Celeb-Meeting Tool, the DeLorean

Other than stalking, owning a DeLorean is the easiest, most cost-effective way of meeting celebrities. Of course, there's the DCS shows each year usually attended by James Tolkan (link), Claudia Wells (link), and Jeff Weissman (link) of Back to the Future fame.

And then there's something else. Something a little more intimate. A small local group of DeLorean owners, one of whom is Pat Mastroianni.

Some of you non Canadians might be saying "Pat who?" while others may be yelling his name aloud in surprise, astonishment and glee: "Joey?!"

While attending our Tech Day I had the pleasure of meeting Pat Mastroianni, aka Joey Jeremiah of Degrassi Jr. High fame. Known for wearing a cool hat and being, well, cool, what what else could one expect than to find him wearing a cool DMC hat, driving an ultimately cool stainless steel DeLorean?

Yep. Mr. Mastroianni owns a DeLorean. (Black interior, grooved, no gas flap)

Somehow, I managed to pull into the parking lot and slip my rumbling DeLorean right in beside Pat's. Suz was the first to notice him exclaiming, "I think he's famous! When you introduce yourself, see if his name is Pat. If it is, he's from Degrassi!"

And that's pretty much exactly how it went down. For the next few hours, we all partook of the garage's most excellent free hoist, helping each other do a little maintenance. Even Pat himself got his hands dirty, literally. (Which wasn't really a big deal, because along with the hoist, we were allowed to use the sink.)

Outside, Pat admired my car. Specifically, the glossy paint job on the rear fascia. After 25-ish years of mechanics bent over the engine, his paint was worn & peeling. Somehow, having a celebrity compliment anything of yours makes that item a little more appealing. I wish I could've told him it was a local Toronto shop that painted the fascia. But the British Columbian shop that did the A-1 job is a little far.

While repairs went on around us, Pat helped me locate a bad relay bypass in my electrical panel. We both have the original 30-year old relays and decided they need to be updated before they fail.

It didn't take much for Pat to persuade President Ken to help him install a sweetass strut tower brace in his DeLorean. It was difficult for Pat to contain his excitement. The install took less time than a stalker scaling a fence and dashing all the way to the back door.

During Tech Day, he was just one of the guys, which is probably how he likes it. Eager to drive home and see how the car handled with the new strut tower bar, Pat left a little early. Was it just like Gran Turismo? I'll have to ask him at the next meet.