Hagerty 10-year prediction for DeLorean

[adam_knox]

What if there had never been a BTTF. What would our cars be worth then, or would we even be bothered to own one?

I always figured without BTTF DeLoreans would have the same familiarity/popularity and pricing as a Bricklin.

I agree, that DMC's will go up in value, just as long as there isn't a BTTF nostalgia overkill fatigue.

What I'm curious about is how long the average ownership of a DMC is compared to other classic cars. Do people tend to keep 'em for two years and then move on to something else, or are they being kept for 15 years and only being sold when downsizing? I'm assuming high turnover is better for the marquee overall, as new owners tend to spend money upgrading parts, thus keeping vendors busy/innovating rather than an owner who restored it just once, 15 years ago and only replaces stuff as needed.

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[powerline84]

A lot of people tend to hate on back to the future but I can say without the movie I probably wouldn't own the car. I remember being a kid and seing that thing come out of the back of the trailer and I was hooked. That being said the back to the future references can get annoying but I try to embrace it. I will be a long-term owner but after restoring one, these cars can get on your nerves real fast and also be pretty expensive. I definatly think there is the owner that probably buys the car gets overwhelmed and dumps it after 2 years and there are the obsessed nerds like myself who have books toys and the real deal lol

[DaraSue]

A lot of people tend to hate on back to the future but I can say without the movie I probably wouldn't own the car. I remember being a kid and seing that thing come out of the back of the trailer and I was hooked. That being said the back to the future references can get annoying but I try to embrace it. I will be a long-term owner but after restoring one, these cars can get on your nerves real fast and also be pretty expensive. I definatly think there is the owner that probably buys the car gets overwhelmed and dumps it after 2 years and there are the obsessed nerds like myself who have books toys and the real deal lol

Ditto... The first time I saw BTTF (in the theater in 1985) I knew I had to have one. I was 8 so I also assumed I'd be able to build it into a time machine, LOL.

Ownership has had its moments of frustration (usually when I was finishing a road trip on a flatbed, which was about 50% of the time for the first 5 months I had it) but it was totally worth it. Now that it's actually running reliably I feel like they're gonna have to pry my cold, dead hands off the steering wheel.

[Michael]

My first visionof the DDelorean was in 1981 of a Craig Stereo ad. Been hooked ever since.

[artisticent]

As the time goes on and having had the cars I've had over the years being gmc syclones, Porsche 911's, various specialty cars the closer you can keep them to original the better off you are in resale. It's nice to have upgrades but the more honest a car is the better. I look at having a time machine D as a car id have in my showroom garage with KITT the A team van and dukes of hazard.

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[DMCVegas]

What if there had never been a BTTF. What would our cars be worth then, or would we even be bothered to own one?

That is a damn good question, and one that is properly phrased.

I do believe that a significant amount of credit is due to BTTF for keeping the DeLorean in the public eye. But I really do not believe that most people who have purchased DeLoreans that were first made aware of the car because of the movie, ever made their purchases because they wanted to have that same car from the movie. The minority of that group that did want the movie car are probably people that have time machine conversions.

As a kid, I remember seeing the movie, and I loved it. But the time machine was just a movie car like the Batmobile, KITT, or other vehicles; it wasn't real. The car was just a fantasy, a movie prop. So I never had that infatuation with the movie car. It wasn't until years later when I saw a stock DeLorean slowly drive past in the wild that I got bitten by the bug and had to have one. THEN I discovered that it was the same car from BTTF. I just didn't recognize it because of all the props they installed on the car.

But once I saw the unmodified car, I knew I had to have one. Then I researched and studied the car. And I think that for many people that did catch that infatuation with the movie and car, and who then wanted to learn more about it, they ended up learning about the stock car and then did the same with studying it. There are different paths we took to learn about the car, and yes, BTTF was a big one that probably accelerated the appeal by keeping the car visible.

Would prices and demand be the same today had BTTF not have been made? Yes and no. While BTTF certainly spread awareness of the marque, it also helped many of us snatch up all of those project cars that first generation investors started liquidating 20 year ago. That spike in demand certainly helped sell those cars quicker to eliminate the supply faster.

At the same time, we knew this new demand was coming regardless. The second generation investors are now upon us. Sure, since the first luxury horseless carriage, people have yearned for the unobtainable automobiles of their youth. But, since the Baby Boomer nostalgia started coveting and buying up 50's cars, it's been a systematic process ever since with investors then getting involved to seriously cash in on the mass produced vehicles as the nostalgia demand for them increases. Once the 50's were all bought out, we then moved on to the 60's. And boy, have those prices skyrocketed! Yeah, there was some 70's malaise. So quite a few cars there were ignored which helped further fuel demand for the muscle cars. But even as demand peters out, not necessary because of enthusiasm, but because the enthusiasts are now priced out of the marques, the investors have to move on. So they start looking at other vehicles to flip. While there are certainly some rare gems from the 80's that were not quite household names, there were still some good cars with practical potential such as the F-Body & Fox Body vehicles that are now coming around.

And just as Generation X now has more people with money to spend on those cars, the interest and subsequently the demand for them goes up. But there's the thing: investors are always looking for the next big thing to flip. If you've paid attention, you'll see that Porsche in the past few years has been hit really hard with investors. The price of those vehicles has just skyrocketed. And it happened because the then lack of demand kept prices low, which made entry into the marque a very affordable buy-in. Once people realized that, prices shot up, which spurred demand, and now results in the huge increase in value for those hand-built cars.

Once Porsche is done, where do they go next? That Hagerty list is the perfect example of what do we buy next to flip? I believe that even without BTTF, the DeLorean would have ended up on that list anyway. It's not nearly as low-production as the Bricklin, not to mention that JZD also had connections to Pontiac & GM which is why he was already known. But even if prices were lower because interest was lower thanks to BTTF never having existed, we probably would have seen just as high of a valuation percentage increase. Mass produced 80's car with unique features, cheap price, and a HUGE parts supply? Oh yeah, buy those things up as the next investment cars. All this was a long time in the making, and would have happened regardless of BTTF, or any other movie tie-ins.

[artisticent]

What if there had never been a BTTF. What would our cars be worth then, or would we even be bothered to own one?

Great question. It could be broken down in to two parts. What if there was a bttf movie but the movie car didn't have the accessories, would we want one? Or is it the lure of the accessories used in the movie that makes us want the car at all. For myself I wanted the car because of its connection to the movie. I just prefer to drive one that is all original

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[BladeBronson]

If I were to go back in time and prevent the movie from ever being made... if I became aware of the DeLorean at all, I'd probably think it was cool, but wouldn't consider owning one. For instance, I think original Mustangs are cool, and rat rod Model As are cool, but I don't feel any desire to own them. I was at a very impressionable age when BTTF came out and everything in that movie was cool. Guitars were cool (I play guitar), skateboarding was cool (I skateboard), and that frickin car was cool (I own that frickin car).

Like artisticent, the car is cool enough by itself without all the props that I prefer it over driving a time machine. Similarly, I don't own the exact guitar and skateboard that Marty did.

[Lwanmtr]

What if there had never been a BTTF. What would our cars be worth then, or would we even be bothered to own one?

I saw a little segment on 20/20 before the car was actually released and knew I wanted one...the doors were the thing that hooked me..and even before BTTF was released I saw one sitting for sale (after the all the legal crap)..if I had $5000 I woulda gotten it...Some people I'd tell that I wanted a Delorean would say 'a what?'...at least after the movie came out, I was able to say 'that...' lol

[Timeless]

My bet is they will do better than that.

50-65K is now reality just 5 years in. (2017-2022)