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John DeLorean

John Zachary DeLorean (January 6, 1925 – March 19, 2005) was an American engineer and executive in the U.S. automobile industry, widely known for his work at General Motors and as founder of the DeLorean Motor Company.DeLorean designed a number of highly popular and iconic vehicles throughout his career, including the Pontiac GTO muscle car, the Pontiac Firebird, Pontiac Grand Prix, Chevrolet Vega, and the DeLorean DMC-12 sports car, which was later featured in the 1985 film Back to the Future. While still the youngest division head in General Motors history, DeLorean broke away to start his own company, DeLorean Motor Company (DMC), in 1973. However, production delays meant DMC's first car and DeLorean's independent creative opus—the DMC-12—did not reach the consumer market until 1981 (nearly a decade later), where a depressed buying market was compounded by unexpectedly lukewarm reviews from critics and the public. After a year, the DMC-12 had failed to recoup its $175 million in investment costs, unsold cars were accumulating and the company faced dire financial straits.On October 26, 1982, DeLorean was arrested on charges of drug trafficking following a videotaped sting operation in which he was recorded by undercover Federal agents obliquely agreeing to bankroll a $1.8 million, 100 kg cocaine shipment in exchange for a $24 million cut of the eventual profits; a confidential informant for the prosecution stated in the indictment that DeLorean had confided he needed the money to keep DMC financially solvent. DeLorean was found not guilty at trial by a Federal judge after successfully arguing police entrapment, but by then DMC had already collapsed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy and DeLorean's reputation was irrevocably tarnished. When asked after his acquittal if he planned to resume his career in the auto industry, DeLorean bitterly quipped "Would you buy a used car from me?".