THE 1981 De Lorean DMC-12 may not strictly qualify as a classic, but the owner of the solitary Back To The Future car here thinks it is a timeless machine.

Back To The Future, a 1985 blockbuster starring Michael J. Fox, featured a fusion-powered time-travelling De Lorean.

Mr Andrew Lau, 28, says he was too young to watch the film the first time round. But he caught it when he was 10 years old - along with its sequels - and was hooked on the sleek, stainless steel car with gull-wing doors.

'It has always been my dream to own the car,'' says Mr Lau, who owns a music school and has outfitted his DMC-12 - one of the few right-hand-drive models in the world - with a cool sound system.

He has been reading up on the short history of the De Lorean Motor Company and is in touch with overseas owners.

His hunt for the car began in 2001 when he found out through an online forum that there was one here. According to Land Transport Authority records, it is the only De Lorean here.

He managed to track down the car last year and convinced its owner, a doctor, to sell it to him.

He would not disclose the price he paid, but says he has spent 'close to $30,000 restoring it''.

He reckons he needs to spend another $30,000 to $50,000 on parts like transmission and cooling system to make it brand new.

But even now, the rear-engine two-door car has a presence. Its unpainted stainless steel body is a talking point.

'It attracts more attention than many supercars. It's actually a headache,'' he says. 'People who don't know about the car will ask, 'Why don't you paint it?'.'

Are its doors a problem in tight parking spaces?

'No. They actually need less space to open than conventional doors,'' he says.

Less impressive is the car's performance. Its 2.8-litre V6, the product of a Peugeot-Renault-Volvo venture, produces less than 140 horsepower. Acceleration to 100kmh takes over 10 seconds - not exactly sports car territory.

In fact, Time magazine last year voted the made-in-Ireland DMC-12 among the 50 worst cars of all time.

Yet, there is an active fan clubin the United States. Out of a total of 9,000 cars made before the manufacturer went bankrupt in 1982, over 6,000 are reportedly still on the road.

Last year, Texan entrepreneur Stephen Wynne bought a warehouse of De Lorean parts and is planning to build new cars from them.

That's Back To The Past for you.

This article was first published in The Straits Times on May 10, 2008.