John DeLorean

John Zachary DeLorean was an American engineer, inventor and executive in the United States automobile industry, best known as the founder of the DeLorean Motor Company. Before starting his own company in 1973, he built his reputation at General Motors, where he became the youngest division chief in the company's history and managed the development of the Pontiac GTO, Pontiac Firebird, Pontiac Grand Prix and Chevrolet Cosworth Vega. His own company produced the stainless steel bodied DMC DeLorean sports car, a vehicle that became widely recognized after its appearance in the 1985 film Back to the Future. DeLorean's later years were marked by a highly publicized cocaine trafficking case that ended in acquittal, and by the collapse of his car company. He was born in Detroit in 1925 and died in New Jersey in 2005.