DeLorean returns with electric 150mph Alpha 5

It’s also a bit of a looker, but that’s no surprise. Much like the DMC-12 of 1981-2, it has been designed by Italdesign. Unlike the original, it’s huge: 5m long and 2m wide.

This new Alpha 5 is the work of a revived DeLorean Motor Company headed up by former Tesla and Karma executive Joost de Vries. It’s a US-based company and this time around there’s no factory in Belfast.

Instead, the firm says the first cars will be made in Italy – beginning in 2024 – while there is a suggestion powertrain development has been entrusted to a British firm. Lotus was famously involved in the development of the DMC-12, but there is no confirmation it is involved in Alpha 5.

The last DMC-12 came off the production line in Northern Ireland 40 years ago after the sports car dream of motor industry hotshot John Zachary DeLorean collapsed amid assorted financial and drug controversies.

But for the high-profile failure and subsequent bankruptcy, the original company might have delivered on a range of DeLorean cars, according to the reborn company. It says there was a secret timeline of new models which the Alpha 5 honours. “The DMC-12 was never meant to be a static interpretation of the brand”, they say.

So, what will the Alpha 5 be like? The DMC website is big on flowery language – all pushing boundaries and embracing the unexpected rhetoric –­ and rather short on facts. But it has been reported that the car’s targets are a 300-mile range, 0-62mph in 3.4 seconds and a 150mph top speed.

That’s for the all-electric machine you see here. Intriguingly, DMC says it is also looking at V8 and hydrogen powered versions along with other body styles. We can expect at least some of the blanks to be filled in when the first Alpha 5 has its public debut at Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance in the US on 18^th August.

Meanwhile, the pictures tell a pretty good story of just how far advanced they are with the project, and what the car’s character will be like. We think it looks terrific.

Let’s give the last word to the new DMC team: “Legacy does not define our vision. Our attitude does.”

Bring it on! As they say in the Back to the Future movie, “If my calculations are correct, when this baby hits 88mph you're gonna see some serious s***.” We can only hope so.