Behind the Comiccon Jeep

He already owned a DeLorean DMC-12 in its natural state. That is to say not modified into a time machine as in Back to the future.

“I wanted a movie car, but I didn’t want to distort the DeLorean, which is a legendary and rare car,” he explains, adding that it’s his “little baby, [s]is Petit driver Sunday”. “I won’t change it, I prefer to keep it original. I’m a bit of a purist about that!” he insists.

“I decided to make the Jeep Jurassic Parkbecause my partner likes Jeeps and it is a project that is considered easier and less expensive, as a first vehicle to modify.

— Martin Parent

In May 2015, the Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac resident decided to begin the project of restoring a Jeep Wrangler YJ. The result gave vehicle #12 of the Jurassic Park driven by the character of Dennis Nedry, the programmer played by actor Wayne Knight. Martin Parent will be present at the Quebec Comiccon which will be held Saturday October 12 and Sunday October 13 at the Quebec City Convention Center.

For those who don’t know where Dennis Nedry is, he gets devoured in his Jeep by a dilophosaurus.

The “most complex to reproduce”

“I took a 1994 Jeep Wrangler YJ Sahara edition,” he says. “But we can use a model from the years 1992 to 1994 if we have a model identical to that of the 1993 film.”

According to his explanations, it is the vehicle of the Jurassic Park the most complex to reproduce. And for this tool designer who works at Bell Hélicoptères in Mirabel, nothing is left to chance.

The interior of the Sahara edition is complete with a CB radio and antenna, winch in the front and fog lights on the bumper. Add to that, the BF Goodrich All Terrain tires mounted on original rims, the four Jabsco tracking lights on the roof bar and the yellow lights at the rear.

“Everything is functional and I use it about once every two weeks,” says Martin Parent. Two and a half months later, his restoration project was 90% complete, in time for Montreal Comiccon during the second week of July 2015.

Precision

When he bought his Jeep YJ, it was far from in good condition. “We worked a lot on it. He was magané. It was forest green, because the Saharas were delivered in that color or in beige,” he says.

“We stripped it and redid the bodywork. All fluids have been changed. When I make a vehicle, I empty everything!”

— Martin Parent

Once stripped and dismantled, the vehicle was sent to a paint shop. “I’m not the type to make a job at the can…” adds the man who himself did the marking for the red accents of the Jeep.

All dimensions and color codes were found in a Facebook group called Jurassic Park Motor Pool. Martin Parent rates his Wrangler YJ as “95% identical” to the one in the film. The vehicle now has 301,000 kilometers on the odometer. “THE [moteur] 4.0 liter straight-six, it’s indestructible!” he says.

Also a Ford Explorer

As if that wasn’t enough, Martin Parent also owns other movie vehicles, including the 1993 Ford Explorer XLT number 04 from Jurassic Park and Daryl Dixon’s motorcycle in Walking Deadfrom seasons 7 and 8, a 1991 Honda Nighthawk. He just finished it this year.

All of its vehicles are registered and in working order. He points out that remaking the Jeep Wrangler today would cost at least double what it cost him in 2015. He wanted to keep the price of this entire transformation confidential.