'Back to the Future' still No. 1 with Hubbardston father, son
HUBBARDSTON - Marty McFly: "Wait a minute, Doc. Ah ...; Are you telling me that you built a time machine ...; out of a DeLorean?
Dr. Emmett Brown: "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?"
From the script of the 1985 movie "Back to the Future"
Bill Shea often quotes those lines when he enters his barn in Hubbardston and shows visitors his DeLorean automobile, a "screen-accurate" tribute to the original car used in the first "Back to the Future" movie.
"Every effort was made to perfectly replicate exactly what you see in the 1985 movie," said Mr. Shea. "Six years ago, we took a perfectly good DeLorean and made it into a time machine."
And, as in the movie, it was done with style.
Mr. Shea's DeLorean, one of three he owns, can never revert to its original stock condition because more than 600 holes have been drilled into its stainless steel body and frame. The famous flux capacitor, of course, had to be installed properly.
But that's OK with Mr. Shea. The conversion car just doesn't sit in his barn. His DeLorean is often loaded onto a trailer and travels to different places for special appearances, helping raise money - more than $75,000 in the last five years - for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research and the Vietnam Veterans of Massachusetts.
Dr. Emmett Brown: "The way I see it, if you're gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style?"
Bill Shea often quotes those lines when he enters his barn in Hubbardston and shows visitors his DeLorean automobile, a "screen-accurate" tribute to the original car used in the first "Back to the Future" movie.
"Every effort was made to perfectly replicate exactly what you see in the 1985 movie," said Mr. Shea. "Six years ago, we took a perfectly good DeLorean and made it into a time machine."
And, as in the movie, it was done with style.
Mr. Shea's DeLorean, one of three he owns, can never revert to its original stock condition because more than 600 holes have been drilled into its stainless steel body and frame. The famous flux capacitor, of course, had to be installed properly.
But that's OK with Mr. Shea. The conversion car just doesn't sit in his barn. His DeLorean is often loaded onto a trailer and travels to different places for special appearances, helping raise money - more than $75,000 in the last five years - for the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research and the Vietnam Veterans of Massachusetts.
In the original
"Back to the Future" film, which spawned two sequels, Dr. Emmett Brown,
played by Christopher Lloyd, builds a time machine based on a DeLorean
DMC-12. Transported from 1985 to 1955, Marty McFly, played by Mr. Fox,
has to make sure his parents meet so that he will eventually exist.
Displayed last month in Boston in the parking lot opposite Symphony
Hall's stage door were Mr. Shea's replica of the famous DeLorean
time-machine car and also mannequins he owns of the film's main
characters Doc, Marty and the dog Einstein. Fans flocked around the
DeLorean for photos.
On Dec. 30 and again on New Year's Eve, "Back to the Future" was shown in high definition in Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops performing the musical score live, adding approximately 20 minutes of brand-new music.
During 2015, the film's 30th anniversary year, Mr. Shea's screen-accurate replica, with its time travel gadget-filled interior, was displayed four times in New York City, including stops at the Tribeca Film Festival, Radio City Music Hall and the Jimmy Kimmel Show during its annual Brooklyn visit. Mr. Lloyd, driving with Mr. Fox in the passenger seat, wheeled Mr. Shea's car onto Mr. Kimmel's stage and emerged for a humorous skit.
"I had always loved DeLoreans," said Mr. Shea, an avid car collector and a retired teacher. "In 1981 when they came out I was working at Seven Hills Plaza in Worcester across the street from Bancroft Motors, which was then a franchise for DeLorean. It was a very high-end car with a sticker price of $26,100, and, at the time, the most expensive Corvette you could buy was $20,000."
DeLoreans, however, unlike the Back to the Future film, never took off. They were in production only from January 1981 to December 1982. Mr. Shea said that about 9,000 were made and only about 6,000 (not all running) remain worldwide. Hence, a collector's dream.
In 1995, Mr. Shea bought his first DeLorean for a bargain at $10,000. He recalled showing the car a year later with its distinguishing gull-wing doors, stainless steel body and rear 2.8 liter V6 engine, at a cruising night in Westford and being surprised at the reaction. "Nobody just walks by a DeLorean," he said. "They stop. And that's because 95 percent of the population have never seen one except in the movies."
Mr. Shea's son, Patrick, who did most of the hands-on, screen-replica conversion work on the DeLorean, including traveling to Oklahoma for specialized details, first saw the movie at the Gardner Cinema shortly after its 1985 release when he was a high school senior. Patrick estimates that he's seen the movie more than 100 times and, along with his father, have met Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Fox, along with the creators of the movie several times.
"Patrick's fascination with the film came before mine," said Mr.
Shea, who did extensive research with his son before beginning the car
conversion project, the cost soaring to about $100,000.
Interestingly, in the three "Back to the Future" movies, seven DeLoreans were used. Four have disappeared or were destroyed. Of the three remaining, one is in Universal Studios in Florida, the second is in the Petersen Museum of Transportation in Los Angeles and the third, used in "Back to the Future Part III," is owned by Mr. Shea and also is parked in his barn.
"That car cost me $521,000, the most anyone has paid for a DeLorean motor vehicle," said Mr. Shea, adding with a laugh, "I'm spending my kids' inheritance, but, really, I know what I'm doing."
"And he would do it again," said Patrick, who with his fiancee, Nikki Baronas, often displays the family's DeLorean time machines at birthday parties or special fund-raising events.
"We even had an outdoor wedding in Connecticut a few years ago where the groom, a huge Back to the Future fan, surprised his groomsmen and his bride by arriving at the ceremony in our DeLorean," said Ms. Baronas.
Mr. Shea's third DeLorean was once owned by the legendary late TV talk host Johnny Carson, one of the first investors in the DeLorean Co. Carson was given the first U.S. delivered DeLorean in April of 1981.
"That car had technical flaws and broke down and Carson got an improved one in October of that year," said Mr. Shea, who bought the replaced DeLorean, which has 7,500 miles on it, for $52,500 in 2015. That DeLorean is parked in a separate barn on Mr. Shea's Hubbardston property along with the Porsche used in the film "Risky Business," starring Tom Cruise, and three motorcycles formerly owned by the late screen actor Steve McQueen.
Entering Mr. Shea's Back to the Future barn, as he calls it, is like walking into the fictional Hill Valley in the film. A carefully detailed and colorful mural of the courthouse and clock tower has been painted on one wall near a replica of the 1974 VW bus from the film. Upstairs in a loft, are numerous original props from the film, purchased at auctions including the black panthers from the clock tower scene, Marty McFly's skateboard, jacket and red Gibson guitar.
More information about Mr. Shea's Back to the Future memorabilia can be found at his website, www.88mphtimemachine.com.
DeLoreans, however, unlike the Back to the Future
film, never took off. They were in production only from January 1981 to
December 1982. Mr. Shea said that about 9,000 were made and only about
6,000 (not all running) remain worldwide. Hence, a collector's dream.
In 1995, Mr. Shea bought his first DeLorean for a bargain at $10,000. He recalled showing the car a year later with its distinguishing gull-wing doors, stainless steel body and rear 2.8 liter V6 engine, at a cruising night in Westford and being surprised at the reaction. "Nobody just walks by a DeLorean," he said. "They stop. And that's because 95 percent of the population have never seen one except in the movies."
Mr. Shea's son, Patrick, who did most of the hands-on, screen-replica conversion work on the DeLorean, including traveling to Oklahoma for specialized details, first saw the movie at the Gardner Cinema shortly after its 1985 release when he was a high school senior. Patrick estimates that he's seen the movie more than 100 times and, along with his father, have met Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Fox, along with the creators of the movie several times.
"Patrick's fascination with the film came before mine," said Mr.
Shea, who did extensive research with his son before beginning the car
conversion project, the cost soaring to about $100,000.
Interestingly, in the three "Back to the Future" movies, seven DeLoreans were used. Four have disappeared or were destroyed. Of the three remaining, one is in Universal Studios in Florida, the second is in the Petersen Museum of Transportation in Los Angeles and the third, used in "Back to the Future Part III," is owned by Mr. Shea and also is parked in his barn.
"That car cost me $521,000, the most anyone has paid for a DeLorean motor vehicle," said Mr. Shea, adding with a laugh, "I'm spending my kids' inheritance, but, really, I know what I'm doing."
"And he would do it again," said Patrick, who with his fiancee, Nikki Baronas, often displays the family's DeLorean time machines at birthday parties or special fund-raising events.
"We even had an outdoor wedding in Connecticut a few years ago where the groom, a huge Back to the Future fan, surprised his groomsmen and his bride by arriving at the ceremony in our DeLorean," said Ms. Baronas.
Mr. Shea's third DeLorean was once owned by the legendary late TV talk host Johnny Carson, one of the first investors in the DeLorean Co. Carson was given the first U.S. delivered DeLorean in April of 1981.
"That car had technical flaws and broke down and Carson got an improved one in October of that year," said Mr. Shea, who bought the replaced DeLorean, which has 7,500 miles on it, for $52,500 in 2015. That DeLorean is parked in a separate barn on Mr. Shea's Hubbardston property along with the Porsche used in the film "Risky Business," starring Tom Cruise, and three motorcycles formerly owned by the late screen actor Steve McQueen.
Entering Mr. Shea's Back to the Future barn, as he calls it, is like walking into the fictional Hill Valley in the film. A carefully detailed and colorful mural of the courthouse and clock tower has been painted on one wall near a replica of the 1974 VW bus from the film. Upstairs in a loft, are numerous original props from the film, purchased at auctions including the black panthers from the clock tower scene, Marty McFly's skateboard, jacket and red Gibson guitar.
More information about Mr. Shea's Back to the Future memorabilia can be found at his website, www.88mphtimemachine.com.
On Dec. 30 and again on New Year's Eve, "Back to the Future" was shown in high definition in Symphony Hall with the Boston Pops performing the musical score live, adding approximately 20 minutes of brand-new music.
During 2015, the film's 30th anniversary year, Mr. Shea's screen-accurate replica, with its time travel gadget-filled interior, was displayed four times in New York City, including stops at the Tribeca Film Festival, Radio City Music Hall and the Jimmy Kimmel Show during its annual Brooklyn visit. Mr. Lloyd, driving with Mr. Fox in the passenger seat, wheeled Mr. Shea's car onto Mr. Kimmel's stage and emerged for a humorous skit.
"I had always loved DeLoreans," said Mr. Shea, an avid car collector and a retired teacher. "In 1981 when they came out I was working at Seven Hills Plaza in Worcester across the street from Bancroft Motors, which was then a franchise for DeLorean. It was a very high-end car with a sticker price of $26,100, and, at the time, the most expensive Corvette you could buy was $20,000."
DeLoreans, however, unlike the Back to the Future film, never took off. They were in production only from January 1981 to December 1982. Mr. Shea said that about 9,000 were made and only about 6,000 (not all running) remain worldwide. Hence, a collector's dream.
In 1995, Mr. Shea bought his first DeLorean for a bargain at $10,000. He recalled showing the car a year later with its distinguishing gull-wing doors, stainless steel body and rear 2.8 liter V6 engine, at a cruising night in Westford and being surprised at the reaction. "Nobody just walks by a DeLorean," he said. "They stop. And that's because 95 percent of the population have never seen one except in the movies."
Mr. Shea's son, Patrick, who did most of the hands-on, screen-replica conversion work on the DeLorean, including traveling to Oklahoma for specialized details, first saw the movie at the Gardner Cinema shortly after its 1985 release when he was a high school senior. Patrick estimates that he's seen the movie more than 100 times and, along with his father, have met Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Fox, along with the creators of the movie several times.
Interestingly, in the three "Back to the Future" movies, seven DeLoreans were used. Four have disappeared or were destroyed. Of the three remaining, one is in Universal Studios in Florida, the second is in the Petersen Museum of Transportation in Los Angeles and the third, used in "Back to the Future Part III," is owned by Mr. Shea and also is parked in his barn.
"That car cost me $521,000, the most anyone has paid for a DeLorean motor vehicle," said Mr. Shea, adding with a laugh, "I'm spending my kids' inheritance, but, really, I know what I'm doing."
"And he would do it again," said Patrick, who with his fiancee, Nikki Baronas, often displays the family's DeLorean time machines at birthday parties or special fund-raising events.
"We even had an outdoor wedding in Connecticut a few years ago where the groom, a huge Back to the Future fan, surprised his groomsmen and his bride by arriving at the ceremony in our DeLorean," said Ms. Baronas.
Mr. Shea's third DeLorean was once owned by the legendary late TV talk host Johnny Carson, one of the first investors in the DeLorean Co. Carson was given the first U.S. delivered DeLorean in April of 1981.
"That car had technical flaws and broke down and Carson got an improved one in October of that year," said Mr. Shea, who bought the replaced DeLorean, which has 7,500 miles on it, for $52,500 in 2015. That DeLorean is parked in a separate barn on Mr. Shea's Hubbardston property along with the Porsche used in the film "Risky Business," starring Tom Cruise, and three motorcycles formerly owned by the late screen actor Steve McQueen.
Entering Mr. Shea's Back to the Future barn, as he calls it, is like walking into the fictional Hill Valley in the film. A carefully detailed and colorful mural of the courthouse and clock tower has been painted on one wall near a replica of the 1974 VW bus from the film. Upstairs in a loft, are numerous original props from the film, purchased at auctions including the black panthers from the clock tower scene, Marty McFly's skateboard, jacket and red Gibson guitar.
More information about Mr. Shea's Back to the Future memorabilia can be found at his website, www.88mphtimemachine.com.
In 1995, Mr. Shea bought his first DeLorean for a bargain at $10,000. He recalled showing the car a year later with its distinguishing gull-wing doors, stainless steel body and rear 2.8 liter V6 engine, at a cruising night in Westford and being surprised at the reaction. "Nobody just walks by a DeLorean," he said. "They stop. And that's because 95 percent of the population have never seen one except in the movies."
Mr. Shea's son, Patrick, who did most of the hands-on, screen-replica conversion work on the DeLorean, including traveling to Oklahoma for specialized details, first saw the movie at the Gardner Cinema shortly after its 1985 release when he was a high school senior. Patrick estimates that he's seen the movie more than 100 times and, along with his father, have met Mr. Lloyd and Mr. Fox, along with the creators of the movie several times.
Interestingly, in the three "Back to the Future" movies, seven DeLoreans were used. Four have disappeared or were destroyed. Of the three remaining, one is in Universal Studios in Florida, the second is in the Petersen Museum of Transportation in Los Angeles and the third, used in "Back to the Future Part III," is owned by Mr. Shea and also is parked in his barn.
"That car cost me $521,000, the most anyone has paid for a DeLorean motor vehicle," said Mr. Shea, adding with a laugh, "I'm spending my kids' inheritance, but, really, I know what I'm doing."
"And he would do it again," said Patrick, who with his fiancee, Nikki Baronas, often displays the family's DeLorean time machines at birthday parties or special fund-raising events.
"We even had an outdoor wedding in Connecticut a few years ago where the groom, a huge Back to the Future fan, surprised his groomsmen and his bride by arriving at the ceremony in our DeLorean," said Ms. Baronas.
Mr. Shea's third DeLorean was once owned by the legendary late TV talk host Johnny Carson, one of the first investors in the DeLorean Co. Carson was given the first U.S. delivered DeLorean in April of 1981.
"That car had technical flaws and broke down and Carson got an improved one in October of that year," said Mr. Shea, who bought the replaced DeLorean, which has 7,500 miles on it, for $52,500 in 2015. That DeLorean is parked in a separate barn on Mr. Shea's Hubbardston property along with the Porsche used in the film "Risky Business," starring Tom Cruise, and three motorcycles formerly owned by the late screen actor Steve McQueen.
Entering Mr. Shea's Back to the Future barn, as he calls it, is like walking into the fictional Hill Valley in the film. A carefully detailed and colorful mural of the courthouse and clock tower has been painted on one wall near a replica of the 1974 VW bus from the film. Upstairs in a loft, are numerous original props from the film, purchased at auctions including the black panthers from the clock tower scene, Marty McFly's skateboard, jacket and red Gibson guitar.
More information about Mr. Shea's Back to the Future memorabilia can be found at his website, www.88mphtimemachine.com.
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