FEDERAL Government bureaucrats in Darwin have impounded three DeLorean “time machines” being driven around the world by German enthusiasts.

Wolfgang Hank, Klaus Steiner and Andre Springer’s cars have been on the docks in Darwin since Tuesday, awaiting a Department of Agriculture quarantine inspection.

Mr Hank, who runs a workshop specialising in DeLorean repairs, said it was frustrating not knowing how long they would be waiting in Darwin.

media_camera These three DeLorean DMC-12 cars have been held in customs for nearly a week in Darwin. Picture: Supplied

“The cars arrived here on Tuesday, and got through customs on Wednesday, but we’ve been waiting ever since for a quarantine inspection,” he said.

The drivers say they will have to start warping the space-time continuum if the quarantine inspectors don’t hurry up, since the cars have to be loaded on to a ship in Sydney on December 15.

“We have to be in Sydney by then, so the longer it takes the more short cuts we will have to take,” Mr Hank said.

If the cars are released from quarantine this week, the three drivers plan to drive towards Adelaide on the Stuart Highway, where the Northern Territory’s open speed limits will give them the opportunity to race towards the elusive 88mph (142km/h) mark, the speed at which “Doc” Brown’s DeLorean travels through time in the Back to the Future films.

media_camera Delorean World Tour drivers Klaus Steiner, Wolfgang Hank and Andre Springer arrived in Australia only to find out that the Government has impounded their Deloreans as soon as they hit Darwin port and are now without their cars. Picture: Ivan Rachman

A spokeswoman for the Department of Immigration and Border Protection said it would be up to local police to determine whether speeding at 88mph constituted a serious offence.

Despite the bureaucratic setbacks, the three friends have been enjoying spending the past few days on Territory time, going fishing with Rod Coverdale, the owner of the NT’s only registered DeLorean, and having lunch with members of the Ford Car Club.

The Department of Agriculture did not respond to questions about whether cars equipped with flux capacitors are allowed into the country, nor whether cars that had travelled through the fourth dimension were subject to any special quarantine inspections.