Tag: lawsuits

Humble-based [fake] DeLorean faces $4.6 million judgment over electric car Alpha5

An Italian automobile design company has asked a federal judge in Houston to enforce a $4.6 million judgment against Humble-based [fake] DeLorean Motor Company, over claims that DeLorean failed to pay for work done to reimagine the famed car as an electric vehicle called Alpha5. The firm, Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A., last year received the judgment in its favor from an international arbitration court and on Jan. 2 filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas, asking Judge Keith P. Ellison to confirm the decision and have it enforced. The lawsuit seeks payment from the [fake] DeLorean Motor Company, the Humble-based business that since the ’90s has ‘owned’ DeLorean’s name and branding, and has operated mostly as a repair shop for the classic cars. The lawsuit doesn’t name DeLorean Reimagined LLC, the spin-off company based in San Antonio that advertised itself as the business behind the new Alpha5 model. Joost de Vries, the one-time CEO of DeLorean Reimagined, and Stephen Wynne, the founder of [fake] DeLorean Motor Company, were both involved in the litigation in Europe, according to public records and the arbitrator’s report. Representatives for Italdesign and [fake] DeLorean didn’t respond to a request for comment on Monday. [fake] DeLorean hadn’t filed a response to the claim as of Monday. An initial conference has been scheduled for April. Alpha5, [fake] DeLorean’s electric vehicle project – Italdesign was hired in 2022 to design an electric version of the DeLorean. In news releases announcing the partnership, the companies said the new four-seat sports car, the Alpha5, would feature the brand’s iconic gull-wing doors and be able to reach speeds of 155 mph. The Alpha5 was supposed to mark a rebirth for the company. Executives made appearances around San Antonio, hinted at the creation of a Texas-based factory and teased the car in a 15-second Super Bowl commercial. Italdesign’s founder, Giorgetto Giugiaro, designed the original iconic DeLorean DMC-12 in the 1970s. The Alpha5’s sleeker design was said to be based on a concept for a model the [real] DeLorean Motor Company had before going bankrupt in 1982. Despite initial claims that the car would be in production by 2023, a final model and official pricing have not been announced. Filings included in the complaint show that the dispute over payments began months after the public announcement of the new design. The company said it was hired to create scale models, show cars and styling models, to conduct pre-concept development and provide event support, according to the lawsuit. In July 2022, the design company billed [fake] DeLorean €4.3 million for the concept models that were revealed at the California car show. [fake] DeLorean made an initial payment of $500,000, according to the arbitrator’s report, which was included in court records. In September, de Vries emailed the firm promising full payment by October. The promises continued for months after that deadline, according to the report. In December 2022, de Vries wrote that he was hoping to receive good news regarding an investment. In February 2023, he reported that the company received “a couple of hundred thousand.” “Not enough to make a meaningful payment against our debt,” he wrote. A week later, he promised Italdesign that “big checks” were coming. They apparently never did. Italdesign took the motor company to court in early 2023. During the years-long process, [fake] DeLorean argued that it had never admitted to the debt “in full” and claimed it was unable to find documents related to its debts, according to the report. The car company’s arguments failed. The arbitrator in April 2025 decided in Italdesign’s favor, writing that the firm is the “undoubted victor” and “certain winner” under the law. [fake] DeLorean was ordered to pay its debts, along with interest. It’s unclear if [fake] DeLorean has taken any steps to pay the company since last year’s decision. The dispute over payments came amid other public struggles for [fake] DeLorean. In the years since the Alpha5’s announcement, the company scaled back its promises on how many cars it would initially build and was criticized for not updating customers who had made deposits for the Alpha5. In a sign of the times, early buyers were given NFTs, or nonfungible tokens, as their proof of purchase, rather than a receipt. De Vries stepped down as CEO in October 2023. In April 2024, the company closed its offices at Port San Antonio – where it had once received incentives to move amid promises of creating hundreds of jobs. The company’s new lead said it now planned to be a niche automobile maker, rather than a competitor to Tesla and other larger companies. Since then, there have been no new public updates on the development of the Alpha5. from January 12, 2026 – HOUSTONCHRONICLE.COM, by John Wayne Ferguson, Staff Writer

FakeDMC files yet another lawsuit

  FakeDMC out of Texas REALLY wants people to think they created the DeLorean. They did not. And while they did buy the remaining inventory – and THEY say they basically bought anything and everything to do with John DeLorean’s company, the Fake DeLorean Motor Company in Texas rears it’s ugly head any time they think they can get more money. The most recent example, is the lawsuit they filed against Universal Studios. Get this… The REAL DMC (DeLorean Motor Company) legally went out of business by 1983. Back to the Future came out in 1985, using our DeLorean car(s) as one of the stars of the movie(s). In 1997 FakeDMC bought the remaining DeLorean parts, and started a new company – using the original name, most likely to confuse people and take advantage of the name recognition. And in 2022, they are suing Universal for using a car that FakeDMC did not invent, build, or sell – but they think they deserve royalties from work they had nothing to do with – and thus far, have only bullied people and businesses into not using the name and logo of the long-close (but not forgotten) company. As a DeLorean owner, and someone who’s been part of the DeLorean community for a few years now, AND as someone who has heard countless stories of bad customer service of FakeDMC from DeLorean owners, I can easily attest to the fact that FakeDMC does NOT care about the DeLorean car, the DeLorean owners, or even the DeLorean name – they only care about how much money they can get from people. Their arrogance and greed is legendary amongst DeLorean owners across the Country. Other than this latest lawsuit, FakeDMC has sued many others, including DeLorean owners and small mechanics who serve the approximately 4,500 DeLoreans that still exist. They have sent numerous threatening “cease and desist” letters, black-listed owners and mechanics, and generally do shoddy work. Most DeLorean owners are afraid to speak up, for fear that they too will be black-listed from buying the few parts that you cannot find on crossover parts lists. And so, their tactics often work… but some day, they may not. There have been rumors for many years that Fake DMC was getting paid by Universal, but no one could ever confirm it… until now. I have not yet talked to a DeLorean owner that thinks FakeDMC should be paid by Universal for use of the DeLorean in Back to the Future. The movie came before Fake DMC and whatever agreement John DeLorean had with Universal died with him. We hope that NBCUniversal continues to ignore Fake DMC and stands up to the bullying tactics.