The Bricklin SV-1 was NOT a kit car. Almost 3000 were produced in 1974 and 1975 at Bricklin's plant in Saint John, New Brunswick. (So, no, this isn't a particularly good '80s match-up...)
Both the DeLorean and Bricklin were marketed as safety cars, not sports cars. The SV-1 featured the goofy looking impact-absorbing front bumpers, and a bespoke monococque chassis specifically designed with a safety cage built-in, including protection around the fuel tank. They were very poorly built though, whcih was the main reason the company fell apart, besides Malcolm Bricklin's propensity for pissing away a lot of money on a very lavish lifestyle. The SV-1 actually met performance expectations though, contrary to your assertion, McLaren F1GTR. It was as fast as the '74 and '75 Corvette, which was its performance target.
The DeLorean on the other hand had fairly low performance expectations (0-60 in 8s), and was supposed to be a luxurious safety car, wrapped in an exotic body. The production car became 500lbs overweight, and compromises to the Lotus-designed chassis were made at John DeLorean's behest, most notably the engine being pushed back from a mid-mounted position to behind the axle in order to accomodate a golf bag behind the front seats. Still, despite being "slow" in a straight line (production cars ended up having 0-60 times around 10s) it handled quite well. Not as well as its Lotus Esprit counterpart, but easily on par with other GTs, such as the Ferrari 400i.
