Back to the Future’s DeLorean to be made again after 33 years

Company hopes to build 300 new cars which will cost about $100,000

John DeLorean, pictured behind the wheel of his gull-winged sportscar in 1981

The Delorean car made famous in the Back to the Future film trilogy is to go back into production for the first time in 33 years.

Plans to revive the iconic vehicle follow a change in US law, which affects small-scale car manufacturing.

The change to the law that governs low-volume auto manufacturers will allow the Texas-based company - which has been selling refurbished versions of the sports car since 1995 - to build replica versions of the winged sports car, without having to comply with modern safety regulations, as long as production is below 300.

The two-seater cars were first produced by the Delorean Motor Company in Northern Ireland, where around 9,000 were made between 1981 and 1983 by American engineer and former General Motors executive John Z DeLorean.

Only an estimated 6,500 cars are believed to still exist.

The Delorean acheived iconic status after being transformed into a time machine by the Doc Brown character - played by Christopher Lloyd - in the Back to Future films,.

Stephen Wynne, owner of the manufacturing company, said: “It’s huge for us. It means we’re back as a car company again.

“There’s no reason to change the appearance of the car. As we go into the programme, we’ll decide what areas do need to be freshened up,” he told KPRC news website.

Mr Wynne has almost 3,000 original DeLorean parts left over from the original factory, and owns more than 99 per cent of the stock from the Ireland factory.

He hopes to build around 300 new cars, which will be the first to be built on American soil, at the rate of one per month to begin with, before eventually completing one car each week.

The company hopes to have the first new DeLorean ready in 2017, at a cost of around $100,000 (£70,000), depending on the type of engine he chooses.

Original DeLoreans can be bought for about £25,000-£35,000, if they are in good condition, while right-hand drive models are rarer and more expensive.