Barns, Dust, and Time Machines

A barn in Dousman was home to a remarkable blast from the past recently when a 1981 Delorean DMC-12 with fewer than 1000 miles was found inside. A local man purchased the car in the early 1990s and hadn’t driven it in over 20 years.

The Delorean is, of course, best known for its role as the Time Machine in the classic 1985 film Back to the Future, but it also holds a more dubious place in American culture.

The DMC-12 was the brainchild of a former GM executive named John Delorean, who designed and built the car in the early 1980s. Unfortunately, the car didn’t live up to the hype in terms of quality or performance. And, with the help of some questionable bookkeeping practices, the company quickly fell on hard times. In an effort to keep it afloat, Mr. Delorean got involved with a $24 million cocaine deal, which, as it turns out, was set up by the FBI. His trial was a media circus, which eventually ended in his acquittal. In short, it was a whole big thing.

As for the Wisconsin barn find, it was covered in dust and had sunk into the ground. The odometer showed only 977 miles, and much of the original equipment was still on the car, making it a spectacular discovery.

It was also home to a large family of mice. Throughout the video documenting the find, there is a discussion of the smell as, apparently, these squatters evacuated their bowels whenever and wherever the spirit moved them.

Eww.

The car is now in Illinois, where it will be cleaned, refurbished, and eventually sold.

The mice? Well, they’re now in need of a place to stay. So, if you’re interested in opening your home to anywhere from four to 35 Wisconsin mice who may or may not have IBS, you should leave your door open and maybe set out some cheese. If they don’t take you up on your generous offer to crash at your place, someone or something certainly will.