DeLorean Time Machine
Famous Cars
The stainless-steel DeLorean DMC-12 that Doc Brown turned into a time machine in Back to the Future. It needed 88 mph to jump through time.
The DeLorean time machine is the car from Back to the Future (1985) and its two sequels. It started as a DeLorean DMC-12, a stainless-steel sports car with gullwing doors, styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro and built near Belfast, Northern Ireland. The film car was made to look homemade, like the rest of Doc Brown's inventions, and it traveled through time once it hit 88 mph. Three DeLoreans were bought for the first film, and four more were added for the sequels.
The car underneath
The DeLorean DMC-12 was shaped by Giorgetto Giugiaro, with most of the engineering done by Lotus under Colin Chapman. It had gullwing doors and a stainless steel skin over a fiberglass underbody. A 2.8-liter aluminum V6 from the Peugeot-Renault-Volvo group sat in the back, with a five-speed manual or three-speed automatic.
The cars were built at a factory in Dunmurry, about six miles southwest of Belfast. The company went into receivership in February 1982, and only about 9,000 DMC-12s were built. DeLorean's own classic-car company puts the total at 8,987.
Building the time machine
Several designers shaped the film car. Andrew Probert made the first drawings, which looked too polished, so Ron Cobb was brought in and suggested making the car look homemade, like Doc Brown's other inventions. Probert finished the concept. Mike Fink and special effects supervisor Kevin Pike started the build, and Michael Scheffe took over when Fink moved to another project, according to Hagerty.
The real DeLorean speedometer only went to 85 mph, so Scheffe's team made a new one that read to 95, so the needle could reach 88.
How many cars there were
Three DeLoreans were bought for the first film. The A car was the most detailed and became the hero car. The B car was meant for exterior shots, and the C car was cut up to carry a camera. Four more DeLoreans were added for the two sequels. Of the seven, only three survived.
The hero car today
Universal has owned the A car since the first film. It spent years on display at Universal Studios Hollywood, where souvenir hunters and the weather damaged it. In 2012 and 2013, screenwriter Bob Gale led a restoration by a team of fans under Joe Walser that got the flux capacitor, time circuits, and lights working. In the original film, those effects were added in postproduction.
In 2021, the A car became the 29th vehicle on the National Historic Vehicle Register. It's now on permanent loan to the Petersen Automotive Museum in Los Angeles.
Sources
The DMC-12's design, engine, and production total: DeLorean Motor Company (Texas). The factory and receivership: Ulster Transport Museum. The designers, the speedometer, and the car count: Hagerty. Cobb's homemade idea: Hagerty. The National Historic Vehicle Register and the damage: Hagerty. The restoration and Petersen loan: Drivers Foundation. Postproduction effects: The Hollywood Reporter. The three survivors: Profiles in History (archived).