False Advertising! How Back to the Future romanticized the DMC DeLorean

In the original script for Back to the Future, the time machine was not a DeLorean, but a refrigerator. When the script was picked up by the studio, the filmmakers scoffed at the idea that the film’s central plot device would be an everyday household item. In its place, they settled for the DMC DeLorean. The DeLorean was deliberately selected for its general appearance and gull wing doors, in order to make it plausible that when Marty McFly traveled back to 1955, people would presume it to be an alien spacecraft. 

When the film released in 1985, it went on to be the top grossing film of that year. This of course brought immense popularity to DeLorean, so much that the producers actually received a fan letter from John DeLorean himself, thanking them for immortalizing his car. What the general public did not know, however, was that the movie romanticized the DeLorean, which came to be regarded as one of the worst cars of all time. The cast and crew reported that the cars broke down so often, they would cause delays in production. Wanting to avoid future problems, the producers seriously considered replacing the vehicle in future films. At that point, however, the DeLorean had become strongly associated with the franchise so they decided to keep it. 

https://auto.howstuffworks.com/10-worst-cars-of-the-20th-century5.htm

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/cars/classic/back-to-the-future-day-is-the-delorean-as-bad-as-we-think/