DeLorean DMC-12 hands on

With the release of the Back to the Future trilogy on Blu-ray slated for 27 October, we were given a chance to get up close and personal with one of the stars of the movie, the DeLorean DMC-12.

Without any time-travelling gear on board, it's clear that this DeLorean wasn't used by Doc in

The DeLorean was penned by famed Italian car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro. His other works stretch from the exotic (BMW M1, Maserati Bora and De Tomaso Mangusta) to the everyday (original Volkswagen Golf, Daewoo Leganza and Suzuki SX4).

Given its name, you'd expect the DeLorean DMC-12 to pack a 12-cylinder engine. In the rear engine bay, though, there's nothing that exotic, just a 2.8-litre V6 developed by Peugeot, Renault and Volvo.

Holding up the engine shield is

There's only seating for two in the DeLorean.

The car's distinctive gull-wing doors look fantastic, but are heavy buggers to pull shut. The DeLorean's distinctive sheen is thanks to a stainless steel outer shell.

John Z. DeLorean, after whom the company and car are named, was once a leading engineer and later head of GM's Pontiac and Chevrolet divisions in the '60s and '70s. Industry observers believed that he would one day become head of GM, but he quit suddenly in the mid-'70s and soon began dreaming of building fast, affordable, lightweight supercars.

The DMC-12 was manufactured at a purpose-built factory in Dunmurry in Northern Ireland. About 9000 DeLoreans were produced between 1981 and 1982.

As can be seen on the passenger side, only the lower section of the door window retracts.

In mid-1982, with his company close to collapse, DeLorean was caught arranging an elaborate cocaine deal with an undercover FBI agent. Arguing entrapment, DeLorean successfully defended himself in court and was declared not guilty two years later. DeLorean passed away in 2005, age 80.