7 Facts About John DeLorean You Probably Didn't Know

      Here are seven facts you likely weren't aware of regarding John DeLorean, as featured in Netflix’s Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean.

      If you’re a fan of Back to the Future (featuring Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly with a flying DeLorean), you're certainly familiar with the DeLorean and the nostalgia it sparks.

      Regardless, continue reading.

      Background on DeLorean

      Credit: Shutterstock

      John DeLorean is well-known for creating the DMC DeLorean, the iconic 1980s sports car utilized by Marty McFly and Doc Brown as a time machine in Back to the Future.

      Netflix’s docuseries Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean reveals some lesser-known details about the founder of the DeLorean Motor Company. In just a decade, this entrepreneur went from an automotive giant soaring to prominence to leaving a courthouse, declaring bankruptcy and asking, “Would you buy a used car from me?”

      Beyond his notorious cocaine trafficking trial (from which he was acquitted) and his memorable car that continuously evokes ’80s memories, here are seven additional things you likely didn’t know about DeLorean, as presented in Myth & Mogul.

      He Had a Troubled Childhood

      John DeLorean seated on a DeLorean, featured in Netflix’s Myth & Mogul – Credit: Netflix

      DeLorean was born to Romanian immigrants who relocated to Detroit and began working in the rapidly growing auto industry.

      “My father was the youngest of around 13 kids in a farming family in Europe. He came to this country alone at around age 15 or 16 and navigated various jobs like cowboy and factory worker,” DeLorean explains in a voiceover from an interview included in the docuseries. “Given the circumstances, my father was meant to be an ordinary laborer throughout his life. He lived a frustrated existence, feeling he had something to contribute, but being ignored as just a little guy.”

      However, the future mogul's childhood was marred by domestic violence.

      “His parents struggled to get along,” says auto journalist J. Patrick Wright. “Things turned rough, leading his mother to take the kids to California for periods before returning. That was essentially his upbringing.”

      His Father's Alcoholism Was a Burden for the Family

      The Detroit home where he grew up, depicted in Netflix’s Myth & Mogul – Credit: C/O

      As reported by auto-enthusiast site DriveTribe.com, DeLorean’s father's limited English and alcohol issues hindered his professional advancement beyond factory work.

      Zachary DeLorean, John’s son, remembers similar stories from his father’s youth.

      “We’d occasionally discuss his family and upbringing. He recounted how, on payday weekends, his dad and his friends would drink, fight, and have brawls that spilled onto the streets. My dad mentioned that his father seemed to enjoy it,” he recounted. “I think he indicated that his father was an alcoholic and that there was physical abuse present in the household.”

      He Underwent Jaw Plastic Surgery

      John DeLorean before and after his plastic surgery, as shown in Myth & Mogul: John DeLorean on Netflix – Credit: C/O

      When comparing his appearance at General Motors in the late 1950s and 1960s to how he appeared in Hollywood while launching DMC in the 1970s, the contrast is notable.

      “He transformed dramatically,” author Gail Sheehy, who interviewed DeLorean for her 1974 book Passages, remarks in the docuseries' initial episode.

      “He essentially embraced the youth movement in a very literal sense,” investigative reporter Hillel Leven adds. “At this stage, he started to reinvent himself physically with plastic surgery, particularly on his jaw.”

      The DMC Emerged from a Midlife Crisis

      Screenshot – Credit: Netflix

      Sheehy notes in the doc that when DeLorean began DMC and designed his namesake car, he was experiencing a midlife crisis.

      By 1970, DeLorean, born in 1925, was 45 years old. He became fitness-conscious and began a relationship with his third wife, model Cristina Ferrare.

      As Ivan Fallon, author of John DeLorean: The Rise and Fall of a Dream Maker, describes, he also “went Hollywood.”

      “DeLorean immersed himself in the Hollywood scene, seeking opportunities and forming friendships there. It became a trendy lifestyle,” Ed Lapham, editor of Automotive News, mentions in the docuseries.

      He Faced Challenges with His Self-Worth

      Screenshot – Credit: Netflix

      Sheehy shares her experience interviewing DeLorean, during which she explored his childhood and relationship with his father, revealing that the outwardly successful entrepreneur carried deep-seated childhood trauma.

      “He [his father] died, leaving the family destitute, with John left without a sense of love