DeLorean Motor Company

DeLorean's 1982 bankruptcy collapsed the stainless steel gull-wing sports car company after producing only 9,000 DMC-12s. John DeLorean's vision required subsidies from Northern Ireland that couldn't sustain losses. When DeLorean was arrested in an FBI drug sting (later acquitted), the company lost all credibility. The car achieved immortality in Back to the Future but as a business failed spectacularly. DeLorean demonstrated that charismatic founders can attract capital but not create viable businesses.