It takes one brave soul to drive around the country in an exact
replica of The DeLorean from
”
Back to the Future,
”
but Paul Nigh is that guy.
By Jenna Brogan
It takes one brave soul to drive around the country in an exact replica of The DeLorean from “Back to the Future,” but Paul Nigh is that guy.
Thursday morning, Nigh stopped for a bite to eat at the corner of Monterey and Lewis streets in Gilroy and found himself surrounded by locals gawking at his ride. But this is just another day in the life for Nigh, who has been driving the Hollywood marvel for a little more than five years.
What was supposed to be a quick stop on his way for a presentation at Google in Mountain View turned into a photo opportunity for Gilroyans.
When asked where he was driving from, he joked, “It’s not where I came from that’s important, but from what time period.”
While Nigh wishes he could say the DeLorean was the original from the film, the true story still captivates audiences.
“We took the actual car, which is no longer running, off of the Hollywood back lot, took 400 pictures of it and made a replica,” said Nigh, who is close friends with the cast of the film. “This one is drivable.”
But Nigh is not simply interested in shock-value. He is a part of a reality show only available on DVD called “Fireball Run Adventurally” that will begin filming its third season Sept. 23. The 75-team, 8 day, 3500-mile excursion from Henderson, Nevada to Galena, Illinois, is a motoring event in which each team sponsors a missing child in America and distributes fliers along the journey to aid the recovery effort.
“Since we started doing this, we’ve helped find 32 missing children,” said Nigh, who posts where he is travelling next on Facebook. “We are to missing children what ‘America’s Most Wanted’ was to fugitives.”
The awareness campaign distributes almost 75,000 posters nationwide each year and supports the KlaasKids Foundation for Children. The foundation, established in 1994 following the kidnapping and murder of Polly Hannah Klaas in Petaluma, helps to stop crimes against children.
KlaasKids was instrumental to Megan’s Law being signed and the creation of the Amber Alert system.
The flashy cars only help bring attention to their cause. Nigh is proud to drive his DeLorean, but even he admitted he is jealous of the cars driven by some of the other teams. “There’s a $300,000 Bentley, a $3 million motor coach and a Lamborghini built especially for the Adventurally.”
For details, go to fireballrun.com.
