The ‘DeLorean Revival’ has been organized by enthusiastic local enthusiasts of the famous cult car, with co-organiser David Mathers revealing that 62 DeLorean vehicles will descend on Northern Ireland from across Britain and Europe tomorrow evening.
“Just before last Christmas I spoke to Alistair Vanstone in England [co-founder of the DeLorean Club UK]and they have their own meetings in Norfolk,” David explained.
Alistair Vanstone (co-founder of the DeLorean Club UK)
“I said me and another guy wanted to come over and meet with the DeLoreans and he suggested they come to us.
“In recent months the number of cars turning out for a small car show has grown from about six cars to a major Stormont event, to 62 cars.”
This Saturday the home of the Assembly will be taken over by the bikes made famous by the Back to the Future films, while on Sunday all visitors will head to the test track of the old DeLorean factory in west Belfast.
In 1978, American engineer John DeLorean signed an agreement to establish a custom-built factory in the Twinbrook industrial estate, which was expected to fulfill orders for 30,000 iconic DMC-12 DeLorean cars per year.
By the end of 1981, the factory had produced 7,500 cars, but the DeLorean Motor Company had sold only 3,000.
The iconic Delorean (Credit: Russell Pritchard/Presseye)
In February 1982 the DMC went into receivership and production at the factory ceased at the end of May 1982.
John DeLorean was subsequently charged with drug trafficking in October 1982, but a jury found him not guilty in 1984, although his reputation suffered severely.
The old DeLorean site in Dunmurry is now owned by the Linamar Metals company, and the once iconic DeLorean test track was overrun with bushes, but David and other vintage enthusiasts have cleared it up for this weekend’s event.
David added: “About eight weeks ago I had a friend of mine clear the DeLorean track with two excavators and it is all in excellent condition now.
“We spent about a week removing all the grass and trees. It’s all there and looks like it was just built. We had almost £10,000 between us to clean it up.
“A few Americans have donated a few thousand pounds and all our guys here have contributed money to do that.”
DeLorean enthusiasts have a packed agenda all weekend, starting with a visit to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum on Friday morning, where a DMC-12 design will be on display in the Innovation exhibition, alongside replicas of the Back To The Future time circuits and a hoverboard.
The group then heads to Titanic Distillers for the unveiling of a special limited bottle of whisky.
Peter Lavery – the lottery-winning bus driver from Belfast’s Short Strand who opened the distillery last year – is himself a big fan of classic cars.
“Peter had a DeLorean and unfortunately sold it a few years ago, but he is still very interested in it,” David continued.
“So his distillery makes a special bottle of whiskey for us, labeled ‘DeLorean Revival’ on it.”
On Saturday the drivers have been told to head to the Stormont buildings from 8.30am, where the public are encouraged to come and watch the show, and on Sunday they will drive around the old test track at Dunmurry.
The DeLorean name has been making something of a comeback of late, with John DeLorean’s daughter Kat announcing earlier this month that she is determined to reclaim her father John DeLorean’s tarnished legacy by creating the spiritual successor to his Belfast-built DMC.
Twenty years after her father’s death, Kat DeLorean’s company, DeLorean Next Generation Motors (DNG Motors), is working on a new vehicle in Detroit, the traditional home of American auto manufacturing.
“I’m not bringing the car back,” she said of the famous original.
Cars: DeLorean/car designer John DeLorean in one of his gull wing models.
“My car is not a DeLorean, it is a DNG JZD. And I’m building the car in honor of my father.
“It’s about legacy. It’s about the inspiration he can give others. It’s about my father.”
There are an estimated 6,000 DMC DeLoreans still on the roads around the world, and quite a few of them will be on public display at Stormont on Saturday morning.
Visitors can purchase tickets at the entrance, with all proceeds from the show going to the charities Pancreatic Cancer Research and Action Cancer.