The production of the gull-winged DeLorean DMC-12 began in Northern Ireland in 1981. Its creator John DeLorean was arrested in October 1982 when he was attempting to sell cocaine to save his struggling company. Acquitted of all charges in 1984, he was not able to save the DeLorean Motor Company - it had been closed down in 1983. The DMC-12 gained renewed fame afterward as the time machine in the Back to the Future trilogy.