Ah, the DeLorean- a car forever immortalised with the Back to the Future film series. However, the story of the creation of this most singular of cars is equally as interesting with ambition, greed and hubris all mixed together within the fascinating tale.
I didn't know much about the car's creator John DeLorean but had heard that it was a tragic tale, so when a new 3-part Netflix series popped up in my feed I thought I'd dive right in and fill in this knowledge gap.
The documentary is told in a fascinating way as it moves through time, showing DeLorean at different times of his life. We see him at his General Motors peak, creating plain looking cars with powerful engines to appeal to the youth. Then we see him ascending the Detroit car industry ranks, making a big name for himself and earning $600,000 a year (that's 70s wages!)
However, during a period of huge social and economic upheaval in the late 70s, DeLorean decided to go it alone with his own car company... and that's when it started to go wrong. When he couldn't secure funding, DeLorean took advantage of the British government's desperate need to help ease the Troubles in Ireland by creating jobs by securing a total of £200 million pounds. Skimming 10% for himself, DeLorean is presented as a complex character, no doubt a great engineer but also incredibly vain, narcissistic and an egotistical grifter who had a history of not following through with his grand visions.
The documentarians, Chris Hegedus and her late partner, DA Pennebaker, share behind the scenes and candid footage from the 70s and 80s when they were filming DeLorean for a documentary. It's particularly interesting to hear Hegedus talk retrospectively about her front row access into DeLorean's life and marry this up with what was learned from his childhood and college. The look into his tough upbringing shows that he grew in extreme poverty but his abilities led him to go to further education, however his propensity to grift almost landed him in jail if not for the intervention of his college teachers.
The documentary is fascinating and the fact that DeLorean's son and ex-wife talk about the man lends the whole series some respectability and authenticity. The mixture of corporate videos, 70s and 80s documentary footage, grainy FBI footage and current talking head segments all blends well to tell an intriguing story about a deeply flawed man of undeniable ability brought down by his own hubris.
Myth and Mogul: John DeLorean a great story well told. At about 2 1/2 hours the limited series is definitely worth your time.