Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Cars
  3. Photo Galleries
  4. Legacy Archives

Doc Brown’s personal Delorean – with 309 original miles – has finally been uncovered

Add as a preferred source on Google

Some cars, and one in particular, really do come back from to the future.

This 1981 Delorean DMC-12 may have traveled 33 years into the present, but the really strange thing is it only has 309 original miles.

This perfect stainless steel beauty was found in a storage container with delivery mileage, when an un-named client visited “Corvette Mike” Vietro’s shop. The anonymous client wanted to purchase a 1966 Chevrolet Corvette 427 Coupe, and “Corvette Mike” gladly obliged. Mike then asked what the mystery man had to offer in turn.

When the client responded with, “I have a 308, original mile Delorean,” Vietro couldn’t believe his ears. The deal was made and Vietro couldn’t have been happier when he saw a slightly dusty DMC-12 roll into his shop on a trailer.

According to Autoweek, Mike tried hopping into the Delorean but all of the gas had slipped out of the gas-filled struts on the gullwing doors. He quickly had his veteran service manager “call Doc,” to fix the problems.  

If you didn’t know, Deloreans were manufactured from 1981 to 1983, where 8,538 cars were fully assembled at the DeLorean plant in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland.

Financial problems soon overcame the company, as it isn’t cheap to time travel. The man who designed the DMC-12, Giorgetto Giugiaro, made it known for the stainless-steel body and gullwing doors, while the cult following came later.

One would think that a time traveling vehicle would be able to reach warp speed, but the Peugeot-Renault-Volvo 2.8-liter V6 is not a performance powertrain to say the least.

Although, Vietro couldn’t care less about the performance with the DMC-12, as it outshined the looks of all his corvettes. Sadly, when the unnamed client came back to pick up his Corvette, he thought the same thing- and didn’t want to part with his extraterrestrial looking piece of history.

This insane automotive enthusiast now owns a 1966 corvette and 1981 Delorean. Not too shabby.

Both of these cars probably cost more than a chunk of plutonium. Supposedly, the DMC is still sitting in Mike Vietro’s shop, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he loses it in the near future. Someone might manage to get it up to 88 miles per hour.

What would you do with the metal-clad Delorean from the past? Let us know in the comments below.

Joe Mahan
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Joe Mahan is an intern at Digital Trends working in the Cars section. He is currently a Junior at the University of Portland…
Volkswagen is bringing back the electric ID.Buzz bus with some cool upgrades for 2027
Until pricing and range are addressed, the upgrades feel like progress on everything except the things that actually held buyers back.
VW ID.Buzz exterior.

Volkswagen skipped the 2026 model year for the ID.Buzz entirely, a move that raised eyebrows and triggered the predictable “is the electric bus dead?” conversation. Well, it isn’t dead after all. The automaker has officially confirmed the 2027 ID.Buzz.

It’s arriving with the kind of updates that suggest Volkswagen actually listened to what early owners and reviewers were saying. The headline addition is the Tourer 4Motion, a new trim that turns the electric bus into a legitimate electric camper. 

Read more
After acing range and charging, Chinese EV brands flaunt three-wheel driving on SUVs
BYD, Aito, and Li Auto are making active suspension the new battleground after range and charging
Machine, Wheel, Transportation

Chinese EV brands have spent years trying to win on range, charging speed, and screens. Now the fight is getting stranger, with premium SUVs showing off three-wheel driving as the next battleground.

According to Car News China, BYD’s Denza B8 Flash Charge Edition, Huawei-backed Aito M9, and Li Auto L9 are all being used to show how active suspension can lift a wheel while the vehicle keeps moving at low speed. The demos look theatrical, and the intended uses are practical, including tire changes, off-road recovery, and crossing uneven ground without getting stuck.

Read more
This Android Auto update is trying to change how you drive and use your car
Road, Electronics, Credit Card

I use Android Auto every day, and at this point, it feels like a quiet co-driver sitting on my dashboard. That’s exactly why this upcoming refresh from Google actually matters. It is not just a visual tweak; it is a proper overhaul of how Android Auto should feel inside a modern car. The biggest change is the design. Google is bringing its Material 3 Expressive design language from phones into cars. That means Android Auto is getting a more modern, more fluid look with expressive fonts, smoother animations, and even support for wallpapers. This should really make the entire interface feel less rigid and more alive while you are driving.

Widgets finally make Android Auto feel useful at a glance

Read more