Back to the DeLorean

HUMBLE, Texas — 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 — Wynne's small automotive outfit plans to bring the vehicle back into limited production at a 40,000-square-foot factory in this Houston suburb.

The creation of renowned 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.

Unfortunately, DeLorean simply couldn't sell enough of the cars to sustain the business. The company folded in 1983, a year after DeLorean was busted in a drug trafficking sting and accused of conspiring to sell $24 million worth of cocaine to salvage the venture. He used an entrapment defense to win acquittal, but legal entanglements plagued him for years to come. He died in 2005 at age 80.

Despite DMC's flop, the car has persevered, gaining notoriety largely as the time machine Fox drove in the blockbuster 1985 movie, "Back to the Future," and its two sequels.

"There isn't a day somewhere in the world that 'Back to the Future' isn't playing as a rerun," said Wynne, president of the new, privately held DeLorean Motor Co.

Wynne formed the company in 1995, when the bulk of his business was working on original DeLoreans at a Houston garage. Still, he needed a name, and because there was nothing legally preventing him from using the original, he decided to give it a shot. He even called John DeLorean, who wished him luck.

A dozen years later, Wynne hopes to parlay the car's celebrity — along with the world's biggest stash of DeLorean parts and engines — into a niche production business that begins hand-making two DeLoreans a month sometime next year. They've just started taking orders.

Already, the Humble operation will take an existing DeLorean, strip it to the frame and rebuild it for a base price of $42,500. Wynne's staff can rebuild one every couple of months.

The company also handles routine maintenance, such as oil changes and tuneups, and ships between 20 and 50 parts orders a day to mechanics and individual owners worldwide.