DeLoreans remain iconic decades after Marty went ‘Back to the Future’
Oct 21, 2015, 6:58 AM | Updated: 9:13 am
For retired Redmond engineer Jeff Linstad, it's always Back to the Future Day, KIRO Radio's Josh Kerns reports.
Anyone who’s seen the iconic “Back to the Future” movies knows it’s a DeLorean that Doc Brown turns into his time machine. In Part II, the car is used to travel to Oct. 21, 2015.
The day has been eagerly anticipated since the 1980s by fans of the franchise. But for retired Redmond engineer Jeff Linstad, it’s always Back to the Future Day.
It’s understandable. Linstad is the president of the Pacific Northwest DeLorean Club and owns one of about 100 still on the road in the region.
“On the freeway, people will cross four lanes of traffic just to take a photo,” he says. Someone always has a camera pointed at his car, it seems.
Related: Sorry, Seattle, the ‘Back to the Future’ commuting prophecy didn’t come true
The brainchild of eccentric former GM exec John DeLorean, the stainless steel sports car with its signature open upwards gull-wing door hit the market in 1981. It was the worst possible time.
“It was a horrible economy then in the United States,” Linstad says. “And it was a bad time to introduce a new car in the United States.”
Even though it was pretty cool, it was nearly double DeLorean’s desired sticker price of $12,000.
“Because of the modifications — they had to do the suspension, ignition and what have you — it got up to $26,000,” Linstad says. “Then it had to compete with a much faster, sleeker car and it just couldn’t compete.”
But no one has matched its unique design, which made it the perfect vehicle for the “Back to The Future” movies.
Their vehicle’s appeal lives on 30 years later.
“I wish I had a penny for every time my car has been photographed,” Linstad says. “We’ve had bus loads of kids run across the parking lot just to see the car.”
Linstad and many of the other members do all they can to keep the cars in the public eye and on the road.
Now retired, he drives it as often as he can, as long as it’s not raining.
They regularly take part in parades and other events. And his phone was ringing off the hook as “Back to the Future Day” approached
“We’ve had 22 requests for Oct. 21. It’s either a birthday, it’s we’re getting married, or it’s a corporate event. Could you come down to Issaquah in front of the clock tower…?”
Ah yes, the clock tower in the town square where Doc Brown tied his cable in the movie, attracting a lightning strike that powered the DeLorean’s time travel when it hits 88 MPH. Linstad gets frequent requests to drive that fast. With a wink and a sly smile, Linstad admits he occasionally opens it up.
“I’ve had it … up to 110 miles per hour and it just zips along like it’s [going] 60 [miles per hour],” he said.
As for all those predictions about the future made in the movies, we’ve seen some hoverboards emerge just this year. And there’s still a shot for at least one other: The Cubs winning the World Series.
Will they?
“I don’t know,” he says, admitting that it is always better to go forward, not back to the future.
If you want to go forward in a DeLorean, many of the 9,000 made are still out there. One club member even has a dealership of sorts in Bellevue – where they can go for upwards of $35,000. You can even deck it out exactly like the car in the movies.
And with the movies getting a re-release in conjunction with “Back to the Future Day,” Linstad is confident they’ll remain an important cultural touchstone well into the future.
