the Texas company holds the DMC and DeLorean marks and sells new apparel and gifts, so a DMC logo alone does not prove an item is from the factory years
• Film replicas: fans have built countless replicas of the movie car, and prop replicas such as time circuits are collected too. Establish whether a film item is a licensed product, a fan-made piece or a one-off build
• Copies: the National Museums NI DeLorean archive itself keeps a series of photocopied press material. A copy can help with research, but it should be sold as a copy
• Provenance: dealer and internal paperwork is more convincing with a documented history, such as a former dealer’s or employee’s file. Treat a story without documents as a story
• Condition: check for fading, water damage, tears, writing, missing pages or inserts, and for tags, boxes and parts on apparel and models

Where to find DeLorean memorabilia now

The original DeLorean Motor Company collapsed in 1982, so company-era items come from the secondary market. The DeLorean company page on I ♥ Capitalism collects live, relevance-checked resale listings and links each item to the marketplace selling it. Listings change as sellers add and remove items, so apply the checks above to each one before buying.