KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 18 ― The spiritual successor to the pop-culture icon, the DeLorean DMC-12, is set to make its debut this year. Nearly 40 years after the original launched back in 1981, the successor will be coming back to the future ― I couldn’t help myself ― as an electric vehicle. Well, the hint is in the name, DeLorean "EVolved”, which was teased in a new tweet by the DeLorean Motor Company. Now, the name could just be for the teaser and the production car might ship with a different name, so we’ll have to wait and see.

The tweet also hinted at it being a luxury vehicle, which is different from the original that had a conventional plastic looking interior, despite having an unconventional exterior design. Finally, the last piece of information the teaser provided is that the new car will feature the iconic gullwing doors just like the original.

We hope to get more details soon from DeLorean Motor Company and its new owner, Stephen Wynne, a British engineer who bought the rights to the original company’s name and branding in 1995. The acquisition was made after the founder of the DeLorean Motor Company, John DeLorean, filed for bankruptcy after facing numerous financial issues and scandals shortly after the DMC-12 was launched.

The DeLorean DMC-12 used a stainless-steel body, which will not be seen on any consumer vehicle until the Tesla Cybertruck. This is because stainless-steel is not an easy material to work with and even a company as advanced as Tesla is finding it difficult to manufacture the stainless-steel body of the Cybertruck, causing delays in the production line. The DMC-12’s stainless body also meant that the car was hefty, so it was odd that John DeLorean decided to put a Peugeot-Renault-Volvo (PRV) 2.85L SOHC V6 producing only 135bhp, which made the car sluggish and unresponsive.

It was so underpowered that it couldn’t accelerate fast enough on the set of the movie, Back to the Future. The production crew had to jerry rig an engine from a Porsche 911 to give the car the performance you and I saw in the movie.

It remains to be seen if the DeLorean Evolved will use a stainless-steel body to remain faithful to the design language of the DMC-12. But this could be a possibility since the company that was responsible for the design of the DMC-12, Italdesign Giugiaro, tweeted a cryptic message incorporating the DMC-12 back in August of 2020. This could hint at a possible collaboration between the DeLorean Motor Company and its original design partner.

If you’re unfamiliar with the company, you might recognise one of their products, the Nissan GT-R 50, in collaboration with Nissan to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the GT-R in 2019. It was supposed to be a concept, but due to overwhelming response from fans, Nissan decided to produce limited quantities of the car.

As for the electrical powertrain of the DeLorean Evolved, nothing is known yet, but Autocar reported back in April 2021 that Italdesign signed a partnership with British technology and engineering company, Williams Advanced Engineering. The outcome of this partnership will be an open-source EV platform to cater to low-volume production vehicles. This could also suggest that the DeLorean Evolved will be produced in limited quantities. ― SoyaCincau