Mike, from MovieShotsLA, Gets Up Close & Personal with the “Back to the Future” DeLorean

This past Friday afternoon, Mike, from MovieShotsLA, had a definite “Only in L.A.” moment when he looked out of his office window and noticed the Back to the Future DeLorean parked in the lot outside!  After having a minor heart attack, he flew right out of his seat and immediately ran outside to snap some pictures of it.  While doing so, he texted me saying, “Want to know what is outside of my office right now?  And it’s the actual one!”  Amazingly enough, as soon as I read Mike’s words, I knew that he was talking about Doc Brown’s time machine.  I’m not exactly sure how I knew – and no, it’s not because I’m psychic.  😉  But when Mike wrote, “It’s the actual one!”, an image of the DeLorean popped into my head.  I’m fairly certain it is because I honestly can think of no other movie prop that is more iconic.  I mean, the DeLorean is pretty much the movie prop to end all movie props – in my eyes, at least.  Short of the actual ship used in the filming of Titanic, I can’t think of a set piece that I’d more rather see.  I was at Kinko’s making photocopies when I received Mike’s text and, let me tell you, I just about had a heart palpitation!  I completely messed up my copies, ordered way too many of a page I didn’t even want, and ended up having to leave the store altogether as I was so totally flustered over the fact that Mike WAS UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH THE BACK TO THE FUTURE DELOREAN!!!!!

What was the car doing there, you ask?  Well, I had that very same question!  As it turns out, Mike works in the same complex as a high-end movie memorabilia auctioneer, and, for whatever reason, the owner of the DeLorean had stopped by the company’s headquarters.  I am not sure of the circumstances of his visit – if he is planning on selling the car or if he just came by for a friendly chat, but either way, not only was he there, but he apparently DROVE the DeLorean there!  I had assumed that it had arrived on the premises via a flatbed truck, but no, the owner actually drove it!!!!!  Can you imagine being on the freeway and having the DeLorean pull up next to you?  I would surely crash!  But I digress.  Anyway, when Mike first went outside, no one was around, so he ended up just snapping a few photos of the outside of the car and one through the driver’s side window before returning to his desk.  But being that it’s not everyday that one has the opportunity to SEE the actual inside of the actual DeLorean from Back to the Future, I told Mike that he better get his butt back down there and knock on the auction company’s door to ask if they’d let him take a peek at the interior.  I, of course, anticipated the owner saying no, but even so, I didn’t think he should let the opportunity pass him by without at least asking. 

And thank goodness he did, because not only did the super-nice owner open up the car for him, but he also let him GET INSIDE and take all of the photographs he wanted!  So, yes, you are reading that right – Mike, from MovieShotsLA, actually got to SIT INSIDE the Back to the Future DeLorean!!!!!!!  As you can imagine, I was absolutely DYING when Mike told me the news and I informed him that I was going to hop in my car and immediately drive over there.  Unfortunately, though, the owner said that he and his DeLorean were just about to leave.  🙁 

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Thankfully, though, Mike took plenty of pictures and I am very happy to report that, twenty-five years later, the DeLorean still looks EXACTLY the same as it did in Back to the Future!  I was most excited to see the Flux Capacitor – which still had the red stickers from the movie which state, “Disconnect capacitor drive before opening” and “Shield eyes from light”.  SO INCREDIBLY COOL!

And the date module still reads “October 26, 1985”.  LOVE IT!  LOVE IT!  LOVE IT!

Mike also got some pictures of the back of the car, including ones of the plutonium chamber and the iconic “OUTATIME” license plate.

Best of all, though, was the pic that the owner took of Mike standing with the car, a la the way Doc Brown stood with it in Back to the Future.  Oh, what I wouldn’t give to have a photo like that!  Sigh!  Mike wasn’t sure if I’d want to blog about his experience with the DeLorean or not, being that it’s not technically a filming location, but I was like, “ARE YOU KIDDING ME?????  THIS IS A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME!  OF COURSE I WANT TO BLOG IT!”  So, while it is not one of my typical posts, I still hope my fellow stalkers enjoyed the up-close-and-personal view of one of the most famous movie props of all time as much as I did!

A HUGE thank you to Mike, from MovieShotsLA, for sharing his photos with me to publish in this post.

Until next time, Happy Stalking!  🙂

Stalk It: Unfortunately, you can’t.  🙁  We have to live vicariously through Mike on this one!