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70 DeLoreans cruised through Belfast this afternoon

The cars came from far and wide for the four-day DeLorean Eurofest taking place in the city.

DeLorean Eurofest 70 DeLoreans at Parliament Buildings Stormont. David Young / PA Wire David Young / PA Wire / PA Wire

THIS IS THE sight that greeted Belfast today – as 70 DeLorean cars cruised through the city, their original birthplace.

The cars came from far and wide for the four-day DeLorean Eurofest.

The silver, gull-winged vehicles were made famous by the Back To The Future movies – the first one which was released in 1985, three years after the DeLorean-manufacturing plant in Belfast had been closed down.

DeLorean Eurofest David Young / PA Wire David Young / PA Wire / PA Wire

In what was a short but whirlwind affair, the car’s creator, John DeLorean – opened up a manufacturing plant in the West Belfast suburb of Dunmurry in 1979 to much aplomb.

However, manufacturing issues, budget overruns and inexperienced workers combined so that the plant closed in 1982 – with just 9,000 cars produced.

Now, a number of those cars have returned with their enthusiastic owners for the 35th anniversary of the plant opening – pictured here outside of Stormont.

DeLorean Eurofest DeLorean owner Tom Yeoman from Iowa, USA joins 70 DeLoreans at Parliament Buildings Stormont. David Young / PA Wire David Young / PA Wire / PA Wire

More cars are expected to join their brethren throughout the four-day festival – with more than 250 owners and enthusiasts from 18 countries expected in Belfast.

The DeLorean lovers will get to cruise around with like-minded types, chat to some of the former Dunmurry factory workers and generally just bask in all things DeLorean.

DeLorean Eurofest David Young / PA Wire David Young / PA Wire / PA Wire

The only way they could get closer to any more DeLoreans was if they travelled back to 1981 when the manufacturing plant was still open

And for that, they’d need to build some sort of a time machine…

Read: One in ten cars imported to Ireland from the UK were once written off

Read: For the second time, Opel is recalling cars in Ireland over a fire risk

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22 Comments
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    Mute Donnacha Bhoicaire
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    May 26th 2016, 9:19 PM

    88 DeLoreans would have been better ⏲⚡️⚡️⚡️

    63
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    Mute Daniel
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    May 26th 2016, 8:57 PM

    Delorians are nothing to be proud of really. It was a Cluster Flux.

    56
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    Mute Aindriú de Domhain
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    May 26th 2016, 9:02 PM

    Just take my green thumb, and go. Your work here is done.

    36
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    Mute dB O'Neill
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    May 26th 2016, 9:17 PM

    Damn you, that was funny.

    15
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    Mute John Cusack
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    May 26th 2016, 9:25 PM

    The body molds are holding down lobster pots off the coast of mayo.

    46
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    Mute Markonline
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    May 26th 2016, 11:34 PM

    That’s so random it must be true

    28
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    Mute family guy
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    May 27th 2016, 12:59 AM

    It’s actually Ards Bay in Northern Ireland they lay. Held down salmon nets

    10
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    Mute gregory
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    May 26th 2016, 9:20 PM

    Brilliant photos. My favourite ride in orlando :)

    36
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    Mute Al Ca
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    May 26th 2016, 9:22 PM

    Was the DeLorean….or was in a DeLorean?

    36
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    Mute gregory
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    May 26th 2016, 9:53 PM

    Ha ha Universal Studios. Was the best ride. Bring it back :)

    23
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    Mute An Observer
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    May 26th 2016, 9:45 PM

    Wow it worked. Better head back to 22:00 again.

    32
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    Mute Alan Rothwell
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    May 26th 2016, 10:20 PM

    They shouldn’t let that guy join after he sprayed his red!!

    32
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    Mute An Observer
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    May 26th 2016, 10:00 PM

    I actually have my own DeLorean. Tell you what, I’ll go back in time by 15 minutes and leave a comment just to prove it…

    29
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    Mute Ollie Conroy
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    May 27th 2016, 5:49 AM

    I’d say the sound of late 70′s Renault engines not wanting to start is echoing throughout Belfast today ……..

    14
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    Mute Joseph Siddall
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    May 27th 2016, 6:50 PM

    Ollie, IIRC, they were PRV engines…a partnership of Peugeot, Renault and Volvo.

    1
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    Mute Ronan McDermott
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    May 27th 2016, 4:54 AM

    Interesting article. I never knew they were made in Belfast. But the sentence saying ” problems with inexperienced workers” makes the locals sound dumb. Could have left that one out journal

    7
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    Mute John Cusack
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    May 27th 2016, 5:25 AM

    The may have been made in Belfast, but most were disassembled and then reassembled in Texas as they had been built so badly in the first place. Emission laws forcing the car into a higher price point and a huge snow storm killed Deloren.

    7
    goo
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    Mute goo
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    May 27th 2016, 4:44 AM

    I’m sure Maggie thatcher is looking at them now

    6
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    Mute Ciaran Dunne
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    May 26th 2016, 9:33 PM

    Either way you will be up to your hoop in DeLoreans…

    5
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    Mute David Mc Shite
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    May 26th 2016, 9:28 PM

    Back to The Past…….

    Ohhh that’s a good one!!!! (pats self on back)

    4
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    Mute Rory J Leonard
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    May 27th 2016, 7:37 AM

    The day we observe Gerry driving down the M1 to the Dail in a DeLorean, is the likely day we can hear an announcement from SF on their new jobs policy for Ireland.

    3
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    Mute Brianto
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    May 27th 2016, 1:45 AM

    Such a shame. Had they joined the union we coulda kept that plant open for many more years

    3
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