It was imported to the UK in 1989, first registered in the UK in Jan 1990, VIN 1780 had 2 UK owners before me the last was a gentleman who unfortunately died, the car was to be sold to pay for his funeral but that never happened and it lay in a garage for over 20 years until I bought it.
Here is a bit of a blurb from me.
My friend Dan and I set off on Friday 28th June to collect my car, it was a long haul down going from Larne to Cairnryan all the way to Deal in Kent and back....a journey that was close to 1200 miles.
We drove most of the night, stopping off at a couple of Service stations along the way to grab an hour or so's sleep each time, and we reached Deal at 8am on Saturday morning. I had to meet Steven who I had been liaising with regards the car (Steven was the middle man for the family and owns a bttf car) , so we had a bit of time to work out how we could get the car out of the garage, and out onto the main road as space was tight. After looking at what we were facing I made my way to the previous owners sisters house "she was selling the car" and introduced myself. I was invited into the house and before my eyes I was presented with 3 folders, containing the cars history, photographs, workshop manuals, issues of Delorean World magazine and parts catalouges, both sets of original keys were there as well!! To say I was gobsmacked was an understatement. Eventually Steven arrived and we made our way to the garage where the car had been housed for over 20 years.
The garage door opened and I near dropped, the car was in great condition, I handed over my money and set about getting the car onto the trailer. We hooked the tow rope to the van we travelled in, released the handbrake of the Delorean and much to my
delight/surprise the car moved, we had feared the worst that it would not budge, but it was the opposite. The rear tyres were flat but we managed to winch/push the car up onto the trailer and fasten it down, then the jockey wheel gave way on the trailer, so we had to use tie the
trailer the van, haul it around into position, jacking the trailer up and then connect it to the van. We thought that was the hard bit over....but alas it wasnt!!! The car was located in garages that were just off a narrow street so access was tight, trying to get the van and trailer out
took all Dan's skill as we couldn't get the owners of the cars that were causing a hazard. We managed to scuff the wall of a house that had been freshly painted and 3 inches of black paint came of the wall, the owner heard the trailer hit her wall and was out like a flash. Her reaction was
so over the top you would have thought we had taken the side of her house down, there was threats of police insurance etc, and she started saying the Delorean should not be down in those garages (dont know what she was smoking when she said that one). The lady's daughter came out, I showed her the damage she talked to her mum and £40 in compensation was paid the argument soon went away and she became nice as pie. By the time I had sorted that problem out, Dan had the car out and on the road and ready to go, I completed the required paperwork and Steven brought his BTTF car round and we got a photo of the tow cars together, we then said our goodbyes and got escorted out Deal by Stevens car.....the reaction the cars got was great, people coming out of their houses to see them and kids going look the BTTF car, and theres another one as we drove by.
We charged up the M6 stopped at the Services, where one man stopped me and said had never seen a Delorean on real life before, I was shocked at that comment. We missed the boat at 8pm boat by 10 mins and ended up on the 07:30 boat on the Sunday morning. We headed into Stranraer and got food again the car was getting postive reactions from people. On the boat home an old fella who must have been near 70 and from Northern Ireland said to me whats that car? I said a Delorean and he said Ohh is that a Delorean? Where has he been living for the last 30 odd years?
So the current state of play with the car is that it resides at my mechanics, he had tried to manually turn the crank but the engine appeared to be seized and he has put some special stuff in the engine to try lube it up and on Saturday I found out he had managed to turn crank. He is just waiting on a new starter motor and we will see what what.
We managed to inflate the rear tyres which are still holding the air "as of Tuesday" but I have ordered 4 Nankangs in the proper size....I cleaned the leather interior which is in great condition. I have the gas strut kit on order for doors/louvres and Luggage compartment, TAB kit and a door seal.
The widows are taped up, as they were down when I got the car, still to connect the battery to see if the work.
I am still in cloud 9 knowing I have the car I always wanted.
Couple of Freaky facts on the car....it was purchased to come to the UK on the day I returned from a holiday in New York in 1989, the import tax was paid for the car my birthday in November 1989.
So here's a few photos for you to enjoy
Did any of you guys go to the Euro Expo in 93? (20 year ago dear ohhhh dear) I remember paying £1 to get into it.
