A 1981. Here’s the pics.
As a HUGE Back to the Future fan… I had to have been the most geeked out guy on earth yesterday. A friend from high school whom I hadn’t seen in 15 years, pulled up in my driveway last night in this thing. Apparently, he’s a bigger movie buff than I, which I didn’t think was possible… but he’s got me beat by about 1.21 jiggawatts. You win Jamie!
Wheee!
But did you get it up to 88 mph?
Of course! But we forgot the Plutonium.
Ok, I have to ask. Where did you get the picture of two moons?
Ha! I actually might think about it. I mean, as a car in and of itself, it’s no where near the best sports car out there, but it has a now irreversible cool factor, and I’m still in love with its design and stainless exterior. The quote from the article couldn’t have been more true:
Well… it was August 27th… y’know, when Mars will be the closest it has been to the earth, like ever. An I just snapped off a shot.
ok… i’m a photoshop user.
What’s weird though, is we did find a copy of “Gray’s Sports Almanac 1950–2000” in the rear compartment. Unfortunately, it’s worthless as shit now.
I miss my Delorean. 
But it was not a reliable vehicle, and while it looked cool while I was driving it, it looked dorky on the back of a flatbed towtruck where it ended up whenever it was driven over 50 miles.
As a fellow BTTF geek (I’ve seen the movie at least 50 times, maybe more like 100?), I am SO FREAKING JEALOUS!!
My brother and I used to have a contest running to see who would own a Delorean first. I guess it’s still running, but neither of us have nearly enough disposable income to even consider it these days. 
My parents told me they’d buy me one when I graduated from college, but of course, they bought me a model version to put on my shelf, not one to drive. Sigh. Someday, I’m going to ride in one, at least…
Oh yeah, and our license plates were going to be:
Me: ERTHANGL
Brother: SLACKER
Good times, good memories.
Plus, do you really want a vehicle that looks like someone’s kitchen sink? 
But an interesting car, and the gull wing doors (which actually made sense and were done much better than on the Bricklin SV-1) added to the cool factor alone. The build quality of the exterior was also very high, as they couldn’t just hide flaws with paint and a little hammering; the downside was that there is essentially no body panel repair; you just replace the whole damn panel if you dent or scratch it significantly. Sadly, John DeLorean’s original plans for production got sidetracked again and again, resulting in a disappointing powertrain, poor reliability, and very limited production. It was an interesting go, though. The plant was located on the boundary between Catholic and Protestant areas, so they had doors on both sides for workers to enter. I still dream of an Irish sports car…
Stranger
Okay, come clean. In what city is it located, and can I rub my weiner on it?
Whoa! That’s heavy, Doc!
A couple years ago I was cruising the main street of Spokane (such as it is) when I happened to spot a DeLorean parked in a Walgreen’s parking lot. Being the BTTF uber-geek that I am, I immediately uttered a “Great Scott!” and swung my car into the lot to gawk.
The guy came out and I approached him. I freely admit to my fellow Dopers that I begged him – BEGGED him – to let me touch it. He laughed and said go ahead. I did.
It was wonderful.
Then I offered him $5 cash – all I had on me – to let me sit in it. He seemed doubtful, but accepted my money and bade me enter.
Oh. My. God. It was like entering a holy shrine. I nearly cried. I didn’t want to get out, but he said he needed to be getting home, because he was out picking up medicine for his baby girl.
So I killed him and stole the car.
Well, okay, I didn’t, but I really, REALLY thought about it for a few seconds there.
He drove away and I watched the taillights disappear, and it was as if my soul rode with him. I have never seen one since.
I shoulda killed him and taken it. Let this be a lesson: follow your first instincts!
Well, QtM, the guys bringing back the DeLorean have said that they’re fixing the known bugs with the cars, so you could have one and drive it more than 50 miles (plus they’re upping the horsepower)!
Well… just know that you’re probably within a 30 mile radius of it… keep your eyes peeled. He lives in Pontiac. You better find it fast too, because he’s about to re-brush the surface to remove my weiner marks.
As he was driving away last night, I watch as it disappeared behind the trees in my subdivision. I more expected some electric-blue fireworks then an imploded explosion and twin fire streaks on my street than not. I mean, it was a scene right out of the damn movie. It truly was a treat. I’m still geeking out over it, how pathetic.
And Qadgop, If you do ever get another one, be careful of going past fifty. I hear it does some serious shit at 88.
I kid you not, I have touched two separate Deloreans. The first was in college, my senior year, when apparently someone on campus owned one, cause I saw it parked here and there, so I would caress it livingly whenever I saw it. The second time was jsut this past Wednesday. There was, I shit you not, a Delorean for SALE at a classic car place in Freeport, Maine. I didn’t even bother to check the price, as I would just cry from realizing I will never be able to own one.
Ooh. Is that why the news is investigaving mysterious flaming tiretracks in the Pontiac area?
The only serious shit I had at 88 & over was the damn thing overheating (which it also did under 88).
And it’s got a pressurized cooling system, so just waiting for it to cool off and add coolant is not an option. I always carried a cooling system pressurizing handpump in the car with me, for when this happened. Which it did once, in a very unsavory neighborhood in Milwaukee. Fortunately, I made it into the garage of a friend of mine there and made repairs.
Also, the frame wasn’t stainless steel, and quite prone to rust.
Even so, selling it was bitter-sweet. And I do still miss it at times.
I even have a pic of my eldest daugher sitting on (Indy race champion) Rick Mears’ lap in the thing. elfbabe was about 10 months old at the time.
There’s that word again; “heavy”. Why are things so heavy in the future? Is there a problem with the earth’s gravitational pull?