Past and future collide at Vintage Car festival with DeLorean DMC12

A DeLorean DMC12, owned by Nelson's Jared Dacombe, is headed to Taranaki for the motoring festival this month. Photo / Joshua William Photography

Marty McFly travelled through time in a DeLorean in the 80s movie Back to the Future, and now so can you, sort of.

It will certainly feel that Taranaki has taken a step back in time later this month, when more then 500 vintage cars take to the highways and byways of Taranaki for the 2022 Vero International Festival of Historic Motoring.

Organised by the Vintage Car Club of New Zealand (VCC), the event will feature a wide variety of vehicles all older than 30 years, including a DeLorean DMC 12 albeit without a flux capacitor.

Owned and restored by Nelson's Jared Dacombe, the DeLorean really is a teenage dream come true.

Jared was just 13 when he first watched the movie in which Doc Brown turned a DeLorean into a time machine, and it made a lasting impression. Ever since first seeing the movie Jared knew he wanted to have a DeLorean of his own one day.

Fast forward to some years later (time moves slowly without plutonium or lightning bolts) and that dream turned into reality when Jared saw a DeLorean DMC 12 offered for sale on Facebook.

The car wasn't running, and was going to need a lot of work to get there, but Jared, now an automotive engineer, was determined. Selling his Mazda MX5 to finance the purchase, he began the restoration process.

The car is now fully restored to its former glory and is set to attract plenty of attention from movie and car fans alike as it drives through Taranaki during the Vero International Festival of Motoring.

The Details:
What: Vero International Festival of Motoring
When: January 16-21
Where: All over Taranaki
More: Inglewood Street Party - the best chance to see all the cars up close. Thursday, January 20, 4-8pm, Inglewood