The ‘DeLorean Revival’ has been arranged by avid local lovers of the famous cult car, with co-organiser David Mathers revealing that 62 DeLorean vehicles are set to descend upon Northern Ireland from across the UK and Europe tomorrow night.
“Just before last Christmas, I spoke to Alistair Vanstone over in England [co-founder of the DeLorean Club UK], and they have their own get-togethers in Norfolk,” David explained.
Alistair Vanstone (co-founder of the DeLorean Club UK)
“I said that me and another fella wanted to come over for a meet-up with the DeLoreans and he suggested that they come to us.
“Over the last few months, it has grown from half a dozen cars coming for a small car show to 62 coming for a big Stormont event.”
This Saturday will see the home of the Assembly taken over by the motors made famous by the Back to the Future movies, while Sunday will see all the visitors take to the test track at the old DeLorean factory in west Belfast.
In 1978, American engineer John DeLorean signed a deal to establish a custom-built factory by the Twinbrook industrial estate, which was projected to fulfil orders for 30,000 iconic DMC-12 DeLorean cars a year.
By the end of 1981, the factory had produced 7,500 cars but the DeLorean Motor Company had only managed to sell 3,000.
The iconic Delorean (Credit: Russell Pritchard / Presseye)
In February 1982, the DMC was placed into receivership and by the end of May 1982, production at the factory was shut down.
John DeLorean was then charged with drug trafficking in October 1982, but a jury found him not guilty in 1984, although his reputation suffered badly.
The old DeLorean site in Dunmurry now belongs to the Linamar Metals firm, and the once-iconic DeLorean test track had become overrun with shrubbery, but David and fellow vintage enthusiasts have tidied it up for this weekend’s event.
David added: “About eight weeks ago, I got a friend of mine in with two diggers to clear the DeLorean track and it’s all in great shape now.
“We spent about a week taking all the grass and trees away. It’s all there, looking as if it has just been built. We had together nearly £10,000 to clear it.
“A couple of Americans donated a few thousand pounds and all our boys here pitched in with money to do so.”
DeLorean lovers have a packed agenda right through the whole weekend, starting with a trip to the Ulster Folk and Transport Museum on Friday morning, where a DMC-12 design resides in the Innovation exhibition, alongside replicas of the Back To The Future time circuits and a hoverboard.
The group will then head on to Titanic Distillers, for the unveiling of a special limited bottle of whiskey.
Peter Lavery — the lotto-winning bus driver from Belfast’s Short Strand who opened the distillery last year — is a huge fan of the classic cars himself.
“Peter owned a DeLorean and sold it a few years ago unfortunately, but he’s still very interested in them,” David continued.
“So, his distillery is making a special bottle of whiskey for us, with the label ‘DeLorean Revival’ on it.”
On Saturday, the drivers have been instructed to make their way to the Stormont buildings from 8.30am, where members of the public are encouraged to come and view the show, and Sunday will see them drive along the old test track in Dunmurry.
The DeLorean name has been making somewhat of a comeback in general recently, with John DeLorean’s daughter Kat announcing earlier this month that she is determined to recover her father John DeLorean’s tarnished legacy by creating the spiritual successor to his Belfast-built DMC.
Two decades on from her dad’s death, Kat DeLorean’s company, DeLorean Next Generation Motors (DNG Motors), is working on a new vehicle in the USA’s traditional home of car manufacturing, Detroit.
“I’m not bringing the car back,” she said of the famous original.
Motorcars:DeLorean/Car designer John DeLorean in one of his gull-winged models.
“My car is not a DeLorean, it’s a DNG JZD. And I’m building the car to honour my dad.
“It’s about legacy. It’s about the inspiration he can give to others. It’s about my father.”
There are estimated to be around 6,000 DMC DeLoreans left still on the roads across the globe, and quite a few of them will be available for the public to see at Stormont on Saturday morning.
Attendees can purchase tickets at the entrance, with all proceeds from the show going to the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Action Cancer charities.