DeLorean to rise from the ashes as an electric car

The DeLorean DMC-12 assured its place in automotive folklore as the time-travelling machine in the Back to the Future movies, even though the real-life car proved rather tepid.

Used examples of the iconic gull-winged sports car have become highly collectable and sell for an average price of R770,000 according to Classic.com.

Only 9,000 units of the Italdesign-styled coupé were built between 1981 and 1983 before the company went bankrupt, but DeLorean is now being raised from the ashes — as an electric car.

On Thursday the DeLorean Motor Company confirmed on Twitter that the two-seater will be revealed on May 31 and fans can sign up at DeLorean’s website to get a sneak peek a day before.

A teaser picture in the tweet doesn’t reveal much about the styling except that the car will have louvres over the rear windscreen and LED tail lights stretching across the width of the car. We know from previous tweets that the two-seater coupé will have gull-wing doors like its predecessor. As before it is styled by Italdesign.

The company said the physical unveiling will take place on August 18 at the Pebble Beach concours d’elegance in the US.

There’s no word yet on output, but the electric powertrain is sure to have more muscle than the lukewarm 97kW of the original petrol 2.8l V6. DeLorean CEO Joost de Vries said the car will have more than 450km of range and grip the road via all-wheel drive.

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