The tax and rising production costs caused DeLorean to cut corners on many of the original design elements. DeLorean would have had another first if he hadn’t cut duel air bags form the final production model. Even so, the DMC-12 did relatively well in front end crashes because of the foam backing of the fiberglass body.

Some features that were uncommon in cars of the time survived the cuts. The DMC-12 had power windows, power mirrors, power door locks, rear engine/rear drive, and fuel injection.

Thanks to Doc Brown and Marty McFly, the DeLorean DMC-12 will live on far beyond the dreams of it founder. If you happen to be one of the luck few that owns a piece of history, there still is one Factory Certified Mechanic around. Don Steger, owner and operator of DeLorean Motor Company, California, in Garden Grove is your man. You can check out is offerings at DeLorean Motor Center (he also converts DMC-12’s into Time Machines).

If you are in Southern California and would like to rent a DeLorean Time Machine (no guarantee where you night end up) you can fulfill you wildest dreams at Time Machine for Hire.

The version of the Back to the Future DMC-12 tested by Car and Driver was built by DeLorean Motor Company California. With the addition to a Flux Capacitor, lights, smoke, and other essentials, the car was a dead ringer to the original. C&D found that aside from not having a lot of get-up-and-go, it had some serious rear visibility issues, Mr. Fusion got in the way. All the gizmos, lights, and working time readouts weigh down the DeLorean with 700 or so extra pounds of substance. During the C&D test the strain was obvious, it took the DMC-12 14.1 seconds to get to 60 mph and 19.4 to make it through the quarter-mile, at 70 mph.

This time machine started as a 1981 model, with 40,000 miles on the odometer. It was originally equipped with a standard 130-hp, 2.8-liter V-6 and a three-speed automatic transaxle. The crew at DeLorean Motor Company California did a frame-off restoration making it a look-a-like of the time machine as it appeared at the end of the first movie. So, if you have an old DMC-12 under a tarp in your driveway and a spare $70,000 burning hole in you pocket, bring it on… or you can rent this one for $600 a day.