Marty: “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Doc, uh… Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?”
Doc: “Yes, the way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style? Besides, the stainless steel construction makes the flux dispersal… look out!”
Today, 21st October 2015, is the point in the future that Marty McFly travelled to from 1985 in his time-travelling DeLorean, in the film Back to the Future Part II.
Back in 1985, the DeLorean DMC-12 certainly was a futuristic looking machine. Porsche as offering the 911 Carrera 3.2, which was closed evolved from the first 911 of 1963, the 944 which was a development of the mid-1970s 924, and the 928 that was also a Seventies design, albeit one that, in its own way, was as space-age in looks at the DeLorean.
The DeLorean was designed to competed with Porsche’s finest offerings but, despite its appearance, under the stainless steel skin, it was a disappointment. It was powered by a 2.85-litre Renault-derived V6 engine that produced and most were mated to an automatic transmission and took a yawn-making 10.5 seconds to reach 60mph. The rarer manual gearbox cars had a more respectable time of 8.8 seconds.
With iffy build quality, reliability issues, and problems with spare part supplies, a DeLorean has never been the easiest sports car to live with. And yet, as with most modern classics, values have been on the rise – helped by the approach of today’s iconic date.
I have to confess, I have yearned for a DeLorean from time to time but, having done some research, I came to the sensible conclusion that it’s a case of not meeting one’s hero. For me, the DeLorean needs to viewed from the comfort of my living room, as one of the stars of a great film. Maybe I’m biased, but a Porsche makes a much more usable modern classic, even if it’s not so good at time travel.
As to the future, well we may not have hover boards but, on the whole, I reckon we’re at a pretty good place!
Happy Back to the Future Day!
