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Thread: This guy claims his car was used in BTTF

  1. #51
    Motors about after dark Michael's Avatar
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  2. #52
    Senior Member BABIS's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by TTait View Post
    I'm told the car is fully repaired, possibly converted to a Time Machine, and possibly now in Italy. If anyone knows for sure it would be fun to find out.
    I can confirm this!
    Let us reply to ambition that it is she herself that gives us a taste for solitude.

  3. #53
    Senior Member
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    My VIN:    03238 Grey & Black Hybrid - Auto - work in progress Former owner 10902 - Universal 93 Raffle Car

    That is an interesting and kind of sad story.

    Short story, for a Raffle Prize - but the long version is better...

    The first owner of my car moved with it to California and in the early 90's was working on the lot at Universal Studios, perhaps as an executive - didn't think to ask him when we met. He had conversations with some folks in the publicity group putting together festivities for the Grand Opening of the BTTF Ride in California, and the studio purchased his car from him to raffle off on the opening day.

    In the meantime - I also happened to be working at Universal on the BTTF Ride. My journey with the ride began back in '89 working for Doug Trumbull in the Berkshires. We got a call in 89 to make the ridefilm itself. We were the last best chance to make the ridefilm as others had tried and failed, to make footage for some kind of BTTF film for this ride. The original tests included going back in time and seeing Leonardo DaVinchi and other exploits more suited to Bill and Ted than Doc and Marty. Doug hired a writer to come up with the story for the ridefilm, and brought in legendary artist Ralph McQuarrie to do the initial designs.

    We won the contract to make the film and I worked on it for a few years. We set up the World's Smallest Omnimax theater with a single ride vehicle, sound system, 30' dome and full 15/70 Imax projector so that everything could be tested as we made the film. We even had the A car shipped out to MA for the filming of the final scene of the film when it returns to Doc Browns lab and Biff is arrested. I got to drive the A car - about 20 feet ahead and back, a about 3 mph which was as fast as i would go with a neglected fuel system.

    After production was complete I then went to Florida to help them set up the Attraction there, and it opened in Florida with a big celebration in 1991. Having met the Universal team, I was invited to come work at Universal in Hollywood as the ride was built there - so I first saw the car parked outside my office shortly before the opening.

    What I didn't know at the time was the drama that was surrounding this raffle car. There wer advertisements on the radio etc. touting that someone in the park on opening day would win the stock Delorean (82, flat hood manual grey Vin 10902). The problem is that the promotion team that had purchased the car for $27k and then bought all the aevertising for the raffle, didn't think to clear the event with Universal Legal gurus.

    It turns out that it's just fine for The Price is Right or Wheel of fortune to give away cars, because they are brand new coming directly from the manufacturer or a dealer - but this was an 11-year-old used car that would be given to someone directly by Universal Studios - a fat target for future lawsuits. Because the advertising was out there they couldn't cancel the raffle that had already been advertised they had to cover their butts somehow.

    Before the raffle then the car was shipped over to 3 Delorean Specialists in Los Angeles, presumably Ed, Don and the mechanic in West LA - each with a virtually blank check and instructions to thoroughly go over the car mechanically and from a safety perspective and make the car 100% up to spec from a safety perspective. The second and third shops got the chance to review the work of those before them and make more improvements until it had rotated at no small cost (Ed Bernstien and Don Steger at least were not cheap and knew how to make the most out of a blank check to be sure).

    In May? 1993 both the car and the ride were ready on the fateful day. I knew the car was being raffled and it was beautiful - only the second Delorean I had ever seen or touched after the A car. I knew as an employee thought that it would never be mine. I settled instead for an original Cylon head and the blueprints to the Jurassic Park Vistitors center set which I had both saved from the dumpster instead.

    On opening day, as I was in line to meet all of the stars (including Leah Thompson - sigh) word came over the radio that I was needed in the Dome B projection room to re-load a broken 70mm loop cabinet - and Leah never got to meet me as I was rushed inside away from the party. In the meantime the Raffle winner was announced...

    The winner got to get a few quick photos and sit in the car briefly, and were then taken to a meeting room where they were to sign all the paperwork. This one says you understand the car is used - ok. This one says that you have to pay taxes and registration - ok. This one says you are taking the car, not the cash alternative - o - wait - What?

    By law Universal had to offer the winner the actual car, or its cash equivalent - in this case, the $27k they had paid for the car, fortunately not including the "improvements" and repairs from those 3 blank checks. Because the winners weren't people like us, they opted to take the cash.

    Universal, having invested a lot of money into the car and then its subsequent tune ups, decided at this point that the smart thing would be to just hold another raffle later in the summer - so they did, and the winners again took the cash - a total of 3 times in fact.

    Universal now owned a beautiful and mechanically perfect Delorean that they literally could not give away. So they made the only reasonable decision they could - they parked it by the tram garage, let rodents move into it, let it bake in the sun, spray painted something on the side, broke out some of the glass, and leaned pallets and jetskis on it - for years.

    I saw the car erode away over the years - I came back to Universal after being laid off as a consultant to help them maintain and adjust the ride over the years and often stopped to look over the car at 3 am as I was leaving, and it always made me sad. Then in 2003 Universal asked me to help with the audio system on the ride. After it was fixed however they called to ask me to please not invoice them for a number of months when they reached their new fiscal year as they didn't have the budget to pay me the approximately $2500 they owed me at that point. I jokingly said I would take the car instead - more out of pity than greed. I was surprised when they said ok. They had no way to sell the car - the way the accounting department had written off the losses they felt unable to sell the car, but maybe they could give it away they thought.

    In the long run - 2 years - it turned out they could not do what we discussed, Countless middle managers were given the task of working out the sale who just didn't want to (one of them told me as much years later). I did have a VP at universal on my side thought and they finally sold me the car for about $2500 in early 2005. To anyone with a brain, the car was totaled and should have been parted out - Instead I spent years refurbishing it (I save the term restoration for those who do it professionally). The interior was scrap - droppings and mold - only the plywood shelves were saved. The exterior was better - but still bad. Mice had eaten a lot of the wiring. I filled a 3 gallon shopvac with the droppings and carcasses from the intake area and the valley of death. It took a full day to get the sludge and tar out of the fuel tank, most of it came out with a putty knife like modeling clay.

    We all have our list of items to fix or improve on our cars. I finally completed the list with no new items about 8 years later just in time for friends to use the car at their wedding. A few days after that it was in an accident with a drunk driver and a totaled by a clueless insurance company... It's now owned and repaired by someone in Italy.

    There is the story of the Delorean Universal could not give away and why they had it in the first place.

    Tom

  4. #54
    Member cineman's Avatar
    Join Date:  May 2011

    Location:  Italy

    Posts:    62

    My VIN:    #01748 #20011 #10902

    Hi Tom,
    I actually had VIN 10902 and made the BTTF conversion here in Italy. Now I sold the car to another member of the Italian Club, wich has another delorean car too.
    I wrote you a PM, I'm trying to get in contact with you.
    Let me know.
    Andrea
    Andrea - #01748 3.0lt Twin Turbo EFI, custom brakes, suspensions, manual trans - black interior -
    PRV's lover. Club Italiano Delorean www.dmc12.it

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