DeLorean Car Show 2008

DCS 2008 was held in historic Gettysburg, PA and as if a hundred and fifty stainless, glistening DeLoreans (and a Back To The Future Time Machine or two) weren't enough, the Bricklin group joined us as well. Yes, Bricklin - the other gull-winged car. Even Malcolm Bricklin himself attended and judged the Concours event for the SV-1s.

As usual, there were DeLorean-related wares being sold, events to participate in, and Back To The Future movie alumnii to mingle with. With so much nerdy excitment happening in just three days, it's actually kind of surprising that a mega-nerd such as myself, and NBA (nerd by association) Suz missed out on a few of the activities. But the allure of the battlefields of Gettysburg kept us occupied for longer than we expected.

However, one thing we didn't miss was the panoramic group photo with James Tolkan, famous for his roles as hard-ass Mr. Strickland in the Back To The Future trilogy, as well as Stinger in Top Gun. The scene, rows and rows of DeLoreans parked strategically on the grass and flanked by Bricklins, was so spectacular that not even Fox News missed it!

While Mr. Tolkan was being interviewed by Fox News, Suz and I wandered away to admire the amazing assortment of blinding stainless toys which included Marc Levy's twin turbo DMC-12, an original Legend Industries turbo pictured at top. The beastly turbo, estimated to deliver 230 hp, even features twin SAAB intercoolers, just to add another bit of international awesomeness to the Belfast-built machine.

Saturday night's banquet featured six Concours trophies being awarded, the usual raffle prizes, and a number of presentations including Universal Studio's Artist, Andrew Probert, showing the original and vastly different storyboard to Back To The Future.

To nutshell it for you, replace the lightning striking the clock tower with a desert A-Bomb test and you've got one hell of an expensive special effect that they couldn't afford. But if you want to imagine it, swap in the nuclear explosion from Indiana Jones 4 and you've got a pretty good idea of what they wanted to do. Makes you want to watch Back To The Future all over again, doesn't it? (The correct answer is Yes)

DCS 2006

The Bricklin

The weather has been so fantabulous lately that the streets are overflowing with slippery collector cars blinding me with their wax-jobs. And I was lucky enough to snap a couple of pictures of this awesome Bricklin SV-1 the other day. But why is the Bricklin so awesome? Partially because it's Canadian-built, and partially because it's kinda like the DeLorean's long-lost twin.

In fact, the similarities between Malcolm Bricklin's creation and the DeLorean are undeniably bizarre.

You think I'm on crack? Well, I'll tell you who's on crack - Those crackheads who regularly mistake my DeLorean for a Bricklin simply because they share the same exotic gull-wing door feature.

But that's not even the half of it. Both the Bricklin SV-1 and the DeLorean DMC-12 were designed primarily as "safety vehicles" with impressive, ahead-of-their-time life-saving devices.

The 'SV' in Bricklin's SV-1 actually stands for Safety Vehicle, and the DMC-12 was originally named the DeLorean DSV, or DeLorean Safety Vehicle. Sadly, some of the DeLorean's safety features, like airbags, did not materialize on production cars. But others, such as side-impact bulkheads that protect passenger's hips and lower torso have been recently adopted by Volvo.

The similarities continue with the fact that both cars were 2-seater rear-wheel-drive sports cars that came with amazing, ground-breaking standard features such as a see-through windshield, tires, a wheel for changing directions, and the reverse gear, which came in handy when trapped inside a garage or horse trailer.

The final similarity is how both companies failed - Bricklin after producing approximately 2,857 nifty vehicles, Delorean after producing around 8,700. Which makes Mercedes-Benz the only mainstream company to still exist, that once offered a factory-built gull-wing door car.

People seem to either love or hate the Bricklin. The one I saw here had ill-fitting doors, but otherwise looked immaculate. Although the exterior is deadly, I've never really been a huge fan. Upon viewing the vomit-coloured interior option borne of the 70s, (which is totally cool in a bizarrely retro way) some fans become non-fans. Still, the Bricklin is a totally awesome car, at least on the exterior, and a super-radical collector car due to its low production run.

But people are all entitled to their opinions (even if they're crazy).

I've been told by uninformed people that my car is an interesting part of Canadian history. I've been told that I had been ripped off because my DeLorean didn't have the original 351 Ford V-8 or the AMC 360. I've even been corrected, and told that my car was built in New Brunswick, not Ireland. And I've been told that the Staypuff Marshmallow man and Bib, the Michelin Man, are the same guy.

It's quite strange what people tell me.