1981 DeLorean DMC-12 (Auto)

In one family ownership for the past 15 years.

Full, body-off, restoration

£20,000 lavished on the car with marque specialists, P.J. Grady

Good history with receipts and details of the work involved.

DeLoreans are still revered for their style and iconic status

The DeLorean DMC-12 was a ground-breaking, innovative sports car manufactured by John DeLorean's 'DeLorean Motor Company' for the American market from 1981-83. The car featured gull-wing doors and an unusual fibreglass chassis and underbody structure, along with a brushed stainless steel body and is probably most widely known for its appearance as a time machine in the 'Back to the Future' film trilogy. It was designed by the talented Giorgetto Giugiaro of Ital Design and built on a chassis engineered by Lotus with a 2.9-litre V6 engine sourced from Peugeot-Renault-Volvo. These unique cars are relatively rare, with only 8,583 examples leaving the Belfast factory and approximately 6,500 surviving today.

According to our vendor,

"The DeLorean has been in the family for 15 years plus since we imported it from the USA. It was a great car, low mileage and had clearly been loved previously. Being a DeLorean, this one suffered as most of them do with failing electrics, brakes and generally poor 1980's build quality. Over the time we've had it it's been dry stored in a dehumidified garage and has had minimal use in the UK as evidenced by its MOT history. During 2017 and 2018 it's had a complete photographed/documented, £20,000 body off restoration/nut and bolt rebuild by Chris Nichols from PJ Grady who are the worldwide experts of this Marque. The car was in good shape generally but had so much potential that we spent the money getting to the standard of one of/possibly the best DeLorean in the UK at the moment. The purpose of the restoration was to get the car back to a new standard with any new parts needed being the upgraded version to ensure longevity ie braided fuel lines (the old rubber ones perish and causes the car to catch fire!) new interior, refurbished wheels, brakes etc-everything that can be replaced or upgraded was. The bodywork was also re-grained using the correct horsehair re-graining process and as such looks like new. A wipe over of WD40 (YES that's correct!) is all that's required to keep the bodywork looking as new. The car has a huge history file 3 A4 box Files worth!) with paperwork from its time in the USA and import papers/taxes paid when imported into the UK and for various works and MOT's done over the years along with magazine articles and books on the DeLorean. DeLoreans at the moment come in three categories;-Basket cases, reasonable condition or top drawer fully restored cars. This one is a fully restored car with an open chequebook approach to making it the best available in the UK.

We are delighted to be able to offer such a fine example of the DMC-12, a car that continues to gain momentum in the collector's car market on both sides of the Atlantic, and this particular car really does need to be seen in the metal and we would welcome any inspection.