(CNN) -- John DeLorean, developer of a futuristic sportscar that captured the country's attention in the 1980s, has died. He was 80.

DeLorean died Saturday at the Overlook Hospital in Summit, New Jersey, from complications from a stroke, said Paul Connell, owner of Desmond and Sons funeral home in Michigan.

DeLorean's stainless-steel, gull-winged car, which bore his name, became more engrained in American culture after director Robert Zemeckis used a DeLorean as a time machine in the 1985 film "Back to the Future" and its two sequels





Bummer... To bad that car was ahead of its time...

 

he was my biggest inspiration...I'll be in my room crying if anyone needs me...

 

WHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY YYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!! NOOO DAMMIT NoOOO, wheres Jim (Marty Mcfly) we need a good cry

 

well, it sucks he died, but whomever owns one of his cars is going to be pretty wealthy.

 

that bites.

"when this baby hits 88 miles per hour .. you're going to see some serious shit!"

 

yeah..was thinking the same thing..

 

Haha was about to say that I just saw one of the road a few weeks ago pretty cool

 

The story of John Z. DeLorean is part American fable and part Shakespearean tragedy. The eldest son of a Detroit automobile foundry worker, DeLorean managed to land a music scholarship and earned master’s degrees in industrial engineering and business administration. General Motors hired DeLorean when he was 24, and he began his rise in the automobile industry. In 1952, at age 27, John DeLorean completed his technical education at Chrysler Institute, receiving a Master of Science in automotive engineering. At this point in his life, John is in almost the exact same situation as many of the upcoming graduates from the Graduate School of Business.
In the 1960’s he helped usher in a change from larger to smaller cars, resulting in huge sales increases in in GM's Pontiac division. When he was 41, he became the youngest division manager in the company’s history, and many suspected he would eventually be tapped as the president of General Motors. But for as many ways that DeLorean fit the corporate mold, there were just as many instances where he defied it. He was enamored with the youth culture, which was reflected in his shaggy hair cut and trendy clothes. When he was 44, he divorced his wife of 15 years and married a 19-year-old daughter of a football star. After that marriage fizzled, DeLorean dated such women as Candice Bergen and Nancy Sinatra. Then in 1973 he walked away from his $650,000 job at General Motors and, according to news reports, said he was going to show them how to build cars. DeLorean managed to pool together about $175 million in financing and in 1974 formed the DeLorean Motor Co. After looking at such diverse sites as Detroit and Puerto Rico, DeLorean decided to build his car factory in Northern Ireland.

Interest in DeLorean’s car, called the DMC-12, was high but by the early 80’s DeLorean found himself in serious financial trouble. DeLorean frequently said that unidentified investors soon would inject the needed capital, but the money never materialized. Then in 1982, DeLorean was busted in a government sting operation. The automaker was videotaped as he attempted to broker a $24 million cocaine deal to rescue his beleaguered company. Two years later, a federal jury decided that DeLorean was a victim of entrapment and acquitted him of all charges. But the trap pretty much ruined his credibility.

On the Tonight Show Johnny Carson said: "For those of you that bought a DeLorean your rebate is in the trunk." The car was one of the most talk about cars in Hollywood and was part of a movie called "Back to the Future" starring Micheal J Fox in which the car is made into a DeLorean time machine. It was rumored once that DeLorean tried to get Canada to back him in making his car again, but it never materialized. That was the last we would hear or see of the great automaker and his car.

Brief history..

 

I own a delorean ...


on GT4 .

 

Didnt he create the GTO and the Trans Am.... Damn man... He was my Idol.. built cars, sold coke....