'It happened pretty quick': Original 1981 DeLorean found in Waukesha County

 

WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- More than 40 years later, a car that was all the rage in the early '80s has found itself back in the headlines.

A Wisconsin man helped an Illinois car restoration company unearth a DeLorean in Waukesha County.

The iconic car has all its original parts from 1981, the car only clocking 977 miles since being built.

The stainless-steel machine gaining new ownership after sitting in a Waukesha County barn untouched and undriven.

"He said he would go out in the barn and just look at it, because he thought it was a really cool car," said Michael McElhattan, owner of DeLorean Midwest, a restoration company.

McElhattan said he got wind of the hidden treasure by a phone call all the way from New Mexico.

"It happened pretty quick because once I found out the car was close, and it was a low mileage car, I was excited to go take a look," said McElhattan.

The nephew of the car's original owner told McElhattan they were looking to sell the piece of history.

So McElhattan, along with his social media coordinator Kevin Thomas, made the trip to the barn to see their dream car, but when they got there, they found more than they bargained for.

"We opened it up and the first thing I saw was a mouse go across the center console," said Thomas.

Despite the mouse invasion, McElhattan said this car has withstood the test of time.

"The condition of the leather, the condition of the instruments, cluster in the dash, and a lot of places where you see sun damage -- and that’s one of the big killers on this -- this car virtually has no sun damage," said McElhattan.

The DeLorean fan is hopeful he can restore the car back to its glory days.

"To take a car from this condition to what I know we can do with it is just -- that's an adventure anybody wants to be on."