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A psychological profile of John DeLorean following his rise to fame and pursuit of his dream to build the car of the future in Northern Ireland financed by the British government.

John Z DeLorean鈥檚 extraordinary and doomed attempt to build the sports car of the future in 1980s Northern Ireland is the stuff of legend. A buccaneering American entrepreneur, DeLorean had film star looks, a famous fashion model as a wife and an enormous ego that drove him to rival the giants of the US car industry.

Millions of pounds of British taxpayers' money later, an unprecedented social experiment where Catholics and Protestants worked side by side in relative harmony in West Belfast ended in a trail of corporate waste, greed and fraud and incredibly, in an FBI cocaine-trafficking sting.

Using rare and unseen footage filmed by Oscar-winning directors DA Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, and through colourful news archive documenting his life and career, this is the first in-depth psychological profile of DeLorean, a man who rose from the ghettos of Detroit to build his American dream, in war-torn Belfast. A dream that quickly went up in smoke.

For the first time in 40 years, ex-wife and fashion model, Cristina Ferrare, delivers a moving account of her time with the auto maker. John's son Zachary bares all in a rare and emotional insight about his father. Journalists Gail Sheehy, Ivan Fallon and Hillel Levin deliver fresh revelations as they investigate DeLorean鈥檚 colourful past and dramatic fall from grace.

58 minutes

Last on

Thu 29 Apr 2021 23:30

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Credits

Role Contributor
Director Mike Connolly
Executive Producer Jonathan Smith
Executive Producer Jon-Barrie Waddell

Broadcasts

  • Mon 26 Apr 2021 21:00
  • Thu 29 Apr 2021 23:30