2849
CM³
When DMC needed an engine for its gull-winged sports car, it chose the PRV V6 in its 2,849 cc first-generation form: K-Jetronic mechanical injection, 12 valves, 130 bhp — engine code ZMJ-159 — mounted at the rear.
The full Z-code and B-code family tree is on our Engines page.
In Back to the Future (1985) and its two sequels, Doc Brown's time machine is a DeLorean DMC-12 — so the engine that carries Marty McFly to 88 mph is the Douvrin V6. A detail for enthusiasts: in the first film, the menacing engine roar was dubbed with a Porsche 928 V8. Under the stainless steel, though, it really is the PRV.
More screen appearances of the PRV — Les Visiteurs, Dobermann, the state limousines — are gathered in Pop culture.
Judged too slow, the DMC-12 was to get muscle: John DeLorean personally entrusted the PRV to Legend Industries (Long Island, NY), which rebuilt it around two turbos — bespoke pistons, rods, gaskets and head bolts — targeting around 200 bhp.
DMC's 1982 bankruptcy killed the project: fewer than ten cars seem to have received the system. The full story is in our Tuners section.
From executive saloons to mid-engined sports cars — every road car that fitted the PRV V6.