The DMC-12 was so popular that the waiting list for delivery quickly grew to more than two years. During that time, DeLorean began preliminary design work on a family sedan (the DMC-24) for the 1983 model year. This car never got past the design stage because the company ran into financial problems and stopped production in 1983.

The popularity of the DMC-12 has long outlived its creator both for sports cars enthusiasts and movie buffs. Back to the Future is probably the most often played-on-TV movie of the five included in Car and Drive’s list. It may be one or the most replayed of all movie genres.

Between the model years of 1981 and 1983, 8583 DeLoreans were built in the factory in Belfast, Northern Ireland and at lest five of those were used in the filming of the Back to the Future movies. One DMC-12 used to film the movie is on display near the entrance to Universal Studios, Hollywood.

According to one source, DeLorean originally intended to sell the sports car for $12,000 (maybe the source of the 12 in DMC-12), but his estimate of production costs proved to be unrealistic. Because of an export tax imposed by the British Government and runaway production costs, the DMC-12 sticker price rose to $25,0000.