In the middle of the night outside a JCPenney store 30 years ago, Marty McFly turned to Doc Brown and asked astonishingly, "Are you telling me that you built a time machine out of a DeLorean?"
Tony Ierardi built a business from a dream.
"Not too many people get to do what they love for a living," said Ierardi, the president of DeLorean Motor Company of Florida.
Ierardi's passion for the iconic car began at age 12 before the film was released on the silver screen. His enthusiasm for DeLoreans led to creating a business in Bonita Springs.
"This is the very first prototype," Ierardi said. The vehicle built in 1975 was the first ever assembled before touring while looking for investors in the new car company.
DMC Florida welcomes fans and those looking to purchase a car. There is merchandise, like Back to the Future T-shirts and DeLorean luggage.
However, restoring the cars built from 1981-1983 is Ierardi’s main business.
Known as the famed car from the Back to the Future trilogy, DeLoreans perhaps are best known for their gull-wing doors.
"The door only opens in 14 inches of space," Ierardi said, mentioning the car is perfect for tight parking garage spaces. DeLoreans also have a trick under the hood.
"With this car, you still have to open the hood to put the gas in," Ierardi said.
Much like a classic Volkswagen Beatle, the engine is mounted in the rear. The gas tank and trunk are under the hood in the front.
Between their urethane bumper, you'll find a 304-grade stainless steel shell.
"It would never rust and it would never fade," Ierardi said about the exterior surface.
Cars still arrive by truck in Lee County awaiting service, while visitors will find more than a dozen cars on the lot and a frame in the showroom.
"It's still a cool car," said Stephen Gorfine, who purchased a DeLorean when living in Motor City.
The former Michigan resident thought the car would be perfect for his children to take away to college. Two problems: The family moved to New York City and their daughter never got her driver's license.
Laurie and Stephen Gorfine have since donated their DeLorean to a museum in Maine.
"We never hit 88 mph," Laurie said, since she recalls the speedometer never went over 85 mph.
In the Back to the Future films, the time-traveling DeLoreans needed to hit 88 mph in order to enjoy time travel.
Ierardi said there are 7,000 DeLoreans still on the road today. You can have one today yourself if the price is right.
"You can buy a DeLorean for $30,000," Ierardi said. "I can't exactly tell you what it will need until I see it."
The DeLorean is a visitor from an era now gone and maybe one to come.
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