We all know parents who sacrificed their sports car the moment kids entered their life, but John Dore wasn’t ready to give up on owning one of the coolest cars ever made: a DeLorean DMC-12. Instead he completely reconfigured the rear of his DeLorean to include a backseat so the kids could enjoy it, too. If that’s not peak Dad skills, I don’t know what is.

John’s car in his DeLorean-themed garage space in New Jersey. Photo : John Dore


The DeLorean may have become famous because of Back to the Future, but Dore’s love for these wild fiberglass and stainless steel cars predated that. The DMC-12 was assembled in Northern Ireland, and Dore is Irish. Not only did DeLorean fandom feel like rooting for the home team, but its sleek retro-future unpainted steel body was unlike anything else on the road.

John couldn’t just get rid of his DeLorean simply because he wanted to start a family of his own. The DMC-12 was too cool, and it meant too much to him. Instead, he took inspiration from a DeLorean sedan concept called the DMC-24 and started researching ways to add a backseat.




Originally, DeLorean wanted to expand its product line. This was before poor sales of the too-unique and too-pricey DMC-12, a widely publicized drug trafficking trial involving company founder John Z. DeLorean, and millions of dollars in debt brought the DeLorean Motor Company to an end. But before all that, the company went so far as to dangle plans in front of investors for badge-engineered Triumphs, buses and off-roaders, all in hopes of raising more capital to keep making cars. The most realistic concept they came up with was one of their earliest ideas: a futuristic sedan called the DMC-24.



The DeLorean 2+2 concept sketch that Dore used as the basis for his car. Image : Italdesign

Plans for the DMC-24 eventually included a sleek Giugaro-designed gullwing sedan with a full-sized backseat, a turbocharged engine and at one point in the design phase, crazy rear-facing rear seats.


Cutting into the fiberglass body of a wrecked DeLorean to see if a backseat would fit. Photo : John Dore

However, Giugaro did an earlier, more conventional sketch of a 2+2 coupe version of the DMC-24 in 1975. The 2+2 had a small but functional backseat for two small humans, common on many other sports cars of the era. In the sketch, the engine was moved further back to make room for the backseat. Sadly, none of the DMC-24s ever entered production, so Dore simply made one of his own based on those 2+2 plans.


“I was always interested in seeing if an existing car could be converted as closely as possible to the 2+2 sketch from the ‘70s,” Dore told Jalopnik via email. “I just wish they had built the car as a 2+2 originally, like the way the Porsche 924 / 944 / 911 / 928 and other cars have small seats for kids.”

Dore, who was living in Ireland at the time he started this project, had access to two things that made all of this feasible. First off, he had a wrecked DeLorean shell that he could hack into without feeling too nervous. Second, he had access to another cool car that also used the same Peugeot-Renault-Volvo V6 as the DMC-12: a 1987 Renault Alpine GTA. Importantly, the Alpine’s rear setup is much more compact than the DeLoreans and its PRV V6 sits further back in the car, meaning it would give more room for John’s second row of seats.




Getting a new engine and rear end components from the Renault Alpine GTA. Photo : John Dore

Those of you worrying about dismantling another highly enviable, rare 80s sports car, never fear: the Renault Alpine GTA was also a previously crashed car before Dore got its rear running gear.


Test fitting the backseat using Alpine GTA seats. Photo : John Dore

Photo : John Dore


So, as soon as Dore and his friend PJ Kennedy found that the rear seats could fit inside a modified DMC-12 shell, in went the engine, transmission, rear subframe and rear suspension from Kennedy’s donor Alpine GTA.



Seeing how the Renault Alpine GTA rear components fit inside the DMC-12 body using the cut-up test shell. Photo : John Dore


Even the test seats fit! Photo : John Dore

A fun easter egg in the front of the chassis. Photo : John Dore


A custom chassis had to be built for underneath the car by Dore’s friend Joe Cahill to tie the new Renault parts into the rest of the car. Dore got “DMC24 Prototype” laser cut into part of the chassis as a nod to the car’s inspiration. It’s only visible under the front of the car, kind of like his own easter egg for the build.



Lastly, John got the chassis, rear subframe and rear suspension sandblasted and powdercoated to finish things off.


Dropping the PRV V6 into the new chassis. Photo : John Dore

Here’s when this project started to look like a DeLorean again. Photo : John Dore


Constructing a rear seating area out of fresh fiberglass. Photo : John Dore

Extra head space for the rear. Photo : John Dore


More than just making the engine sit more towards the rear, the Renault’s rear double-wishbone suspension was more compact than the DMC-12's long rear trailing arms, which also freed up more room in the middle of the car. This is what really allowed Dore to cut and rebuild the middle of the car’s fiberglass body, getting him the room he needed for those two extra seats.

Everything behind the driver’s seat is custom in this car, from the fiberglass to the rear seats and upholstery. Initially, cloth seats went in to prove the concept, but tan leather upholstery was later chosen to match the original DMC-12 prototype’s interior. A spare DMC badge was added in the middle of the backseat to finish it off. The back seat really looks like it came that way from the factory.




The surprising thing is that the door didn’t have to be modified at all. Turns out, it’s huge enough already to get kids in and out of the backseat without much drama.



It was a slight tight squeeze back there for all 5' 4" of me, but most of the squeeze was headroom and legroom. My head definitely hit the ceiling, but the back row is still pretty comfortable for kids. Mission definitely accomplished.


Finishing out the interior in matching leather. Photo : John Dore

Testing out the new matching back seats. Photo : John Dore


Best of all, it still rides much like a regular DeLorean even with the engine further back. It’s a big comfortable GT car that you want to be seen in, right down to the extra-soft tan leather seats. Even the the biggest haters of the DeLorean’s French/Swedish V6 engine have to appreciate anyone still keeping a DeLorean on the road. It’s one of the most unique cars of all time, and it’s even more special when you can take the whole family along.

The car took Dore ten years to get to its current state, though John was quick to point out that it was an on-off kind of thing. He was interruprted slightly by moving from Ireland to the United States mid-build, for instance, and the project had to move with him. Dore’s to-do list still includes finishing out the fiberglass work around the engine bay, fixing some trim pieces around the shifter and maybe installing some additional sound deadening around the custom cabin.




Even though the kids are getting older and may also find the backseat’s ceiling with their heads soon, the idea of owning the world’s only working DMC-24 is certainly worth the extra work that’s left.

A photo of the car after it was just assembled in Ireland. Note the plate. Photo : John Dore


Bare chassis, waiting for Dore’s completed DMC-12 body to go on top. Photo : John Dore

Front suspension and brake detail. Photo : John Dore


Rear suspension detail. Photo : John Dore

Shifter knob. Photo : John Dore


Wiring work in progress after the body is over the chassis. Photo : John Dore

The first seats that went in the car, installed. Photo : John Dore


Everyone wants a look. Photo : John Dore

Loading the car on the trailer to move to America. For the body of the car—which came from Massachusetts—this was somewhat of a homecoming! Photo : John Dore


In transit to America. Photo : John Dore

DMC-24 delivery, New Jersey. Photo : John Dore


Wiring work recommenced in New Jersey. Photo : John Dore

Working on wiring at Tom’s garage. Photo : John Dore


The tan seats were added after the car came to America. Photo : John Dore

Photo : John Dore


We’re featuring the coolest project cars from across the internet on Build of the Week—some of which now even make it on video! What insane build have you been wrenching on lately? Seen any good build threads we should know about? Drop me a line at stef dot schrader at jalopnik dot com with “Build of the Week” somewhere in the subject line if you’d like to be featured here.