The film Back To The Future was released in 1985, and to mark the anniversary, Collecting Cars an online auction platform has released the latest figures on their use from the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency.

As well as the 303 taxed DeLorean’s currently in use on Britain’s roads, another 114 have statutory off road notification (SORN) – which means they are probably gathering dust in garages around the country.

In 1981 approximately 9,000 DeLorean DMC-12s rolled off the company’s assembly line in Dunmurry, Northern Ireland. But the company collapsed into insolvency the following year and the cars, known for their gullwing doors and unpainted stainless-steel bodywork, have since become a collector’s item.

Collecting Cars has only sold two of the cars in the past six years and estimates that a fully restored version could make £80,000 at auction.

Back in 1981, the ticket price was around £18,000, making it more expensive than a Porsche 911.

Edward Lovett, Chief Executive at the auction house said a combination of scarcity and Back To The Future’s continued popularity had pushed prices up. Sadly, the real cars can’t actually fly!

The film version of the DeLorean famously took off at the end of the first film, when Christopher Lloyd’s time-traveller Doc Brown uttered the immortal words: “Where we’re going, we don’t need roads.”