---

The Idea.

First comes an idea. In 1985 when "Back To The Future" hit the movie theatres, I found myself going again and again to experience this exciting movie. This was one of the few films I have ever gone to see in a theatre multiple times. Something about the brilliant concept, wonderfully executed special effects, ideal casting, clever writing, and of course, the well-designed props captured my imagination. From that point, I decided that having a time machine of my own would be a good idea.

My first car as a teenager was an old Toyota Corolla wagon painted silver. Although it hardly resembled a DeLorean, I needed to try and see what I could do to 'fix' this problem. I found inspiration and materials at Sam Fraidy's, a local car junk yard, and was able to get a bucket full of dashboard components and interior lights for very little money. The result was a pretty nifty overhead display between the driver and passenger seat that I wired into to my overhead interior light. If only I had a photo of that car. Fortunately, I did keep the components when the car finally died, and I have them to this day. When the Time-Car project resurfaced, I actually incorporated a few pieces into the final result, for nostalgia's sake and as a little private tribute to my early attempts in High School. Here's a photo of the main piece I kept.

The Trip.
The day after High School Graduation I hopped on a plane and flew to Hollywood. With the help of an aquaintance who just happend to be a director on Knotts Landing, I rented a room in a nice house, bought a junker little car and got a job at the Universal Amphitheatre. Fortunately, one of the original Deloreans was on display at the Universal Studios park! Here is a picture of me at the tender age of 17 in 1985 with the Delorean Time Machine!
Looking back on this photo helps me understand why everyone must TOUCH the car.
Somehow, if you can touch it, it seems more real. So, whenever we show our own Time-Car Delorean, I try to remember the strange but irresistable need for folks to make contact with the vehicle. That's why you'll usually see me with a rag, cleaning the never ending supply of fingerprints off of the stainless.

Years later I married my 'dream girl', but my dream car was yet to be. Little did I know that someday, the former would help make the latter come true.
With the age of the internet, I found myself surfing the world-wide-web, much as you are right now. I found a surprising amount of information on both DeLoreans and Back To The Future. I was able to study the car through mailing lists and archives, DeLorean club sites, even parts dealerships and online bulletin boards with DeLoreans listed for sale. This all gave me perspective and knowledge to better prepare me for the 'Future.'

I created a mental check-list for the exact DeLorean I wanted. Just some of the things included:

1982 model, gray interior, driven (not stored), reasonable distance from my location, reasonable price for good condition, manual transmission, etc. I found a few here and there that fit my search to varying degrees. I test drove one that had suspicious engine sounds and floppy doors, but it was a thrill only second to owning one! Months later, I regretted letting that one 'slip' by, even though it was in poor shape and over priced. (The owner did offer to throw in the two wooden sticks for holding up the doors, for free!!!) Ebay-motors seemed to have a constant selection listed, and I watched this regularly until one day, the right car finally came up. July 21st, 2001.

I had the tools. I had the photos. I had some parts and pieces. Over the fifteen year period since my early time travel experiment, I had developed the skills needed through my professional work experiences. And I had the vision. For half my life, I had imagined what the Time-Car would look like and how each piece would fit within the whole. Now that I had the car, it was . . .TIME!