Vehicle exhibits

In the early 1970s, John DeLorean left his senior position at General Motors to build a "safety minded" sports car. 

After looking into Puerto Rico and Ireland as sites for a factory, he settled on Northern Ireland, which offered the best deal. 

The factory's opening ceremonies in 1981 attracted IRA protesters. It was the middle of the troubles between Catholics and Protestants, and in 1981, 143 Molotov cocktails were lobbed over the fence, burning down the office. 

The exchange rate between the pound and the dollar then tanked, meaning his cars were now $25,000 in the U.S. instead of $18,000 like the DMC-12's nearest competitor, the Corvette.

Despite the setbacks, there were orders on the books for thousands of DMC-12s. DeLorean tried to ramp production up to 14,700 a year to meet demand, but his cash flow problems were too serious.

The DeLorean Motor Company was put into receivership by the British government in 1982, and in his desperation, John pursued questionable sources of funds and ended up in a DEA cocaine bust in October 1982. 

In 1984, he was found not guilty of all counts against him, but his dream car company was long gone by then.

The DeLorean DMC-12 sports car is best remembered for its flip-up doors and prominent role as the car modified for time travel in the popular "Back to the Future" movies.