Original subtitles

[Josh] You may know me as the guy

who finds things for a living,

but my latest expedition

is a little different.

Apparently, the future depends upon

screen legend Christopher Lloyd

and me tracking down the Back to the Future

DeLorean time machine from this photo.

Whoa, this is heavy.

And delivering it to Michael J. Fox

to benefit his foundation for Parkinson's Research,

you know, because Doc Brown said so.

Yup, I know. It's weird.

[tires screeching]

[Josh] Find a famous movie car.

Simple, right? Well, not exactly.

You see, Back to the Future co-creator

Bob Gale informed us that there wasn't just

one car used in the filming.

Over the course of the trilogy,

there were seven.

[Josh] As you can imagine, this has made our adventure

a little more involved that we'd anticipated.

Not that I'm really complaining because

I have had my mind blown multiple times.

Are you kidding me? Look at it.

First off, the restored A-car

at the Petersen Automotive Museum.

But despite being the one that came off of Doc's truck

in that iconic scene,

it wasn't the one we're looking for.

This has to be one of the other six.

Lea Thompson gave us our second lead.

That's right. I said Lea Thompson.

Which directed us to the Hollywood Museum.

Where is that?

I think it's in Hollywood.

[Josh] Well, there was, in fact,

a genuine screen-used DeLorean

at the Hollywood Museum.

It, too, was not the one from the picture.

Luckily, the owners of that time machine

have two more in their collection

which is on the East Coast.

"So I thought, "Hey, no big deal.

Let's just call them." But, no.

[Christopher] We're doing this the old-fashioned way.

We're going to Massachusetts.

[Josh] So fasten your seatbelts

and hang on to your hoverboard

because my mission to locate a lost

DeLorean time machine from Back to the Future

is about to hit 88 miles per hour

and just be careful.

[Doc Brown] When this baby hits 88 miles per hour,

they're gonna see some serious shit.

[Josh] I'm Josh Gates,

and this is Expedition Back to the Future.

[theme music playing]

[Josh] We're off to Massachusetts

to track down our time machine,

and from what I understand, to take a look at

one of the most world's most insane

Back to the Future collections.

[man] I'd like to be the first to walk into the Boston area.

[Josh] Oh. How can a baby cry for five hours straight?

I didn't hear it.

What? How could you not hear that?

- I thought my head was... - Josh,

we have an incredibly important mission.

I practice the art of Zen Buddhist meditation.

It cancels out any distractions

and allows me to focus

on the incredible task at hand.

You turned your hearing aid off?

Oh, precisely.

[playful music playing]

[Josh] The incredible success of this trilogy

created a deluge

of Back to the Future merchandise.

We're talking toys, games,

fast food restaurant tie-ins, you name it.

And I had all of it.

If I'm being honest, I still have it.

Back then, it seemed like everyone was collecting

Back to the Future stuff.

But for some collectors,

memorabilia just wasn't enough.

They wanted to own a piece of the movie.

And no one has a master collection

of authentic screen-used props

quite like the father and son collecting team

of Bill and Patrick Shea.

Their fanaticism knows no bounds.

Keeping a hawk's eye on auction houses

all over the world, Bill and Patrick

swooped in any time an authentic

Back to the Future prop emerges.

They display their priceless collection

by appointment only on their farm

in rural Massachusetts.

And I can't wait to hit the road

and see what they've got.

Speaking of which, Bill left us a message

saying we could skip the car rental.

He left us a very special surprise

in parking lot C.

[country music playing]

[Josh] '49 Packard. Your '49 Packard.

Okay. This is one of those

out-of-body experiences.

Thirty-five years ago, Chris here

was in this seat driving this exact car

in Back to the Future.

The DeLorean gets all the attention,

but some of the most pivotal stuff in the movie

- happens in this car. - That's right.

[Josh] I mean, this is where Marty is making out

- with his mom. - [Christopher laughs]

...what I do in those situations?

What?

I don't worry.

[Josh] This is where George knocks out Biff, right?

"Get your damn hands off her."

Hey, you. Get your damn hands off...

Oh.

[Josh] That's right here.

[Christopher] The fresh, crisp Massachusetts air.

You know, I'm from Massachusetts.

How would I know what?

I don't know, maybe you Wikipedia-ed me.

Well, I'm good.

[Josh] I'm very intrigued as to what

this guy, Bill Shea, is all about.

I mean, we've heard he's got three DeLoreans.

Obviously, he's got your Packard.

Living out in the middle of the woods with a massive

Back to the Future collection.

[Josh] Uh, let's see here.

I think... So this is supposed to be it.

- This is the address. - You think this is it?

[Josh] Yeah, pretty sure this is it.

- [Christopher] Oh. Hallelujah. - [Josh laughs]

[Christopher] Hallelujah.

Okay. You ready to go?

Yeah, yeah. I'm a little... a little scared.

[Josh] Yeah. They're just... Stay close.

[Christopher] Okay.

[Bill] Christopher Lloyd

- as I live and breathe. - [Christopher] Well...

[Patrick] And, Josh, before we go in,

I just gotta tell you, I am a huge fan.

[Josh] Oh, thanks. Tell Chris.

- He doesn't know who I am. - [Patrick] This is Josh Gates.

- [Josh] There you go. - He's done a few TV shows.

[Josh] Now, Bill and Patrick, who obviously

have impeccable taste, know that we're here

to see their DeLoreans,

but we couldn't come all this way

and not see the rest of their incredible collection.

So can we... can we see what's in the barns?

- Let's do it. - [Josh] Let's do it. Come on.

- Lead the way. - All right.

[Josh] For a Back to the Future fan like myself,

this is once in a lifetime.

- Oh, my word. - [laughs]

Welcome to BTTF nirvana.

[upbeat music playing]

- [Josh] Are you kidding me? - [Patrick laughs]

[Josh] Look at all this stuff.

Look at all this.

I cannot believe my eyes right now.

The last time I saw that van,

I was sitting in the theatre

and watching it drive into a photo man.

And, Chris, this is probably very traumatic

- for you seeing this, right? - Yeah. I...

[Josh] I mean, this poor guy pumped you full of lead.

[gunshots]

No!

- Let's not talk about it. - [laughter]

[Josh] Okay. This is Mecca for Back to the Future fans.

I am geeking out.

I mean, the Hollywood Museum was great,

but these guys, they've got everything,

including the shirt that Doc Brown wore

in all three Back to the Future films.

Now that's your shirt. That, you should've held onto.

If you're wearing that shirt today...

- you'd look like a hipster. - [Christopher] Really?

Yeah, as opposed to whatever this...

- Hawaiian thing is. - Careful.

It's a very interesting story, future boy.

[Josh] This collection is absolutely next level

and puts my model DeLorean and Lego sets to shame.

They've even got a hand-painted mural

of the clock tower scene,

but Bill, always the mega fan,

had himself painted into it.

And right here is the very truck

that every kid wanted in their driveway,

including me,

Marty's Toyota.

[tire screeching]

[screams]

- [Josh] Two coats of wax. - Naturally, Biff did his job.

Yeah, for the big... for the big camping trip, right?

[Patrick] Absolutely. Sleeping bags

are already in the back.

[playful music playing]

[Josh] How did you get this?

Where did it go after the movie?

[Patrick] Part one, there was a truck

just like this one, uh, that after the filming,

they actually raffled the truck off.

Somebody won the truck.

Somebody wrecked the truck.

So part two and part three come around

and they need another truck.

That's where this truck comes in.

They fixed it up

and made it look just like the one in part one,

and here it is.

[Josh] This is all pretty surreal, don't you think?

As is the back story on this truck.

After completing its run in Back to the Future,

it was stolen twice

and ended up being recovered in Mexico

after a brief career of hauling drugs

across the border.

True story.

It eventually made its way

into the hands of Bill and Patrick who gave it

a full frame-off restoration to get it back

to its original screen-used condition.

It wasn't enough for them that they'd found the vehicle

that, once upon a time, was Marty's Toyota.

No. They needed it to be that truck again.

Finding the right parts for a truck

built in the '80s was tough,

not time machine tough, but still.

It took them 11 months to complete the restoration.

But would you expect anything less from these two?

Talk about obsessed.

And, yes, I'm here to find a time machine,

but right now I have time-warped

straight back into my childhood.

Can I just stay here for a few more minutes?

Is that possible?

We have more to show you. Follow us.

Okay. Sure.

- Josh. - Yeah?

What are the chances this guy tries to add me

to the collection?

Chris, you're in the collection.

[Christopher] No, me.

Oh, well, okay, if it gets too weird,

let's establish a safe word.

- That's a good idea. - What's your safe word?

The.

No. "The" isn't a safe word.

[upbeat music playing]

[Bill] Welcome to our loft.

[Josh] Get the hell out of here.

- Wait a minute. - [Bill] Yes.

- They're real? - [Bill] Indeed.

These are the panthers from the clock tower?

[Bill] The two panthers from the clock tower.

- [Josh] Can you believe it? - [Christopher] This is nuts.

I mean, I don't want to be repetitive, but it's nuts.

[laughter]

[Josh] I mean, Chris, the last time you saw

this panther you were hanging off of it.

[Christopher] Yeah.

They attached me to the clock somehow.

I have always wanted to know this.

The clock tower is... It's a real building.

It's on the Universal back lot, right?

[Christopher] That's right.

Were you really up there?

Yeah, yeah. Well, it's a facade.

- [Josh] Right. - With all kinds of...

carpentry structure at the back.

- [Josh] But it's really high. - It's about four floors.

- Raised me up... - [Josh] Oh, took you up there.

[Christopher] ...to it. They attached me

and then it went away.

- So I'm just... - [Josh] Floating up there?

- [Christopher] ...sky high. - [Josh] Wow.

[Doc Brown screams]

[Josh] And then of course, like, a million other things.

- [Bill] Absolutely. - [Josh] Show us

- the goods here. - Well, I'm gonna start off

by telling you about something that is one of a kind,

and that is Doc's Brain Wave Analyzer helmet.

[Josh] There it is. The actual helmet

that Doc wore the first time Marty meets him in 1955.

Doc, I'm from the future.

I came here in a time machine that you invented.

Do you know what this means?

[Josh] I tried to build one myself using bicycle parts

and an unwound Slinky, but, you know,

it doesn't quite compare to the real thing

sitting right in front of me

looking as perfect as it did on the silver screen.

[Bill] Then we have the one and only,

absolutely extremely rare

remote control that Doc uses

for the first incident of time travel.

- Is this the one I held? - [Bill] Absolutely, Chris.

This is the one you held

when you sent Einstein back in time.

- [Christopher] Wow. - [Josh] Forward in time.

- [Bill] Absolutely. - [Josh] Ha!

- Bill Shea slipping. - [laughter]

- I got one over him. - [Bill] Absolutely. Yeah.

[Josh] The only victory I'm gonna have today,

- I'm taking it. - That's one of a kind?

[Bill] Absolutely. Would you like to see

our latest and greatest exhibit?

- Come with us. - Of course.

[playful music playing]

[Bill] What you see here

is an absolutely accurate

recreation of the very first scene

from part one Back to the Future.

[Josh] Down to, like, envelopes

and spoons and trash.

- [Bill] Absolutely. - [Josh] Is the Plutonium

- under the bed? - [Bill] The Plutonium is...

[Josh] Is the Plutonium under the bed?

- [Christopher] Careful. - [Bill] Yeah, yeah.

[Josh] This is bananas.

All right, my mind is officially melted,

but now it's time to get back to our mission,

the DeLorean time machine.

So we've been told you have three of them.

We've seen one of them. We've seen...

In Hollywood, we saw the desert car

- from the third movie. - [Bill] Mmm-hmm.

[Josh] Right? Which, by the way, is spectacular.

- I love that car. - [Patrick] Yeah.

[Josh] Unfortunately, it's not the one

that we're looking for.

Would you like to see another one?

- Well, yeah. - Yeah. Yeah.

[Bill] Okay.

[Bill] Here you go.

[intense music playing]

[Josh] We've traveled to Hubbardston, Massachusetts

to see the unparalleled Back to the Future collection

of Bill and Patrick Shea.

I'm crossing things of my bucket list

I didn't even know were on my bucket list.

This is bananas.

We drove Doc Brown's 49 Packard,

saw Marty's truck,

the one and only brain wave analyzer,

even the original one of kind remote control.

But we're here because there's a good chance

that one of their three screen-used DeLoreans

is the one that matches the photo from our newspaper.

Hopefully, our expedition ends here.

[Bill] Here you go.

[country guitar music playing]

- Okay. - Where's the rest of it?

Well, this is what's known as a process car.

This type of vehicle was used in the industry

to simulate driving scenes.

They could simulate any kind of weather,

uh, they could do a lot of different special effects

and to monitor it on a gimbal.

And you could rock the car up and down to simulate motion.

[Bill] Now, literally, it was for the close-up scenes.

- Mmm-hmm. - And, um, they didn't need

the front and the back of the cars.

Right. So you could just get in here with the camera.

- [Bill] Absolutely. - [Patrick] Right. Exactly.

Unbelievable, that old Biff

could have chosen that particular date.

It could mean that that point in time inherently contains

some sort of cosmic significance.

On the other hand, it could just be an amazing coincidence.

[car engine revving]

Chris, why didn't you tell me one of the cars

- was half a car? - Well, I didn't remember.

Okay. So this is... this is great.

We're not looking for half a car.

Right. So of the seven DeLoreans,

we've seen the A-car at the Petersen,

that's number one.

We saw your car, the desert car,

at the Hollywood Museum, that's number two.

And this now is number three?

Unfortunately, you gonna have to knock

number four and five off of your list.

- Wait, why? - Well, um, number four...

was the fiberglass flying car made for part two.

And it was just a shell of a car,

wasn't even a real car.

They manipulated it with a forklift

when they would need to show a close-up.

And after a certain amount of time

it was sitting on Universal, uh, property back lot,

it became, uh, a nuisance

and they destroyed it unfortunately.

And what about car number five?

[Patrick] Car number five is a...

Is another desert off-order,

uh, it was a twin to our car that you saw

out at the, uh, Hollywood Museum in LA.

But you don't want anything to do with that car.

After filming, it was bastardized.

Parts were taken off of it and used

for different cars at the theme park.

After of a certain amount of time,

it was sent out to Japan to be on display

in front of the Back to the Future: The Ride

at Universal in Japan.

And that's the last anyone knew of it.

[Josh] This is devastating.

We have gone from five chances

to find the DeLorean in this photo

down to just two in a matter of minutes.

But luckily, Bill and Patrick

have one more car in their collection.

Fingers crossed that this will be

the one we're looking for.

And if it's the car, then we need Bill and Patrick

to be willing to hand it over to benefit

Michael J. Fox's Foundation for Parkinson's Research.

Well, as a matter fact, for the last decade,

every appearance we've made

in all the shows that we've done,

every penny of the profit that we've made,

we have sent along to Team Fox

to help find a cure for this terrible disease.

So base on the fact that I know

how much good it will do...

...I'm gonna tell you yes.

- Yes? - [Bill] Yes.

- [Christopher] Yes. - [Josh laughs]

Oh. [laughs]

But...

- But what? - But what?

[door rattling]

- [Josh] Oh, crap. - Let me see the...

[country guitar music playing]

[Josh] What are we looking at?

You're looking at what's referred to

by collectors as the B-car.

Virtually, every stunt you ever saw

in the three movies was performed

- by this car. - Then what happened?

And at the end of the third film it was the one...

This is the car that got hit by the train.

That's right, Chris. Absolutely.

This is the one that we see explode

- into a million pieces. - [Bill] Without a doubt,

- this is the one. - [man screams]

[Josh] So very screen-used.

[laughter]

- [Bill] And abused. - [Josh] Yeah.

- How did you get it? - [Bill] After that scene,

Universal literally cobbled the car back together

and they used it for an attraction

at the park for a while.

And then they sold it off to Planet Hollywood

and it appeared at the Planet Hollywood

upside down in Honolulu

from 1995 until 2010.

And you found it? Wow. That is really incredible.

But this is not the car that we're looking for.

[country guitar music playing]

[Josh] Just one quick look at our trusty newspaper

and it tells us all we need to know,

the car is still disappearing.

This is not the one.

Looks like we've officially got just one hope left,

the seventh car.

So where's the seventh car?

The seventh car is actually what

we refer to as the Oxnard car.

The Oxnard car?

[gunshots]

[Patrick] So the Oxnard car was used for

specifically a scene at the end of part three

when Michael travels back to 1985

rolling down the train tracks.

That scene was shot in Oxnard, California.

- And then what happened to it? - Well it ended up

at Universal Studios in Florida.

And it was there for many years.

But that's not the car that standout.

That car is a fake.

The one that's on display there

- as the Oxnard car... - [Bill] Currently is a fake.

- Absolutely. - [Josh] And you know that how?

[Christopher] Well, he's the expert.

If he says it's a fake, it's a fake.

- Thank you, Chris. - [Patrick laughs]

But I'm curious, like what's wrong with it?

At some point when it was on the display

in Orlando at Universal,

they replaced the real Mr. Fusion

with a very skinny, tall, stove-piped Mr. Fusion.

So the car that's there now, it doesn't have that,

that's a fake car.

How do we find the seventh car?

- Houston. - Houston.

You can try DeLorean headquarters

- in Houston, Texas. - They have a headquarters?

Didn't DeLorean go out of business, like,

- 40 years ago? - [Patrick] Yeah, they did.

But a gentlemen by the name of Stephen Wynne,

uh, back, uh, many years ago bought what was left over.

He bought the inventory, he bought all the parts,

and most importantly, he bought all the records.

They have every VIN number and they have the location

of every DeLorean in the country.

So what do you think, we're going to Texas?

Houston, we have a problem.

[static buzzes]

[upbeat rock music playing]

[Josh] Here's how much of a Back to the Future fan I was,

my first car was a hand-me-down

blue Jeep Cherokee,

about as far from a DeLorean as you can get.

And yet, I wanted that time machine so badly

that I took my car to a mechanic

and had them add a bunch of extra switches

to the console, only one of which was actually

hooked up to some fog lights on the roof,

the rest did nothing.

But in my mind, they powered up

the time circuits and the flux capacitor,

and it's that kind of imagination

that directly led to me not having a girlfriend.

No regrets, Back to the Future forever.

[Josh] When we started this adventure,

I thought there was only one time machine

to track down.

Then it turned into seven.

- Seven cars? - Seven.

[Josh] Which was total cluster...

Uh, curveball... It was a total curveball.

Do you think they have a men's room here?

Probably.

We saw the A-car

the one that came off of Doc's bread truck...

Oh, my word. Look at this.

...at the Petersen Automotive Museum in LA.

And we found the desert car from the third movie

at the Hollywood Museum.

This is the 1885 car.

This is the Old West car from the third movie.

But neither of those were the one we were looking for.

So that checked two off our list.

After our trip to Massachusetts,

we learned from Bill and Patrick Shea

the fate of four more of the cars.

So now, if you're doing the math,

we're back down to one.

How do we find the seventh car?

Known amongst the Aficionados as the Oxnard car.

This fabled relic had been at Universal Orlando

but was mysteriously replaced with a replica at some point.

So to pinpoint its exact location,

we're headed to the only place on earth

that has all the answers,

DeLorean headquarters outside of Houston, Texas.

But first, we need a car of our own.

Well, I could rent you this red Jeep

or this Hyundai Kona. Gray.

- Or this blue jeep. - [Christopher] No, no.

We need something that screams Texas.

Hmm, I might have something.

Let me check.

Don't nobody go nowhere.

Screams Texas?

- Yeah, Texas, baby. - Okay.

[Marvin] Hey fellas, over here.

1974 Cadillac Eldorado with the original long horns.

Doesn't get any more Texas than that.

Perfect.

Are you serious with this?

Don't ask for Texas.

[car engine revving]

- Thank you. - Yup.

[country music playing]

Holly. Holly.

It's Marvin.

Your cousin, Marvin Berry.

I just rented grandma's Cadillac

to two fools from Hollywood.

[laughs]

[country guitar music playing]

[Josh] Despite the excitement and comedy

of the Back to the Future movies,

the thing that really makes them special, of course,

is the unique relationship between Marty and Doc.

And Now that I've gotten to know Christopher Lloyd,

I can't help but feel that just maybe

life is imitating art.

Hey, Chris, are you still

pretty close with Michael J. Fox?

- Oh, real close. - [Josh] That's nice.

You know, I kind of feel like you and I have got

kind of a connection going though, too,

you know what I mean? You know,

traveling around the country,

spending all this time together,

having this crazy adventure.

Josh, I know exactly what you're saying.

- You do? - Of course, I do.

So if you wanted all the craps, just say so.

I'd be happy to give you a discount.

[Josh] What? No, that is not what I'm saying.

Wait. How much of a discount?

- [Chris] Here we are. - [Josh] Yeah, I think this it.

- Yes. - [Christopher] Look at all...

[Josh] This is definitely the right place.

Wow, I've never seen so many DeLoreans

in one place. Can you believe this?

You think they have a men's room?

Okay. Come on.

[upbeat music playing]

[Josh chuckles]

It's like a new car show room.

Look at all of this DeLorean stuff.

This is nuts.

[upbeat music playing]

[Josh] Hey, how are you? Nice to meet you.

Hi, fellas. Nice to meet you.

Uh, you must be John DeLorean.

- Chris. - No, I'm Stephen Wynne.

- But you do own DeLorean? - Yes, I do.

Walk me through this,

how did you come to own this company?

Well, back in the day when the company

went out of business,

everybody was running away from the brand.

[Josh] Yeah, this was a car company

that was really having problems

and desperate to raise the funds

to keep it afloat, John DeLorean got himself

entangled in a plot to buy and sell

a massive amount of cocaine.

A plot that turned out to be an FBI sting operation

that landed the automaker in jail.

The ensuing trial received massive media coverage

which is the reason it got the attention

of the Back to the Future creative team.

But the legal battle irreparably damaged

John DeLorean's reputation.

So I was able to pick up the pieces

and bought all the inventory.

Along the way, we picked up

the intellectual property.

So now, here we are.

[Josh] Here we are, is right.

And I am on a very important mission.

For the love of Hill Valley.

Look at this place.

All right, Gates, stay on task,

don't get distracted Find the time machine.

Michael J. Fox's Parkinson's foundation.

[gasps] Shiny things.

It's like... There's a dozen

DeLoreans in here.

More like 50 in the facility,

normally 45 to 50 cars

is what we set on at any time here.

[Josh] Wow. So, something you don't see every day,

a black DeLorean.

[Stephen] Pretty cool-looking, isn't it?

[Josh] Yeah. When they came out of the factory,

- they weren't painted, right? - [Stephen] No,

the factory had no paint facilities, whatsoever,

every DeLorean left the factory

as stainless steel colors.

[Josh] So, someone bought this and they painted it black?

- [Stephen] Yes. Yeah. Yeah. - [Josh] Wow.

And this one looks great. This looks like

- it's almost done. - [Stephen] Yeah. No.

This is a complete ground-off restoration

which is in the very early stages.

And this is, uh... This is the flying DeLorean

from the second movie, is that right?

Yeah. It looks like it right now, doesn't it?

If you squint, right, its hovering.

So, if somebody comes in, though,

and has a part that's damaged beyond repair,

do you have enough spare original parts?

Yeah. I think we've got enough to take care of that.

[rock music playing]

[Josh] Okay. Now, I'm impressed.

I mean, this is crazy.

This is... I've never seen anything like this,

so, kind of, walk me around the room here,

- what do we have? - So, we have, uh, fenders,

we have left rear quarter panels,

we have five-speed transaxles,

- right rear quarter panels. - Wow.

More transaxles, right quarter panels,

- and right fenders. - And somewhere I imagine

- a bunch of gull-wing doors? - Yeah.

We have a thousand doors in the building

and just over here, you can see,

there's actually 200 feet of DeLorean doors,

and that's a third of the doors

- that I have in the building. - Wow.

- Records. - Oh, yes.

It's easy to get side-tracked when you're in a place

that can make my dream of owning

a brand new DeLorean come true.

Luckily, I've got Chris to remind me

that we are here for a reason.

This is the only place that will have a record

of where the mysterious seventh car

from the filming of Back to the Future trilogy

finally ended up.

We're actually looking for a lost DeLorean

and we were told that when you took over the company,

you also got all the old records,

- is that true? - That's true, yes.

And for that, probably, I should introduce you

to James Espy, he's our historian here.

Your DeLorean historian? What?

Okay. Let's go meet him.

- [Stephen] James. - [James] Yes, sir.

I got some guys here would like to meet with you.

- Oh, yeah. - Hi.

You're the, uh, DeLorean historian?

[James] I am.

[Josh] You have all the records?

I do. Is there something you'd like to see?

- You better ask, uh, son. - James.

Uh, whatever he's got, I mean, the more...

the more the better, right, is this...

- is this everything? - Oh, God, no.

- There's more? - [James] There's more.

Where?

- Records are this way. - Okay.

- Hey, Josh. - Yeah?

You think we'll find what we're looking for?

Chris, uh, finding things

is kinda what I do.

Come on.

[suspenseful music playing]

Oh, crap.

[suspenseful music playing]

[suspenseful music playing]

Nothing?

No.

[Josh] This, ladies and gentlemen,

is normally my time to shine.

Ask me to find you a needle in a haystack

and I'm confident that I'll be handing you

a needle in fairly short order.

This, however, is a bit overwhelming.

In 1981 and '82,

DMC sold almost 9,000 cars,

so there is a ton of paperwork.

Unlike the major car manufacturers,

DeLorean Motor Company was privately held.

So, they kept a close eye on all their automobiles

and had records on every one of them,

including the models that were sold

to Universal Studios to make

the Back to the Future trilogy.

- Have you been through this? - [Chris] Huh?

This stuff, you've been through this?

- [Chris] Yeah. - You have?

[Chris] There's nothing.

[Josh] We're combing through sales records,

shipping receipts, transfer orders,

you name it, anything we can get our hands on

to track down the VIN number

of the elusive seventh screen-used DeLorean.

Oh, man.

[Josh] If there's a paper trail,

it's somewhere in this mess

and we've got to find it.

When it comes to DeLoreans, as we've said before,

you really can't separate the movie from the machine.

Without the DeLorean,

who knows if Doc's time machine

would have captured our imagination

the way it did in the 1980s and ever since.

[car engine revs]

[man] Anybody?

Hi-ho silver.

[car engine revs]

[Josh] And without the movie, the DeLorean

would likely have been written off

as an expensive mistake.

So, by now, we all know

John DeLorean's fall from grace.

But most of us have never heard

the full story.

The project began with a passion

for creating a forward-thinking

American-made automotive masterpiece,

at least, that was the goal.

But finding funding for a plan

to the United States

became a little cost-prohibitive.

Eventually, the company opted to build a plant in

Dunmurry, Ireland

just outside of Belfast.

But more problems arose after the plant was built,

all the employees were locals,

good people with good intentions,

but with no experience building cars like ever.

That's nothing.

[Chris] This is going nowhere.

[Josh] But somehow they managed.

And in January of 1981,

the first cars rolled off the line

and they looked beautiful,

but they were heavy and clunky.

The panels often misalign,

the gull-wing doors always a bit skewed.

And one of the biggest issues,

they were grossly under power.

And while the car received a lot of hype from consumers

simply based on its futuristic appearance,

the critics unanimously agreed

the DeLorean was a dud.

And we all know what happened next

with the company's founder,

the FBI bust, his arrest,

it didn't even matter that he was acquitted

of the charges, the damage had been done.

And it was the final nail in the coffin

of his American car dreams.

And here's where things got real interesting.

Due to their reviews, quality issues,

and negative press both the company

and the owner received,

by the time DMC closed their doors,

you almost couldn't give these cars away.

These are just negatives, those are just photos.

That, some of that looks like sales and stuff.

In fact, you could pick up a new DeLorean

for about $18,000,

about half of the original price.

You take the top one. I'll take the second one.

[Chris] All right. Okay.

[Josh] But that was before Bob Zemeckis

and his big idea to use the space-aged car

for his time machine.

[man] Cam rolling, mark.

- Action. - [Josh] This single decision

took the car from obscurity

back into the limelight.

It was now the centerpiece

of one of the most successful movie franchises

in cinematic history

which sparked a whole new generation

of DeLorean fans.

I don't believe it.

[Josh] And created a whole subculture

around the ill-fated coup.

And that fanaticism endures to this day

with people all over the world,

tracking down and preserving these '80s relics.

If you wanna buy one now, well,

be ready to shell out some big bucks.

You can spend nearly a hundred thousand dollars

for a properly restored DeLorean.

[dramatic music playing]

[Josh] Now, all I need is a clue.

[Chris] Josh.

Look at this.

[suspenseful music playing]

[upbeat music playing]

[Jeremy] Back to the Future has been my favorite movie

since I was a little kid.

And as you can tell,

it's turned into a full-blown obsession.

When I'm having a rough day at work,

I come home, I put on Back to the Future,

and I just feel better.

When I'm feeling stressed, I come into this room

and I just feel better.

I can't even explain how much this movie means to me.

I can't thank the cast and crew, the super fans

I've met over the years enough

for how much this movie has affected me

in such a positive way.

[suspenseful music playing]

[Chris] Josh.

- Look at this. - What? What is it?

[Chris] Look what people have done

with the DeLoreans.

Chris, I thought you found the seventh car.

I... Wait, is that a stretched DeLorean limo?

Okay. That's pretty cool.

Okay. These are amazing.

This is a DeLorean monster truck?

[Chris] Yeah.

I mean, tell me about it.

DeLorean convertible.

- [Chris] Look at this. - DeLorean hover craft.

- Oh. - [Chris] Yeah.

I thought making a time machine

- was a stretch. - Okay.

- Back to work, come on. - Okay.

[dramatic music playing]

[grunts]

You need more support for your back, kid.

[Josh] Hmm.

[Chris] That's why I better lean

on this binder all day.

Thank you, Universal Studios

- purchase logs. - Wait, what?

[Chris] I said,

"Thank you, Universal Studio purchase logs."

That's what we've been looking for all day.

Oh.

It's right here.

[Josh] This is it. These are shipping orders.

'81

'82.

'83.

Here! This is it.

Purchase order, Universal Studios Hollywood,

1984.

These are the picture cars.

Look, this is the seventh car.

This is it. And then, where does it go?

Okay. So, it's in Hollywood.

Shipping order...

to Universal Studios Florida,

same VIN number, March 28th, 1991.

[Chris] Yeah, Bill Shea said

it was at Universal at one point,

but it's not there anymore.

Okay. So, why, where does it go?

Tax and title stuff.

Aha, here.

Same VIN number, something called Universal Promotions.

It goes to New York, July 21st, 2005.

[Chris] That's some kind of publicity thing,

maybe for the 20th anniversary.

Look at this. And then, transfer order

from the Universal Promotions back to Orlando,

September 23rd, 2007.

- So, it's there. - That's the one

Shea said was a fake.

It's real, Chris.

We're going to Florida.

Yeah?

Oh, of all people.

[dramatic music playing]

[Josh] This is becoming a journey for the ages.

What started as a crosstown trip to a museum

has turned into a cross-country voyage

through movie history.

The only movie that matters,

Back to the Future.

Can't stop now.

[Josh] We're headed south to Universal Studios Orlando

where the mysterious seventh car

just might be hiding in plain sight.

How do you know it's the real car?

It says it right here.

[Josh] But that's far from the end

of the adventure.

The best is yet to come as I rub elbows

with DeLorean time machine royalty.

Great Scott.

All that and the change of plans

that no one saw coming.

- You gotta be kidding me. - What?

[Josh] And one that will get us so far off course

that it will be a miracle if we can get back on track

but we must because like Doc said...

The future depends on it.

[Josh] And I will do whatever it takes.

Chris, hi, uh, we can't do this.

Josh, get in.

Hey, guys,

the car's pretty old.

I'm just saying.

[upbeat music playing]