BELFAST factory workers who built the iconic DeLorean sports car in the 1980s will reconvene in the city this year to take part in a unique photographic exhibition.
Former employees of the DeLorean Motor Company’s headquarters in Dunmurry, who constructed the DMC-12 vehicle immortalised in the Back to The Future film trilogy, will come together in May, ahead of the Belfast Photo Festival.
While their gathering will coincide with the 30th anniversary of the first instalment of the films which became cult classics - and falls in the year Marty (Michael J Fox) and ‘Doc’ (Christopher Lloyd) travelled to in Back to the Future 2 - it will also see them help to build one final version of the unmistakable car, complete with gull-wing doors!
But they won’t be using the materials they used when the DMC was in operation in the North of Ireland between 1979 and 1983.
“Combining the disciplines of sculpture and photography, and in collaboration with French artist Cyril Hatt, the DMC-12 will be meticulously photographed with each image being printed on to aluminium plates that will then be combined to form a full-scale replica of the car,” a Belfast Photo Festival spokesperson confirmed today.
“Scheduled for early May this year, the former employees of the Dunmurry factory, where the unlikely star of Robert Zemeckis’ trilogy was proudly rolled off the production line, plan to reunite for the first time ever in Belfast to celebrate the enduring following the car has amassed over the years,” he added.
Noting that the former DMC employees each added “their own personal touches” to the cars which rolled off the production line more than 30 years ago, the project organisers will ask them to do something similar when they arrive in Belfast next month.
“Unknown to many, whether they are fans of the film or automotive enthusiasts, the former employees of the Dunmurry based factory had a unique tradition of adding their own personal touches to the DMC-12,” they explained.
“Often found on the unseen inner stainless steel body panels of the DMC-12 are messages – coined ‘cave paintings’ - that give us a glimpse into the excitement felt by each employee during their time with the DeLorean Motor Company.”
They add: “In keeping with this tradition, the former employees, who are travelling from across the world to convene in Belfast, plan to join the staff of the Belfast Photo Festival and once again add their own unique messages to the individual photographic aluminium plates that will form the DMC-12 sculpture.”
Former DeLorean Motor Company executive Barrie Wills, who has already signed up to take part in the project, said this week: “The DeLorean project in Dunmurry, which lasted only four and a half years, was an adventure stranger than fiction.
“The unfortunate events surrounding the demise of the DeLorean Motor Company are no secret, yet “despite its dreadful ending the vast majority of those involved consider the project to be the best time of their working lives.”
The completed DeLorean sculpture is due to be revealed to the public in the grounds of Belfast City Hall on June 6, where it will remain on display until June 30.
The team behind the DeLorean project then hope to tour the finished project.
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