Tom's car is the star; just don't take it up to 88mph
A CLASSIC car fanatic has spent the winter months lovingly restoring an iconic car made famous for its appearance as a time machine in 1980s cult film classic Back to the Future.
Tom Reddaway, 25, has dedicated time, money and love into restoring his original DeLorean DMC-12 — commonly recognised as the time travelling vehicle from the films starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd.
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He said: "There is nothing else quite like this car — it's the love of my life."
Tom works full-time on his family's farm at Luton, near Chudleigh, and has his own cider business, Reddaway's Farm Cider. He acquired the car six months ago from a seller in Liverpool.
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He bought it for £12,500 and spent the winter working on it. It is now 90 per cent complete and when fully restored, it will be worth up to £20,000.
He said: "Some of the work I have done includes removal and overhaul of the engine, rewiring and renewing a lot of the electrics and restoring the interior.
"I have carried out the work myself in my spare time. It is hard work but rewarding."
When he takes it out and about he certainly gets a few stares, he says.
"Nothing I have ever driven before gets as much attention as the DeLorean.
"You get heads turning in the street and people coming up to you asking questions and taking photos on a daily basis."
Not only that, but Tom's story came to light after Herald Express editor Andy Phelan spotted it in Tesco's car park.
Intrigued he took a picture, uploaded it to the newspaper's Facebook page and sent out a call for the owner to get in touch.
The topic fired up friends and led to Tom contacting the Herald Express to claim the bragging rights.
Tom said: "It's great to see so many people taking an interest.
"I have always wanted to own a DeLorean after seeing it in Back To The Future, but I am also interested in its history.
"There is nothing else like it on the road today and the appearance hasn't aged even after 30 years."
Tom has been an American car enthusiast from a young age.
When he passed his test his first car was a 5.7-litre 1987 Chevrolet Camaro. He has also owned a Ford Mustang, a Dodge Ram pick-up and a Chevrolet Corvette."
Tom's aim is to get the car ready for the May Eurofest in Belfast — to the exact place where the car was manufactured.
The event, organised by the DeLorean Club, is expecting over 180 people and 60 DeLoreans to attend.
The car was manufactured by the John DeLorean's DeLorean Motor Company from 1981 for two years.
Some 9,500 were made, of which 6,500 survive today, with 100 estimated to be in the UK.
But its brief history and foray into films has ensured its place in history.
In the films, the car travels through time — driven by a flux capacitor — when it reaches a speed of 88mph.
Tom said: "John DeLorean's motto for the car was 'live the dream' — and that's exactly what I'm doing."
Comments
by mumtoalice
Friday, February 15 2013, 4:36PM
“An amazing car...owned by my wonderful fiance. never fails to grasp everyones attention and always brings alot of interest to every generation!!!”
by muse2378, Ipswich
Tuesday, April 05 2011, 2:47PM
“Scepticus,
The British government recovered nearly all of its expenditure, they recovered £35 million alone in the late 90's
http://www.nytimes.com/1998/03/06/business/delorean-jury-rules-against-arthur-andersen.html
Remember many hundreds came off the dole in Belfast and earned money and paid PAYE for some the first time in their lives, many parts for the car were sourced from the UK, these companies made a profit and therefore paid corporation tax.
When you look at the venture overall and you even start to look at companies that benefited, construction of the factory, transport , local economy, the list goes on...and they all paid tax to the British government.
Ask any ex DeLorean employee and they will tell you the project was a success, and rightly so, indeed many of them are very, very proud of their achievement in such a short space of time to produce a car, the most advanced production line in the world which united both Catholic and Protestant workers.
Its worth bearing in mind Scepticus that British Leyland had a lot, lot more funding than DeLorean, how many of their cars are still on the road?”
by JustToEcho, Derbyshire
Tuesday, April 05 2011, 2:13PM
“for info on DeLoreans, past events, future events, pictures , chat , parts and more visit
www.deloreanclub.co.uk”
by scepticus, Goodrington
Tuesday, April 05 2011, 10:56AM
“And before the spelling police jump on my little tongue-in-cheek comment, I did mean Delorean, jusst knot gud at spelin tuday”
by scepticus, Goodrington
Tuesday, April 05 2011, 10:53AM
“Well as a tax payer from the time of the debacle that was the car scam-factory paid for by us the British public, I would say we all have a share in any of these expensive white elephants and should be repaid our money, De-lorian was a crook plain and simple.”