Currently reading: De Lorean comes back to the future
Iconic stainless steel machine rises from the ashes as new firm restarts production 25 years on

The De Lorean is to be built again – 25 years after the firm went spectacularly bust following founder John De Lorean's arrest on drugs charges.The iconic stainless steel De Lorean DMC-12 – made a part of Hollywood history after its role in three Back to the Future movies – will be made anew at a plant in Humble, Texas, using many original parts bought from the receivers way back in the early '80s.The new De Lorean Motor Company was formed in 1995, and for the past 12 years has sold parts for the restoration of existing cars. According to vice president James Espey, it now plans to start building new De Loreans by hand, at the rate of two cars a month.Up to 80 per cent of the parts for the new cars will be original items manufactured in the 1980s. However, the new De Loreans won't be identical to the originals – they will use different, more powerful engines and also attempt to fix some of the car's foibles.The original DMC-12 used a 2.8-litre Renault V6 producing a mere 156bhp, and was nothing like as sharp to drive as it was to look at. The new cars will cost from $57,500 – about £29,000 – and will be sold from five dealers across the US and one in Europe. Production starts towards the end of 2008.

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