A Back to the Future fan was left gobsmacked after he uncovered a gleaming motorbike engine hidden beneath his floorboards – along with a letter from 1999.
Mark Chard made the bizarre discovery while renovating his home with wife Debbie.
The mystery parcel turned out to be a motorbike engine left behind by the house’s previous owner – along with a handwritten note explaining exactly why it was there.
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“It was very unusual,” Mark, from Kingskerswell, near Newton Abbot, Devon, said.
“My builder asked if there was any access to the underneath of the house to run the services.
“And there’s a trap door in the room where I sit working.
“I lifted it, had a look inside and there it was – a motorbike engine with a letter on the front.
“It said, ‘sometime in the future now it’s 1999’.”
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Mark also told What’s The Jam: “I’m a big Back to the Future fan so I loved it.
“The engine looks pristine. It was gleaming.
“I was surprised, to say the least.”
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The letter, written by Peter Oliver, revealed he and his wife Dorothy had lived in the house with their poodle Sooty back in the late 1990s.
Peter explained that the motorbike engine – from an East German MZ motorcycle – had last been used in 1994, and that he’d decided to stash it away “for posterity”.
In his letter, dated Thursday, 8 July 1999, he wrote: “So, you found the motorcycle engine!
“It’s in quite good condition and I used it for some enjoyable riding around Torquay and district in summer 1994.
“I like to rebuild motorcycles for a hobby, and rather than throw this engine away, I put it here for posterity!
“The M.Z. was made in East Germany, and despite other opinions, was a very good utility motorcycle.”
Peter went on to share snippets of his life a from decorating the dining room with stripey wallpaper and a red carpet to buying the house for £97,500.
He added: “We are Peter and Dorothy Oliver, and we live here with our small black poodle Sooty.
“We paid ninety-seven thousand five hundred pounds for it in 1998, and moved in November.
“We are retired, having had businesses in various parts of Devon, Somerset, and North Wales.
“Our last business (a disaster) was Joyce Shoes in Paignton – it’s now a TV shop.”
Peter also described his plans to extend the lounge and his passion for DIY, writing about doing the electrics and plumbing himself.
He signed off cheerfully, listing his vehicles – a Mercedes Benz 280 SL coupe, a Peugeot 106 diesel, an MZ motorcycle, and a Yamaha Chappie mini-bike – and wishing future owners “all best wishes and good luck”.
Mark says the find made his day.
He said: “I couldn’t believe it.
“To come across something like that is amazing – it’s like a time capsule.”
Now, the 21st-century homeowner plans to put the engine back where he found it, along with a letter of his own for the next generation to discover.
He added: “It just feels right.
“I’ll add my own note – maybe someone in 2050 will get the same surprise I did.”
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