A group of classic car restorers unearthed a genuine time machine when they opened the door to a barn in Wisconsin – a 1981 DeLorean with just 977 miles on the clock.
Michael McElhattan of DeLorean Midwest heard rumors of the untouched treasure from its original owner’s cousin who said he was traveling from New Mexico to take a look.
What he found was a pristine, but very dirty, example of the iconic car immortalized as the time-traveling centerpiece of the 1985 Michael J Fox movie, Back to the Future.
Just 9,000 of the gullwing coupe ever rolled off the production line before production ceased in 1983, and perfect examples can fetch up to $170,000 at auction, so McElhattan was desperate to see it for himself.
“It happened pretty quickly because once I found out the car was close, and it was a low mileage car, I was excited to go check it out,” McElhattan told WDJT.
The car fans immediately recognized the hidden gem under the years of dirt
With just 977 miles on the odometer, it has one of the lowest mileage of any discovered in recent years
Michael McElhattan of DeLorean Midwest was delighted to buy it from its 90-year-old owner
He was even more excited when he discovered the 90-year-old owner was willing to sell it, complete with its 2.85-liter V6 engine.
“He said he would go out in the shed and just look at it because he thought it was a really cool car,” McElhattan explained.
“The condition of the leather, the condition of the instrument cluster in the dash, and a lot of places where you see sun damage, that’s one of the big killers about this,” McElhattan said.
“This car has virtually no sun damage.”
The elderly owner told them it hadn’t moved for about five years, but the group thought it could be more than 20 because it had ‘started to sink into the ground’.
But it was not left completely unguarded, as a large number of rodents decided to call it home.
“We opened it up, and the first thing I saw was a mouse running across the center console,” McElhattan said.
But with just 977 miles on the odometer, it’s one of the lowest-mileage examples discovered in recent years, according to autoevolution.com.
“All told, it looks like this DeLorean just needs a thorough bath and detail to become a great survivor,” the site wrote.
The car was the time-traveling centerpiece of the 1985 movie Back to the Future
Starring Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd, Marty McFly (Fox) is accidentally transported back to 1955 where he must save his parent’s relationship
The highest-grossing movie of 1985 grossed $389 million at the box office and received four Academy Award nominations
The license plate of the Wisconsin DeLorean and one of the cars when it was new in 1981
The rear-mounted V6 engine was hidden under a fiberglass underbody
Marty McFly Contagion: Rodents and insects have received more attention than humans in recent years
Thousands of car fans welcomed the discovery on social media
The stainless steel finish is now virtually invisible under years of dust
Hit the Rodent: “This DeLorean is just a thorough bath and detail away from becoming a great survivor,” wrote autoevolution.com.
The car was the brainchild of Michigan engineer-turned-entrepreneur John DeLorean, who was the youngest division chief in General Motors history before leaving to start the DeLorean Motor Company in 1973.
In collaboration with the Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, he produced his first prototype in 1976, but it was 1981 before the first production model appeared from his factory in Northern Ireland.
At $25,000 for a basic model, sales were poor and novelties such as a gold-plated version failed to save the company, which filed for bankruptcy in February 1982.
DeLorean himself was indicted for cocaine trafficking, wire fraud and tax evasion, but was eventually acquitted of all charges.
His car was already an ’80s icon when it landed an unlikely starring role as a time machine in Back to the Future, the biggest-grossing movie of 1985.
Powered by a plutonium engine – rather than the real car’s tweaked Renault V6 – the time machine accidentally sent Marty McFly, played by Michael J Fox, back to 1955.
Finally seen the light of day after years hidden in a Wisconsin barn
On his way to his new home in Crystal Lake, Illinois
Sales were weak despite founder John DeLorean being one of the biggest celebrities of the 1980s
There, his own existence was jeopardized by his mother falling in love with him, rather than his father.
These days it’s the car people are falling in love with and more than 50,000 have now watched an online video tour of the gem found in the Wisconsin barn.
It still has all its original parts and McEhatten was quick to load it onto a trailer and ship it back to his depot in Crystal Lake, Illinois.
“To take a car from this condition to what I know we can do with it is just an adventure anyone wants to experience,” he said.