DeLorean was a vehicle of change

NEWARK, N.J. — While only about 9,000 of his namesake cars were ever built, John Z. DeLorean’s place in auto history was assured as soon as the gull-winged sports cars rumbled off the assembly line.

DeLorean was among just a handful of U.S. entrepreneurs who dared start a car company in the last 75 years and he helped shift Detroit toward smaller, more efficient autos until his career was derailed by federal drug charges.

DeLorean died late Saturday in Summit of complications from a recent stroke, said Paul Connell, an owner of A.J. Desmond & Sons Funeral Directors in Royal Oak, Mich., which was handling arrangements. He was 80.

“John DeLorean was one of Detroit’s larger-than-life figures who secured a noteworthy place in our industry’s history,” GM Chairman and CEO Rick Wagoner said Sunday in a statement. “He made a name for himself through his talent, creativity, innovation and daring.”

While apt to be remembered popularly as the man behind the car modified for time travel in the “Back to the Future” movies, DeLorean left a powerful imprint in automaking built on unique, souped-up cars.

A Detroit native, DeLorean broke the mold of staid Midwestern auto executives by “going Hollywood,” and pushed General Motors Corp. to offer smaller models, auto historians said.

DeLorean was a rising if unconventional executive at GM who many believe was destined for its presidency before he quit in 1973 to launch the DeLorean Motor Car Co. in Northern Ireland. Eight years later, the DeLorean DMC-12 hit the streets.

Its hallmarks, such as an unpainted stainless steel skin and the gull-wing doors, have been ignored by mainstream automakers. The angular design, however, earned it a cult following.

But the factory produced only about 8,900 cars in three years, estimated John Truscott, membership director of the DeLorean Owners Association. That figure is dwarfed by the major automakers, who sell more than a million vehicles a month.

DeLorean’s company collapsed in 1983, a year after he was arrested in Los Angeles and accused of conspiring to sell $24 million of cocaine to salvage his venture.

DeLorean used an entrapment defense to win acquittal on the drug charges in 1984.