John DeLorean’s Manufactured Fall

John DeLorean posing with the 1970 Chevy Vega.

If you’re of a certain age and you know the name John DeLorean, it’s probably for one of two reasons, and neither of them are the right ones.

Of course, his namesake car’s appearance in the Back to the Future movies is a cultural touchstone, and many, many people heard about his shocking arrest for cocaine trafficking in 1982.

It’s a great story, and a familiar arc: a rich, accomplished man brought down by his own hubris and greed. The actual facts surrounding the case and, indeed, the facts of his life, never really seem to come up in conversation.

In actual fact, he was a remarkable man, responsible for countless innovations and improvements in the automotive industry. He’s even credited as the designer of the Pontiac GTO – the world’s very first muscle car.

The DMC12, the first (and last) car produced by the DeLorean Motor Company.

Greed and hubris didn’t do him in – he was actually a victim – first humbled and then destroyed by circumstances beyond his control – namely 1980s UK politics and a former neighbor named Jim Hoffman.

Time Magazine, 1982.

That story, and the story of the car company that failed in its wake, never really got cleared up for the American public. In this week’s episode, we’ll explain it all. From war-torn Belfast to Motor City, from Marty McFly to The Goldbergs, we’ll get into the details that the world never bothered with.

Listen on iTunes, on Stitcher, or TuneIn Radio, or just click the player below: