One of the most famous classic sports cars of the 1980s is certainly the De Lorean DMC-12. The sports car is popular and mainly well known not for its specs, but for its appearance in the Back to the Future trilogy, which is a famous movie series from the 1980s that was directed by Robert Zemeckis. The movie was based around the idea of time traveling, and it just so happened that the De Lorean DMC-12 was the time machine in the movie. The writers of the show decided to use the De Lorean DMC-12 mainly because of its odd appearance.

The De Lorean can be easily spotted because of its unique stainless steel body designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and gull-wing style doors. With the gull-wing doors open, the sports car almost looked like a car with wings. Although the car was produced in Europe, it was designed by John De Lorean, the founder of the De Lorean Motor Company, with the American marketplace in mind.

The performance of the car was considered disappointing because when it was being made, the De Lorean had to deal with many new American emissions regulations. The horsepower of the car only ended up being around 130 horsepower after it was all said and done. The sports car was sold at $25,000, which would translate into about $55,000 in modern dollars. Before it was actually released, many car fans were willing to pay above the price. Once the car company went bankrupt, however, the price of the cars dropped.

The DMC-12 is the only car model ever created by the De Lorean Motor Company, so the De Lorean DMC-12 is often just referred to as the "De Lorean". It was originally manufactured in just two years, 1981 and 1982, so there were approximately only 9,000 De Loreans ever produced. The reason why it only had a lifetime of two years is because the De Lorean Motor Company went bankrupt soon after John De Lorean was arrested in 1982 with charges of drug trafficking. In 1984 he was finally found out to be not guilty due to entrapment, but unfortunately by that time the De Lorean Motor Company no longer existed.

To this very day, the De Lorean almost has a cult following of fans from all over the world. Many people were amazed by the Back to the Future trilogy, and since the De Lorean was a major part of it, the legend lives on. It is believed that there are still about 6,000 De Loreans in existence. Passionate fans are even able to go to the DeLorean Car Show, which is held twice a year in different locations. Some cast members of the Back to the Future trilogy even show up to these kinds of events. There are even several magazines devoted solely to the De Lorean, such as the DeLorean Car Show Magazine and DW Magazine. With the recent release of the Back to the Future movies on DVD, there has been an increased interest in De Loreans once again, as new fans of the movie can finally see why the De Lorean is loved by so many people from all over the world.