This is a page all about the fans. Here, you will find stories of people whose lives have been impacted by John Z. DeLorean. If you would like to add your story, please send us your information through the link.
VIN: 7075
I remember the exact date when my contact with the DeLorean started. It was 2005.03.21, my 25th birthday and the day, when an article appeared on totalcar[.]hu. A Hungarian car related website, that John DeLorean has died. Until that day, I didn’t know about him. I just knew that there was a car in Back to the Future with this name. I thought that this was just a prop for the movie. So, this is day that I realized that the car existed, John DeLorean was a talented engineer and I started to read about the history of both him and DMC.
I read and I read. Slowly I was obsessed with the car’s concept and decided that I wanted to buy one. Fortunately the car was more affordable then, so I collected my money for years and then in 2008.02.12, I won VIN 7075’s bid on eBay. Three months later, it arrived from New York and the DeLorean Club in Hungary was founded with it’s first car.
Later, many things happened. I married, divorced, changed jobs, typical life situations. Then in August of 2016, I was at a big American Car Festival with my DeLorean and I met a girl. She had come from quite far away, just to see the DeLorean. We talked a lot and continued to do so after the Festival was finished. Now, she is my wife and we have a daughter who loves the DeLorean, just like her parents.
It is easy to see how my daughter is alive today because my DeLorean was made in 1981. Without the DeLorean, her parents would never have meet and she would never be born. This is something like the Enchantment Under the Sea in BTTF. Moreover, in the past 14 years, more DeLoreans have arrived in Hungary. We now have 5 working cars and 2 under restoration. With a small, but very active community, I can say the DeLorean ownership has changed every owners life for the better.
So, I would like to thank John DeLorean for having a dream.
VIN: 6125
I was born in 1962 and was never a "car" guy, that all changed in 1981. I'll never forget the 1st time I saw it, Monroe Street in my hometown of Sandusky, Ohio, I was riding in my buddy's car when suddenly I saw this flat object coming towards us, it was shiny, it was wild looking, it was...Freaking AWESOME!! I said to my friend, did you see that?! What, what in the hell was that? A DeLorean he said nonchalantly, and so it began. I couldn't afford the car in 1981 but I could and did scour the Library for anything I could find about Mr. John Z. DeLorean. I was amazed by what I read and still am today, this man was an absolute genius. Fast forward to 2001, my Wife and I were doing OK in our careers, and she gave me the green light to buy my dream car! I found her on a car lot in Toledo, Ohio Vin# 6125. My 2 new buddies from Sandusky who also each had a DeLorean helped me get her in primo condition.
Through the online DeLorean communities and our DeLorean Club of Ohio I met so many people that became good friends, we all drove together to Memphis for the DeLorean Car Show, what a blast that was! And it was made even more special when I got to meet Kat DeLorean, she was sooo nice to me and even posed for a picture with me. The DeLorean changed my life for the better, I met so many new people, drove to places I otherwise would never have and all the while I felt like I was a celebrity! So many people taking pictures of me and the DMC12, it was fantastic. I never met Mr. DeLorean or had the chance to just say thank you. That opportunity unfortunately came in 2005, John passed away. I was totally heartbroken that my hero was gone. A few of us got our cars out of hibernation that snowy March day, fired them up and headed to Detroit for John's showing at the funeral home. It was the best we could do to honor the man who brought so much happiness to people especially me! Thank you, John, and thank you Kat for keeping the dream alive.
The car was sold back in 2008 to another DeLorean enthusiast who has taken great care of her. It broke my heart but that's what life throws at you sometimes. The 7 years I had with my DeLorean was truly remarkable and all the friendships and places I've gone are still with me.
VIN: 5222
So my story starts similar to most people with parents who grew up in the 80's I was introduced to the DeLorean through it rolling out of the back of Doc Browns van and I very much fell in love with it (more as a time machine then), then sometime between 2012-2014 I saw an original DeLorean at an air/car show and knew that's the car I wanted to own some day.
I joined the DOCUK and have made very great friends who helped me nurture my dream. I got ride in a few D's over the past 5 years thanks to club members and I was very fortunate to see pilot 20 alongside one of the 3 factory RHD's when owned by Chris Parnham and got to drive the factory RHD he owned "AXI 1698" for my 18th birthday.
I bought my car vin:5222 (Oct 81, grey, 3-spd) on the 27th of July 2021 and I can say its been mostly an amazing year so far and I'll be glad to have her on the road by the end of August at last.
I want to say I'm truly grateful of John DeLorean for making a car that is unlike any other in the world and for the community it created. We the community will continue to "Live the dream" until the end.
VIN: 16192
When the DeLorean made its showroom debut in 1981 there was no way such a radical exercise in automotive design could not grab the attention of this, at the time, 7th grader. I mean, how could a car that looked like a cross between a then $100K exotic super car and a space ship not capture the imagination of any twelve year old boy? I can remember passing the Biddulph Oldsmobile/DMC dealership sign on the way to my weekly guitar lesson wondering who were the lucky few that could afford to own one of those "dream" cars. I say dream car because at the time in my mind the DeLorean automobile was every bit an exotic sports car. I perceived it to be up there in league with the likes of Lotus, Maserati, Ferrari and Lamborghini. It was not until much later I learned the car was intended to be far more mass produced and middle class accessible.
In 1985 the first hint of my destiny to own one of these automobiles was revealed to me in the timeless classic film “Back to the Future”. You see, the night Marty met Doc in the Twin Pines Mall parking lot for the unveiling of the DeLorean time machine, the date appearing on the car’s time circuits was 10/26/1985. October 26th just happens to be my birthday, and that scene was set in the early morning hours of my 17th birthday. Coincidence? Well, of course. Even Bob Gale, the writer of B.T.T.F. himself personally told me that the date was chosen at random based on the time of year, but somehow I'd like to believe that random date was there to tell me something. I was never able to watch the B.T.T.F. Trilogy without an overwhelming desire for a DeLorean.
Around 1988 I had my first up close and personal encounter with a DeLorean. A local dealership, Lund Cadillac, had a gently used one for sale. Having never seen one up close I had to stop to check it out. It was an '83, and you can imagine the excitement I felt when the sales person asked "Wanna take it for a drive?"!! I experienced fifteen minutes of pure bliss driving it, even as the broken door ajar warning buzzer buzzed away, potentially annoying anyone else. Since I was a teenager with a mall job income I knew the chances of my family agreeing to help me buy this car were pretty much zero, but I had to try. I dragged my grandfather (the man who raised me) down to the dealership to have a look. As we walked up to the DeLorean, after I pointed it out, he took a long silent look at it, then turned to look and me and literally said “You're out of you're f***ing mind!” He immediately turned away and walked back to our car. Regardless of not driving it home that day, from that point forward I got to brag that I had actually driven a DeLorean.
Years later in 2003, I found myself coming into a small inheritance. Finally I knew I'd be able to get a sports car. Something I'd wanted since I was a kid. I had Corvette on my mind because my small windfall was far from enough to afford a used exotic. Still assuming a DeLorean fell under the category of expensive classic exotic, it was not a consideration. I figured these seldom seen cars must have been worth a fortune after all these years. Still, I did a Google search on "DeLorean" for the heck of it. First result was the DeLorean Motor Company in Houston. After checking out their site and all the others the search produced I was shocked to see that my true dream car was actually still affordable! Suddenly it was a DeLorean I had to have. While waiting for the money to become available I did as much research on the DeLorean as I could. I had to know what I was getting into. Then the unexpected happened. A
beautiful 1979 Corvette that a friend of a neighbor had for sale charmed me into impulse buying it. As a result my DeLorean dream had to be placed back on indefinite hold.
I used to take my Vette and hang out at a weekly Saturday afternoon cruise-in held at the Scottsdale Pavilions in Arizona. Every time a DeLorean showed up there my friends, knowing of my love for the car, would ask "Did you go over and see the DeLorean?" They were completely unaware that they were twisting a knife in my heart. I usually stayed well away. It was too heartbreaking knowing I again could not afford one. Then one Saturday in mid 2004 several members of The Arizona DeLorean Club showed up with their cars. I broke down and had to have a look. I struck up a conversation with members Daniel and Johnny and that's when they told me "The DeLorean on the end is for sale". I took a look and being near the car made me feel like a teenager in love for the first time. The owner of that car, Ken, was not an AZ-D member, but a classic car collector and restorer who had owned several DeLoreans including 5518 which Johnny purchased from him previously. Of all the DeLoreans Ken had owned, 16192 was his favorite and the one he intended to keep, so it turns out he was not actively
trying to sell it… but everything has a price. I took Ken's card, and over the next eight months I loosely kept in touch. In January 2005 I again fell in lust with a Corvette. This time it was a like new 2002 convertible. I was approved for a loan, and was in a long drawn out negotiation with the dealer for this Vette when out of frustration I told a good friend that unless I got that depreciating Vette for a really good deal I was going to take the loan money and buy that DeLorean I always wanted instead. I called Ken and asked him if he’d consider selling 16192. He said yes because manual transmission cars were getting more difficult for him to shift, so I went by his place on a Sunday morning to have a closer look and take a test drive. That's all it took. The overwhelming lust returned at first sight and any interest I had in continuing my attempt to acquire the '02 Vette was gone immediately, so I bought 16192 from
Ken on January 12th, 2005 for $20,000.
My DeLorean, VIN 16192, is a 1983 model. According to the “cave painting” concealed above the driver side door headliner, it was originally designated VIN: 11192 and had the date January 4th, 1982 written there which I assume was the car's true date of assembly. It's a 5 speed manual with gray interior, and it came from the factory with no optional equipment. The original window sticker, which I possess, gave 16192 a total suggested retail price of $34,007.90. The car arrived in the U.S. through the Port of Long Beach and was originally sold by Del Amo Imports Inc. of Torrance, CA. My guess is 16192 spent it's first three or so years in Southern California before coming to Arizona because my registration says the car was first registered in Arizona in 1986. At this point in time, based off of what little information I have to go on, I believe I'm the fourth owner of this car. It had 14,628 original miles on the odometer when I purchased it. At the time of writing this in late 2022, it has just over 20,000 miles.
Considering my dream of owning a DeLorean was, to my good fortune, finally realized, I have no desire to ever part with the car. With luck I'll hopefully never have to. I just want to continue to enjoy owning what I consider to be the coolest and most interesting car ever created.
VIN: 15877
My first experience seeing the DeLorean is when I saw it in Back to the Future. Being a kid at the time I thought they made the car for the movie because it was so unique. My dad comes home from work one day and said "hey, there's a guy in town that has a DeLorean. I told him what a fan of the movie you were and he said drop by his house anytime." Luckily my great uncle lived in the same neighborhood and when I stayed with my grandparents they would drive by and visit him. Anyways, one day we see the DeLorean outside and the guy is cleaning it. Not only did I get to see it, he let me take a ride in it. Being 9 or 10 at the time it was the thrill of my life at the time.
Fast-forward to 2020. Being shut-in during Covid I had some extra time to do more research and started calling about DeLoreans for sale. Luckily I found one and had some work done to it, then had it shipped to my hometown. My dad's favorite car is the GTO and he has owned at least 8 in his lifetime. My favorite is the DeLorean. The two of us have enjoyed JZD's creations and hope I am doing a small part to keep his legacy alive.
VIN: 3900
Always an attention getter 🙂
