Classic car restorers went Back To The Future when they uncovered a blast from the past in a Wisconsin barn.
They made a shocking discovery of an original 1981 DeLorean with an astonishingly low mileage of just 977 miles.
The nearly undriven vehicle had been rumored to be stored in stasis for more than four decades by the original owner’s nephew, who traveled all the way from New Mexico to witness the astonishing find.
Restorers Discover DeLorean Untouched By Time
The pristine DeLorean, though covered in dirt, is the same as the iconic car that teenage Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) used to time travel in the 1985 blockbuster, after it was modified by mad scientist Doc Brown (Christopher Lloyd).
While the recently unearthed DeLorean can’t travel back to 1955, this stainless-steel machine is a nearly perfect relic of the past, as it remained undriven and untouched while sitting in a Waukesha County barn for decades.
Michael McElhattan, the owner of DeLorean Midwest, a restoration company, was contacted about the car when the original owners nephew expressed an interest in selling this piece of historic automotive history.
When he learned of its proximity and low mileage, he eagerly set out to see it with his own eyes.
Neglected DeLorean Finds New Home
“It happened pretty quick because once I found out the car was close, and it was a low mileage car, I was excited to go take a look,” he told local news outlet WDJT.
McElhattan, who operates a DeLorean restoration company out of nearby Illinois, and his social media coordinator, Kevin Thomas, embarked on the journey to the barn in search of their dream car.
Though they encountered a mouse scurrying across the center console when they opened the vehicle, they were astonished by the car’s peak shape.
“The condition of the leather, the condition of the instruments, cluster in the dash, and a lot of places where you see sun damage — and that’s one of the big killers on this — this car virtually has no sun damage,” revealed McElhattan.
According to his company’s Facebook post, he believes that the car had been parked in the same spot for at least 20 years, based on how it began to sink into the ground.
Since the car was exceptionally preserved from the ravages of time and retains all of its original parts, McElhattan is hopeful that with the right restoration, it can be brought back to its former glory.
“To take a car from this condition to what I know we can do with it is just — that’s an adventure anybody wants to be on,” he noted.
