Imagine for one moment that you are a Hollywood Screenwriter. You devise a script about a fictitious car company that is mired in uncertainty, confusion, bad planning, poor product development, major quality control issues, allegations of corruption, bankruptcy, and finally, alleged drug trafficking. If you took such a script to any Hollywood studio, you would be laughed off the lot. However, this is not a work of fiction, but the true story of the DeLorean Motor Company. The fact is that the company’s sole product, colloquially known as the DMC-12, could quite easily have slipped into relative obscurity but for its starring role in a certain Hollywood movie trilogy. Today, the DeLorean has developed its own cult following, and good examples can achieve some fairly impressive prices in the market. So, if you feel like unleashing your inner Doc Brown, you will find this 1981 DeLorean DMC-12 located in Fall River, Massachusetts, and listed for sale here on Craigslist. This is a classic that could easily be yours for $19,500. I do have to say thank you to Barn Finder Pat L for spotting this great vehicle for us.

This photo provides us with a clear look at the DeLorean’s two most distinctive features, the brushed stainless steel body panels, and the gullwing doors. Before we delve more deeply into this car, it also allows me to indulge in a small piece of Hollywood brain-teasing. For those of you who have seen the “Back To The Future” movies (which will probably be a fair percentage of you), you might remember that the first time that we see Doc Brown’s DeLorean is when the tailgate opens on an enclosed car transporter, and the good Doc reverses the car out of the trailer into the parking lot of the Twin Pines Mall. While the gullwing doors on the vehicle are distinctive, thanks to a clever hinge design, they don’t open any wider than a standard door of any car of equivalent size. However, when you watch the movie and see the amount of clearance between the sides of the DeLorean and the inside of the trailer, it is impossible for Doc Brown to have opened the doors of the DeLorean to climb inside. Through the side window? No, because the opening sections of a DeLorean’s side windows are minuscule. So, how did Doc Brown climb into the car? There’s one for you to puzzle over and debate. Now, back to our feature car. Differentiating one production DeLorean from another can be quite difficult because apart from a very limited number of exceptions, all cars featured brushed stainless steel panels, along with identical cast-aluminum wheels. The distinctive panel finish also caused its share of problems. Apart from being susceptible to things like fingerprints, dings and dents were pretty hard to address. However, the panels on this car look to be nice and straight. The body rests on an epoxy-coated steel frame and provided the epoxy has remained intact, then the car should potentially be structurally sound. It does exhibit one common DeLorean flaw. That is the fact that the grey urethane front and rear bumpers have discolored a bit over the years. The reality was that these didn’t match the brushed body panels when the car was new, so it shouldn’t be an issue now. The other issue that could afflict the DeLorean was doors that refused to stay in the upright position. However, these ones are hanging in there, which is a good sign of a car that has been cared for. With the trim and glass all looking very good, I really can’t find much to be critical of with the car’s exterior condition.

Had John DeLorean been able to build his car to its original mechanical specifications, then there was a real chance that it would have been a world-beater. The vehicle was originally conceived to be a mid-engined sports car, featuring a Wankel rotary motor. For various complex reasons, this never came to fruition. Instead, the DeLorean featured a 2,849cc PRV (Peugeot-Renault-Volvo) V6 engine, producing 130hp. Buyers had a choice between a 5-speed manual or a 3-speed automatic transmission. The original plan called for the DeLorean to be a high-performance sports car, but with a 0-60 time of 9.6 seconds for the 5-speed version, the reality was something altogether different. This car doesn’t feature the 5-speed manual, but the slightly rarer automatic. The owner purchased the vehicle a number of years ago, and as it had been parked for quite some period of time, he spent a substantial sum of money returning it to a fit and healthy mechanical state. He was then using the car as a daily driver, but the transmission started slipping badly last year. The car has been used very little since then, and it isn’t clear what the issue is with the transmission. It could potentially be something as simple as a blocked filter or a jammed solenoid. However, it could also be something major that might entail a full rebuild. With that in mind, the owner has managed to secure a secondhand transmission that is known to be in good condition, and that is to be included in the sale. Beyond that single issue, the DeLorean is said to be in good mechanical condition.

Early examples of the DeLorean featured interiors trimmed in black, but by late 1981, grey leather was added to the list. This vehicle features the grey trim, and while the driver’s seat is showing some stretching, it all generally looks quite good. There is a cover over the dash, and it isn’t clear whether that is there to protect it from UV damage, or whether it is disguising damage that might have already occurred. The rest of the trim and the carpet looks really good, and in a 1981 context, the DeLorean did come quite nicely equipped. Amongst the standard features were air conditioning, power windows, power exterior mirrors, a rear defogger, a tilt and reach wheel, and an AM/FM radio/cassette player.

There is no doubt that the “Back To The Future” movie franchise prevented the DeLorean from disappearing into obscurity, and has allowed it to develop a cult following. While some of the company’s records are a bit vague or have disappeared entirely, it is believed that there were eventually 9,000 examples built and that around 6,000 survive to this day. More than a few have been transformed into Doc Brown tribute cars, but there are still plenty of nice examples roaming the roads. Today, reasonable examples will start in the market for $30,000, but the vast majority tend to sell for more than $45,000. One of the really surprising aspects of their values is that in spite of the automatic versions offering reduced levels of performance, their relative rarity tends to see them command slightly higher sale prices. Given its overall condition, if it was not afflicted with transmission woes, I would have expected this one to be offered for a price of around the $45,000 mark, or possibly slightly more. The condition of the existing transmission is a huge unknown, but if the replacement is in good condition, then fitting it could solve the problem for a reasonably affordable figure. That could make this a classic that is worth serious consideration. By the way, I’ve managed to get through this entire story without once mentioning the Flux Capacitor!