http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/nation/man-driven-to-possess-car-of-boyhood-dreams/story-e6frg6nf-1111112551678
Obsession: Hayden Howse with the De Lorean. Picture: Britta Campion Source: The Australian
EVER since he saw the film Back To The Future as a young boy, Hayden Howse’s dream has been to own a De Lorean, the sports car immortalised as the film’s time machine.
He realised that dream yesterday when he bought one of the few models in Australia at an auction of more than 150 unique cars in Sydney — a collection gathered over decades by an obsessive, wealthy and reclusive collector.
Mr Howse, a company director, bid $45,000 for Lot 75, the 1981 De Lorean DMC with its gull-wing doors.
“I’ve wanted one since I was a little kid,” he said. “By virtue of the Back to the Future movies, they became an obsession. There was no financial motive behind it. I just love them. I spent years doing research on the cars. There are only eight in Australia — they don’t come up for sale very often. I am deliriously happy, ecstatic. I would have kept going higher, up to $100,000.”
Mr Howse has always been fascinated by the story of John De Lorean, who successfully defended himself against charges of cocaine smuggling by proving FBI agents entrapped him.
Mr Howse’s wife Kate said she had lived with her husband’s obsession for years and was delighted to see it finally fulfilled. “He bored me silly,” she said. “But it rubs off after a while — it’s a fascinating story.”
What turned out to be $1.2 million worth of cars went under the hammer yesterday, fetching from the hundreds to the tens of thousands.
The existence of the collection took enthusiasts, car clubs and antique car dealers by surprise.
The original owner is a senior figure in a leading merchant bank in Amsterdam. A recent brush with cancer is understood to have motivated him to rationalise his assets — some of which were kept unused under dust covers for 30 years.
In the collection was a 1979 Buick Riviera understood to have once been owned by singer Marvin Gaye, as well as Aston Martins, Cadillacs and Jaguars.
Auctioneer Tim Goodman said the trade was driven primarily by men in their 50s buying cars they had lusted after but could not afford when they were young.