Untouched 'Back to the Future' DeLorean discovered collecting dust in Wisconsin barn, report says

• An untouched DeLorean was found in a barn in Wisconsin, Illinois, The Washington Post reported.
• The car's owner hardly drove it and kept it protected from the sun, The Post reported.

An almost untouched DeLorean was discovered collecting dust in a Wisconsin barn, with only 977 miles on it, The Washington Post reported.

A 1981 DeLorean DMC-12, made famous by the "Back to the Future" movies, was sold to Michael McElhattan for an undisclosed amount earlier this year.

McElhattan, from Crystal Lake, Illinois, the owner of DeLorean Midwest, a shop that provides service, upgrades, vehicle sales, and restorations for the DeLorean marque exclusively.

He told The Post that the family of the original owner of the car, a man named Dick, had called him to see if he was interested in buying it, but that he didn't know how unique it was until he arrived at the barn.

"It was literally sinking into the earth of this gravel floor barn, untouched for years," McElhattan told The Post about the first time he saw the car in the barn on Dick's 60-acre property in Dousman, Wisconsin.

"This thing literally is a time capsule," McElhattan said, adding that its tires had deflated and it was covered in droppings form a family of mice who had made it their home over the decades.

McElhattan said the car was "extremely original," and still had many of the same parts it did when it first was sold. He estimated that it hadn't been driven in at least 15 years.

Since the DeLorean was left in the barn for so long, it was protected from the sun, which usually causes damage to a car, he added. McElhattan said he plans on restoring it.

Dick bought the car because he thought it looked good, but then barely drove it, McElhattan told The Post. He would appreciate the car by going out to the barn to marvel at it. The car only had about 977 miles on it.

Even though it looked slick, the DeLorean was only on the market between 1981 and 1983 because of its poor build quality and unsatisfactory driving experience.

But despite short-lived production, the car became widely known after it was portrayed as the time machine in the "Back to the Future" films.

As of 2015, an estimated 6,500 DeLoreans are estimated to still be on the road, according to The Post.