Doc Brown Doesn't Drive A F*cking Mustang!

As soon as I saw him at DCS 2008 I said to Suz, "I think that's Bob Gale!" I remember that when I said it, I felt stupid and nervous. I was nervous that somebody may have overheard me and if I were wrong, I would have felt extremely stupid.

Suz didn't know who he was. In fact, I'm embarrassed to admit, I didn't really know either. I told her that Bob Gale was either the man who wrote Back To The Future, or the man who Produced it, or possibly both.

Turns out 'both' was correct.

At my first opportunity, I approached Mr. Gale, held my Back To The Future trilogy in my outstretched hand, and practically humiliated myself with my phrasing blunder, "I'd love you if you'd sign this for me." This verbal goofage was ironically reminiscent of Marty McFly waking up in 1955 only to have an awkward conversation with his own mother.

Bob Gale signed my trilogy as well as a replica poster of the first Back To The Future movie. He explained to me that, "With a name like Marty, I just had to sign it 'Great Scott!' That's how Christopher Lloyd signs things at these meets." And Bob, if you ever read this, please accept my apology for the slight paraphrasing there. And also for that "love you" thing. Yeah.

But Bob wasn't the only celebrity attending DeLorean Car Show 2008. There was a surprise for all of us: Lee Meriwether, famous for so many things that I can't even possibly hazard a guess as to which she is most known for, also attended, looking absolutely fantastic. Lee Meriwether - who would've thought? The winner of the first televised Miss America pageant in 1954; Catwoman, in the 1966 "Batman" movie; an actress who has been on countless classic television shows such as Star Trek, Mission Impossible, The Love Boat and who currently plays a character on All My Children.

You couldn't walk around a corner without bumping into someone famous. On Friday afternoon Suz and I boarded the Gettysburg Battlefield tour bus. And who sat on the seat behind us? That's right, Lee Meriwether. Not only that, but the back of the bus was loaded with Jeff Weissman, aka George McFly from Back To The Future II and III. Yes, even celebrities enjoy a little bit of history.

And the excitement didn't stop there. Lee even joined us for the aerial group photo, where us goofball DeLorean owners stood on a grassy field, using our nerdy bodies to spell out the word 'DELOREAN'. Sandwiched between Lee and yours truly were the rest of the dorks whose duty it was to form the letter L.

On the final night of DCS 2008, the celebrities took to the stage while we rammed tasty food into our mouths. Bob Gale recounted a number of stories regarding the making of the Back To The Future movies, both the troubles, and the joys. During his speech, someone asked him to explain the shirt he was wearing - and he regaled us with the famous story (among BTTF fans anyway) which went a little bit like this.

Product placement (think Pepsi) was big in the Back To The Future movies and someone was hired to manage that aspect of the film. However, according to Mr. Gale, she didn't have a clue what she was doing and ended up subcontracting the job to a shyster. As a prime example of his shadiness, he acquired a large sum of money from Sherwin-Williams, telling them that for (approx.) $10K, he'd ensure the main character walks into a Sherwin-Williams paint store in 1955. When Bob got wind of this, he confronted the shyster and reminded him there is no such scene in the movie. The shyster explained, "I'll just tell them the paint store scene ended up on the cutting room floor."

Week after week this guy's behaviour was grating on Bob and the rest of the team. Finally, he entered Bob's office one day exclaming he had great news. Bob listened nervously while he explained that Ford promised them 50 grand if they changed the Time Machine from a DeLorean to a Mustang. Bob had had enough. The only words to escape his mouth at that meeting were, "Doc Brown Doesn't Drive A Fucking Mustang!" and the rest is well, history. So to speak.

DCS 2006