Few cars owe more of their fame to Hollywood than the DeLorean DMC-12. An radical looking sports car from the mind of one of the most talented men in the car business, it turned out to be an over-priced under-performing vehicle with mediocre sale figures. After becoming mired in a scandal involving the FBI and drug money, the company went bankrupt and production ceased in 1982. Obviously, the public's view of the DeLorean was not exactly favorable at this point. |
Then in 1985, Back to the Future came out and basically immortalized the car. People forgot about its negative baggage and the DMC-12 became astronomically more popular than it ever was during production. Even people who didn't know and didn't care about cars loved the DeLorean. But with this fame comes a problem. It's pretty much impossible to talk about the car without mentioning the films.
If you're a DeLorean DMC-12 owner, every parking lot has the possibility of turning into a miniature car show where you're subjected to misquoted movie lines and cheesy jokes about time travel. While this can be fun, you can only reply "no it's not a real time machine..." so many times before you start to feel beleaguered.
After personally driving a DeLorean for an upcoming episode of AutoMoments, something struck me. In a way, the car really is a time machine. Few cars are as stereotypically 80s as the DMC-12. The lights, the interior, the styling all scream 1980s. Driving one fills up your senses with the way cars used to be 30 years ago.
In fact, pretty much every well preserved car is a time machine of sorts. When you sit on the same seats and hold the same steering wheel and start the same engine that somebody 20, 40, or 60 years ago did, it really does transport you back in time. Even the "old car smell" I mentioned in our Ford Mustang video had commenters saying they had experienced exactly what I was talking about. It's those smells, noises, looks, and feels that transport us back every time we drive.
That's why our series is called Time Warp Test Drive. Like many, I was born too late to have experienced all these cars when they were new, but now I've had the opportunity to figuratively drive back in time. What's more, I love when I can share this experience with others through our videos, because I hear from people who actually did live through these times, and I also hear from young people who just want to know more. It really is a special thing.
So even if you can't get your hands on a DeLorean DMC-12, remember that every old car is a time machine, and remember all the history you're experiencing the next time you drive one. Also remember that where you're going you actually do need roads, because it probably doesn't fly...
If you're a DeLorean DMC-12 owner, every parking lot has the possibility of turning into a miniature car show where you're subjected to misquoted movie lines and cheesy jokes about time travel. While this can be fun, you can only reply "no it's not a real time machine..." so many times before you start to feel beleaguered.
After personally driving a DeLorean for an upcoming episode of AutoMoments, something struck me. In a way, the car really is a time machine. Few cars are as stereotypically 80s as the DMC-12. The lights, the interior, the styling all scream 1980s. Driving one fills up your senses with the way cars used to be 30 years ago.
In fact, pretty much every well preserved car is a time machine of sorts. When you sit on the same seats and hold the same steering wheel and start the same engine that somebody 20, 40, or 60 years ago did, it really does transport you back in time. Even the "old car smell" I mentioned in our Ford Mustang video had commenters saying they had experienced exactly what I was talking about. It's those smells, noises, looks, and feels that transport us back every time we drive.
That's why our series is called Time Warp Test Drive. Like many, I was born too late to have experienced all these cars when they were new, but now I've had the opportunity to figuratively drive back in time. What's more, I love when I can share this experience with others through our videos, because I hear from people who actually did live through these times, and I also hear from young people who just want to know more. It really is a special thing.
So even if you can't get your hands on a DeLorean DMC-12, remember that every old car is a time machine, and remember all the history you're experiencing the next time you drive one. Also remember that where you're going you actually do need roads, because it probably doesn't fly...