This is the story of an iconic car, a legendary Detroit maverick and an unusual chapter of automotive history. 

John DeLorean was an engineering whiz who designed the first-ever muscle car — the Pontiac GTO in 1964. In 1973, on the verge of becoming president of the world’s largest auto maker, he suddenly quit and struck out on his own to fulfill his dream of creating an affordable, sustainable, reliable sports car.

With some big-name celebrity backers, he created the DeLorean.

But production shut down after making fewer than 9,000 cars. Today, it might be little more than automotive oddity were in not for a 1985 blockbuster movie, “Back to the Future.”

Today’s DeLorean owners, who call themselves dreamers — like the car’s creator — stretch them, raise them or turn them into time machines. We’re taking you inside a DeLorean convention to meet John DeLorean’s only daughter, the man who wrote Back to the Future, the actress who played Michael J. Fox’s girlfriend and the men and women who keep alive not only the iconic car but the memory of the man who risked everything to create it.