Back to the Future fan gets his own DeLorean

The iconic sports car, which has cult status because of the classic science fiction film, Back to the Future, has been turning heads wherever he goes.

David, 41, who has seen the time travelling trilogy countless times, is such a big fan, his wedding was even themed around the 1985 movie.

This is heavy.

Doc and Marty can't believe it either

Over the lockdown period, David, who lives in Shotley Bridge, near Consett, but works at RAF Leeming, in North Yorkshire, felt he needed a new project.

He decided now was a good as time as any to buy the car from his favourite childhood movie.

In the film, starring his namesake, Michael J Fox, no relation, Marty McFly, travels back 30 years to 1955 in a DeLorean, which has been turned into a time machine by his friend, Dr Emmett Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd.

David found one for sale on eBay in New York and, after paying around £20,000, had it shipped across the Atlantic Ocean to Liverpool at the end of last year.

David Fox with his DMC DeLorean

David said: “It has been a lifelong dream to own one of these.

“For a lot of people, the first time they saw a DeLorean was in Back to the Future. It was the same for me.

“I remember my dad saying: ‘They are not a made-up car. You can actually buy them.’ “From that moment on, I had to have one.

“I have spent all of my life having different hobbies and when I turned 40 last year, I thought it was time.

“It was snap decision and I sold everything, such as models, musical instruments and my Mark One Golf GTI, which made up the bulk of it.

“It was a runner and the owner was still using it.

“The guy was good enough to drive it to the port for me.

“Two weeks later it arrived in Liverpool.

“Having a DeLorean is every bit as good as I thought it would be.

“To quote Doc, ‘This is the big one’.

David has wanted a DeLorean since he was a boy

David is married to Maxine and the couple have three daughters between them.

Two years ago, he arrived at their wedding in Castleside, near Consett, in a DeLorean and posed for pictures with props from the film, including a hoverboard, Marty McFly’s Junior’s cap, a Sports Almanac and Biff’s cane.

Their wedding date was also programmed into the time circuits.

David said: “My wife is also a big fan of Back to the Future, but it is fair to say I was more enthusiastic about getting the car.”

David and Maxine even had a Back to the Future themed wedding 

Their wedding day was programmed into the time circuits 

So they could get back after a little trip to 1885

DMC DeLoreans were made for the American market between 1981 and 1983 and had a reputation for poor build quality and an unsatisfactory driving experience.

The rear engine cars have ‘gull-wing’ doors with hinges on the roof and were dreamed up by Italian automobile designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, but only 9,000 were produced and the firm filed for bankruptcy.

It is estimated there are still around 6,500 still in operation and they have cult status solely down to the Back to the Future franchise.

David, who reckons there are around 250 in the country, said: “If it was not Back to the Future, they would have all been scrapped because they are not a brilliant car, but the film saved them.”

In the 1989 sequel, when Doc and Marty, travel forward in time to 2015, the DeLorean can fly, but, despite being an experienced aircraft engineer, David has not such plans to adapt his own car.

“I could try,” he said. “But I might be struggling to make it go 88mph, nevermind make it fly.”

"Where we're going, we'll still need roads." 

When it was first arrived in the UK, David’s car was black and gold, so each panel had to be stripped back to get the gleaming stainless steel finish.

It also required a few minor changes to make it roadworthy so it could pass an MOT.

The popularity of the film, which was directed by Robert Zemeckis, is such that the internet is now full of merchandise people can buy to turn their own vehicles into time machines.

It is relatively easy to find essential bits of kit such as LED time circuits, so people can plot their own past and future destinations on the space-time continuum, or even a flux capacitor, which as any fool knows, is what makes time travel possible.

David, who has already got an OUTATIME licence plate from the movie, said: “I am planning to keep it as it was intended and not have it as a replica, but I might have to get a flux capacitor fitted.

“Back to the Future is just one of the most perfect films.

“It is a brilliant story with brilliant characters, and because it crosses time, it has become timeless.”