A DMC DeLorean was destroyed Sunday afternoon when its owner started the engine on San Marino Drive in San Rafael and smelled vapor seconds before the compartment ignited. Fire officials called it a "1984 model" — a year DMC never produced.

A DMC DeLorean was destroyed by fire around 4:40 p.m. Sunday after its owner turned on the ignition at a single-family home on San Marino Drive in San Rafael, according to the San Rafael Fire Department.

The owner smelled fumes and vapors as the engine compartment caught fire, tried to douse the blaze with a garden hose, and failed. Firefighters controlled the fire in roughly 15 minutes, keeping it from entering the home, per NBC Bay Area's report by Bay City News. Two residents evacuated without injury; the vehicle and garage contents were destroyed.

The fire department attributed the cause to a "mechanical malfunction" while the vehicle was running; the investigation remains open.

Fire officials and early coverage have described the car as a "1984 DeLorean," but no such model year exists: DMC-12 production ran from 1981 through late 1982, when the company shut down — roughly 9,000 units total, per the DeLorean buyers guide as cited by NBC Bay Area. The car was a 1981 or 1982 unit.

The fire risk profile for these vehicles is well-documented in the collector community. NHTSA recall RA-0003, issued in 1982, flagged a defective inertia switch that could leave the fuel pump running after a collision. Owner forums at dmctalk.org document degraded Teflon fuel lines resting directly on the exhaust manifold, an age-related fuse block prone to melting from oxidized blade corrosion, and fuel spray near the cold start valve as common ignition points in these 40-plus-year-old cars.

The SRFD's Monday press release emphasized maintaining "protective barriers" between attached garages and living areas. The specific component that failed has not been publicly identified.