I was scrolling through the news this morning when a headline caught my eye. DeLorean is entering an eVTOL racing series called Airspeeder. It sounds ridiculous. A brand that essentially exists as a ghost of 1980s cinematic longing is now claiming to be the original flying car brand. They are even partnering with university engineering teams to design a racer for the 2027 season.

It is a classic move. When you lack a real product roadmap or a manufacturing base that can compete with the giants, you buy a legacy. You wrap your ambitions in stainless steel and gullwing doors because people remember how they felt when they saw them on screen. It is not about engineering excellence. It is about brand equity harvested from a movie.

Somewhat timely given Tesla’s recent marketing junket showing off their “flying” roadster.

The Ghost Brand Trap

This is what I call Legacy Laundering. It happens when a company with more name recognition than actual substance tries to leapfrog the hard work of fundamental innovation by attaching itself to a high-profile trend. They do not build the engine, they do not solve the battery density problem, and they certainly do not own the sky. They just sign a contract to put a logo on a spec chassis.

The problem with DeLorean is that its legend was built on a lie. The actual car was a mechanical disaster, riddled with electrical faults and build quality issues that made it more of a liability than a luxury. Its only real claim to fame wasn’t engineering; it was being the prop for a movie about time travel.

I remember all the hype at the time in the UK: factory in Belfast, Thatcher hailing it as a great job creator, and then John DeLorean caught in a drug bust – tit. It was built on lies. Had it not been for the movie, the car would have faded into obscurity.

They are not building a future; they are trying to squeeze every last drop of sentimentality out of a cinematic memory. It is a desperate attempt to trade on nostalgia because they cannot stand on their own merits. They are reversing into a legacy that was, in reality, a nightmare.

The Racing Circus

The Airspeeder series itself is part of this. It is a racing league for electric vertical take-off and landing vehicles. It is high tech, it is flashy, and it is incredibly unproven as a commercial or even a sustainable sporting endeavor. By bringing in names like DeLorean, the organizers are trying to manufacture instant relevance. It doesn’t even look like a frigging DeLorean – fucking behave! We all seen Doc flying off in the car at the end of the first movie so we know the car CAN fly! 😉

They want you to think this is the beginning of a new era of transport. In reality, it looks more like a high-speed marketing exercise. They are using student teams from UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech to do the heavy lifting on design. That is fine for education, but it is a strange way to build a serious industrial racing program. It feels like they are building a toy rather than a tool.

The Demand for Originality

Stop celebrating the resurrection of ghosts. If you want to build something that matters, build it from the ground up. Do not try to sell us a dream that was actually a mechanical nightmare. There is a reason we are not all driving around in DeLorean’s!

Build something new. Or do not bother.

P.S. Marge helped review the post. Gemini produced the “Back to the Future” image, and Facebooks Muse, created the DeLorean racing through the desert.