Fan of “Back to the future”, Maxime collects and restores Delorean

“Zeus name!” Difficult not to (re) think of the cult replica of Doctor Emmett Brown by entering this garage. Registration plates line the walls, a lifting bridge overlooks the space and, in the center, sit two Delorean cars, in full restoration. Forty years after the release of the first part, “Back to the future” continues to cross generations. For Maxime, resident of the Houdan region (Yvelines), this film embodies “all his youth”.

This 42 -year -old father acquired his first model in 2015 and embarked on a real collection, accumulating cars and objects derived from a cult saga. The emblematic Delorean, which allows the two heroes – Doc and Marty McFly – to travel in time, fascinates it.

Between five and six hours a day in his garage

Passionate about mechanics since his adolescence, this household father restores his cut models with two butterfly doors. “I have three Delorean, two who are being restored and one which is finished. Nestled in his garage between five and six hours a day, Maxime has acquired equipment and know-how over the years. “I don’t really need to think about restoring them. Over time, it has become instinctive. »»

Produced between 1981 and 1983 in only 8,000 copies, the DMC-12 of John Delorean experienced an eventful destiny. The brand, liquidating two years before the release of the film, had failed to convince the market. Too expensive and lacking in power compared to its competitors, the stainless steel car inspired by the Mercedes 300 SL, seemed to be doomed. It is thanks to “Back to the Future” that the Delorean is experiencing a second breath.

“Without the film, the car would surely have remained in oblivion,” said Maxime. At the time, Ford proposed to pay to join one of his models in the plot. Initially, Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis, the writers, had even planned to use a refrigerator for the time travel machine. “They finally opted for a car, for fear that the children try to reproduce the experience at home,” says Maxime, delighted with this change of scenario.

“It is an attraction every time I stop refueling”

But it is not the only one! The model continues to seduce a faithful audience. With 120 members, the Delorean Club France brings together owners of all France. With an outing every year on the roads.

Last year, it was in Vendée. This year, in Brittany. Maxime participates regularly: “Unlike luxury cars, there are no negative looks. People are curious and benevolent, they ask for photos, it’s always a pleasant moment. It is an attraction every time I stop refueling. A downside, however: on the highway, other motorists slow down or stick to see the machine closely.

“This film has marked a whole generation”

“I do not remember that he was a big fan of the younger film,” has fun, however, his mother Régine. It came as they get older. “For Maxime, it is above all a business of nostalgia:” The youngest must surely find it zero today, but this film has marked an entire generation. Whether it’s music, characters or even dubbing in French that is incredible. »»

In addition to the Delorean, the forties made his house a real cave of Ali Baba to the glory of “return to the future”. A pinball machine (among four others), posters from the film, the famous temporal convector, the Almanac of Biff sports, a photo of Marty’s parents when they were young …

“I have not sought specially to make a collection, but one or two additional objects every year and we are there!” “All this has a price … What Maxime sees as an investment:” At worst these objects keep their value, at best they take it. »»