this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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Hey! You take that back! DeLoreans were always cool cars. Their demise wasn't due to lack of popularity, the company just had problems getting established, and ultimately didn't survive its initial growth phase.
Nobody despised the DeLorean, or it's owner. They just ran out of money, and he tried a desperate Hail Mary play, that didn't work.
Their demise was absolutely due to lack of popularity. In December '81 they had produced 7,000 units and sold 3,000. I'd argue that they failed for the same reason Fiero did -- they looked like a sports car but were not. Top speed was 110mph. 0-60 time was 10.5 seconds. It had a V-6 that put out 130hp in a car with a curb wt of 2700 lbs. 0-60 time was measured at 10.5 seconds. To put that in perspective, about the same as a 99 Ford F-350 Super Duty Crew Cab 4x4 Dually or 73 LTD Brougham. There are virtually no modern cars that run 0-60 that slow. A 2024 5.3l Suburban has a time of 7.0
In addition, they had numerous quality control problems. This in a car that retailed for $25k or the rough equivalent of $86,000 in today's dollars. While it's probably true that nobody despised the car, it was not a good car. They were definitely cool sitting in a parking lot but getting spanked by a 1980 Chevy Citation (0-60 10.3) is not a good look
Holy moly those specs are remarkably similar to my 1st generation Prius.
Now compare the gas mileage lol
Edit - Was actually curious:
I actually expected the DeLorean to be worse
Me too. That's comparable to my dad's old 4 cylinder Toyota Pickup (mid-80's, so similar era). Smaller engine and wayyyy less power so I would've expected the pickup to get worse than the Delorean.