Wait a minute, Doc. Are you telling me you built a time machine... out of a DeLorean?

That one sentence recast the DeLorean from infamy to timeless.

This is the second model car featured on this blog whose full-sized counterpart was designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro—the first being the Alfa 105/115, which served as the basis for the GT. There are a couple more to come. Once named Car Designer of the Century, it's easy to see why.

I've always had a bit of a love-hate relationship with the fact that the DeLorean DMC-12 is mostly remembered for its role in Back to the Future. There were so many innovations and interesting choices worth celebrating: the gull-wing doors, stainless steel body panels, unusual silhouette, and more. Yet the car itself was often overshadowed by its ties to its controversial—and nearly rock-star—creator, John DeLorean, and the drug trafficking charges he would eventually beat due to entrapment. Still, the trial and subsequent events were enough to end the already troubled development, manufacturing, and distribution troubles of DMC Motors.