When it comes to corporate corruption, this was one of the most depressing scandals in automotive history. It discredited perhaps Britain’s greatest post-war car engineer, disgraced a former General Motors high-flyer, cost the British taxpayer a fortune, and involved cocaine smuggling, the FBI and the IRA.
When it all unravelled, it also cost 2600 much-needed jobs in Northern Ireland – one of the most deprived areas of the UK – in an area split by sectarian violence, desperate for something that provided some hope. It helped almost ruin one of Britain’s greatest sports car makers. And it created one of the most famous cars in movie history – never mind that it was a sales dud.
The DeLorean scandal had it all.
