The crazy true story behind the Back to the Future car

The extraordinary life of controversial automaker John DeLorean (whose iconic automobile design became famous in Back to the future films) was made into a new film, Driven.

Featured guardians of the galaxy And The Hobbit Lee Pace in the title role, the film tells the story of the man whose incredible plan to revolutionize the automobile industry ended in disaster involving cocaine trafficking, FBI informants and the IRA.

Here's a look at the rapid rise and devastating fall of a man who had it all, but saw his dream veer into the ditch.

A talent eager to leave

After earning an engineering degree, John DeLorean went to work in Detroit, known as the “Motor City” after it became the center of mass automobile production in the 20th century. First at Chrysler, the very talented and innovative engineer joined Packard, then General Motors, where he imagined the very first “muscle car”, the Pontiac GTO. At age 40, he became the company's youngest division head.

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Firing on all cylinders

At General Motors, DeLorean made tons of money, led a jet-set lifestyle, and hobnobbed with Hollywood stars. But the maverick executive constantly clashed with his company's backers and, tired of the endless political and internal conflicts, he left the company in 1973 to pursue his dream of running his own business.

Leave alone

The visionary automaker created the DeLorean Motor Company and began developing a two-seat, stainless steel sports car with distinctive gull-wing doors. He built a huge manufacturing plant in Northern Ireland, with the British government investing almost £100 million in the company, and the revolutionary car began rolling off the assembly line.

A car is born

The new car – called the DMC – hit the market in 1981. It took DeLorean a decade to unveil it to the public. Unfortunately, it was too little, too late: a decline in car purchases, combined with lukewarm reviews (and better, comparable cars on the market, like Chevrolet), meant the car was a failure.

Everything is running out of money

With half of its cars unsold and the company $175 million in debt, DeLorean was in trouble. It was then that his neighbor, James Timothy Hoffman (played in Driven by Jason Sudeikis), appeared on stage. Hoffman offered the struggling automaker the chance to make quick money by importing Colombian cocaine into the United States. Little did DeLorean know that his friendly neighbor was an FBI informant who was setting him up for a high-profile arrest.

Everything is out of gas

In 1982, DeLorean was arrested and charged with trafficking cocaine and faced up to 67 years in prison. Among other things, an incriminating tape revealed that DeLorean bragged about having close relations with the IRA, and British authorities believed he had paid protection money to the terrorist organization. His lawyers argued in court that he was unfairly targeted by the duplicitous Hoffman and the FBI, who knew DeLorean desperately needed money to keep his business afloat.

End of the road

Although DeLorean was found not guilty of the charges against him, his reputation was ruined and his company went bankrupt. Divorced from his wife, his career in the auto industry over, DeLorean ended up selling watches online, but still dreamed of producing another car.

Make history

In its own way, the DeLorean car became an icon: it was immortalized a few years later in the hit film Back to the futurewith Michael J Fox, with the car transformed by Doc Brown into a time machine.

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THE Back to the future The trilogy grossed almost a billion dollars at the box office and DMC became world famous. Existing DMC models are now collector's items. DeLorean died in 2005 and the headstone at his grave depicts the car with its doors open.

Driven releases in theaters and digitally on November 8 by Vertigo Releasing. Watch a trailer below.