In a nondescript warehouse in east Texas, mechanic and entrepreneur Stephen Wynne is bringing a rare sports car back to life. If he succeeds, he almost certainly has Michael J. Fox to thank.
A quarter century after DeLorean Motor Co. began making its glitzy, $25,000 two-seater - an operation that collapsed after two years - Mr. Wynne's outfit plans to bring the vehicle back into production at a 40,000-square-foot factory in Humble, Tex.
The creation of automotive engineer John DeLorean, DMC eventually made fewer than 9,000 cars, distinctive for their gull-wing doors, stainless-steel exterior and rear-engine design. An estimated 6,500 remain on the road.
Despite DMC's flop, the car has persevered, gaining notoriety largely as the time machine Mr. Fox drove in the blockbuster 1985 movie Back to the Future and its two sequels.
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"There isn't a day somewhere in the world that Back to the Future isn't playing as a rerun," said Mr. Wynne, president of the new, privately held DeLorean Motor Co.
Mr. Wynne formed the company in 1995, when the bulk of his business was working on original DeLoreans. Still, he needed a name, so he went for the original. He even called John DeLorean, who wished him luck.
A dozen years later, Wynne hopes to parlay the car's celebrity into a niche production business that begins hand-making two DeLoreans a month some time next year.
Already, the operation will take an existing DeLorean, strip it to the frame and rebuild it for a base price of $42,500.
Mr. Wynne bought replacement parts from an Ohio company, Kapac Co., which had acquired the original inventory when DeLorean failed. In 1997, when Kapac wanted out, Wynne bought the supply for himself.
The base price of a new DeLorean is expected to be $57,500 - roughly the same price a 1981 DeLorean would have cost in today's dollars.
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