Talk:DeLorean time machine

Inspiration

A flying De Lorean-like vehicle appears in the 1984 film, The Last Starfighter. Does anybody know whether this was an influence on the Back To The Future design? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Ernstk (talk • contribs) 20:26, 29 November 2007 (UTC)

"Different Models"?

What exactly is this section showing us? Different car models the filmmakers used? Obviously not different models of the car in the film itself (it's all the same one car... not multiple cars...). Different modifications made in the film? This is not a "model". I would argue that only the former (different models used by filmmakers) would be valuable info, and I don't see any evidence that that's what this is (no sources anyway) TheHYPO (talk) 20:24, 15 December 2007 (UTC)

"Pop Culture"

I'd like to know, where in Half-Life is the gravity gun is mentioned to have a "flux capacitor". I just want to know, because I thought I would have heard of that by now. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 69.122.222.24 (talk) 08:47, 5 January 2008 (UTC)

That does seem a bit odd, as I've played through Half Life 2 and Episodes multiple times and nothing is mentioned about flux capacitor. Might be fair game to remove it if no source is provided, such as a sound clip.--CLS (talk) 01:05, 6 February 2008 (UTC)

I just cleaned up the pop culture section. Although it could be entertaining to read about every possible reference to DeLoreans and Flux Capacitors ever made, it is inappropriate for an encyclopedia article to have this much. Beatdown (talk) 16:52, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

Put it over on the TV Tropes.org ... 98.223.234.148 (talk) 06:55, 27 February 2014 (UTC)

What about the DeLorean w/Christopher Lloyd's appearance in The Power of Love music video? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.0.198.250 (talk) 00:15, 17 February 2012 (UTC)

I believe a DeLorean also makes an appearance in Episode 4 of Season 3 of Castle (TV series). 122.169.84.41 (talk) 23:45, 19 February 2012 (UTC)

Swedish singer Robyn mentions the DeLorean time machine in her song "Time Machine." The lyric is "All I want is a DeLorean."

In the television series Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, in the episode "Back to the Present", This blue version of the DeLorean has a few functions and the time traveling ability are the same as seen in Back to the Future. Near the end when the Jetsons family from The Jetsons return to their home time, get into a DeLorean and drive through the wall, leaving a pair of fire trails behind, then Doc Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd) looks in through the door.

The future Beastie Boys visit their younger selves using the DeLorean in the short film Fight For Your Right Revisited.

The DeLorean and Doc Brown were mentioned in the movie "Knocked Up." Seth Rogan was saying that with the DeLorean he could change the facts and not be due to become a parent.

In the cult film Donnie Darko, a film that uses time travel as a key theme, there is a scene between Donnie and his science teacher when they are discussing the possibility of time travel, and Donnie cheekily mentions the DeLorean.

In an episode of The Chasers War on Everything, the team berate former Australian Prime Minister John Howard after a political decision by saying that he should go back in time in the DeLorean time machine and change his mind.

It also appeared behind Lil Wayne in the music video "Look At Me Now."

It also appeared in the 2011 remake of "Arthur" starring Russell Brand.

In the video game Taz: Wanted, Taz gets into the DeLorean. Right after the car disappears leaving fire trails, Yosemite Sam's "Taz Catcher" Workers, runs up behind where the car was, then fades out of existence. When Taz arrives at his destination, the car is covered in ice, just as it was after making its first time travel trip in the first movie. They also runs over a dozen "Taz Catcher" Workers, implying that their deaths erased the Taz Catcher Workers.

Mattel's Hot Wheels toy line has created two toy replicas of the time machine: first, as a Japan-only exclusive that was released in 2001; and second, as part of their main toy line in 2011.

Kanye West mentions the time machine in his song, 'Good Morning.' "Look at the valedictorians, scared of the future while I hop in the DeLorean."

In “1977 2000”, a second-season episode of Get a Life, Chris Peterson investigates ways he could time travel. He is seen having a DeLorean in his driveway, but decides not to use it because the turn signal is broken.

In Driver San Francisco, the DeLorean DMC-12 is an unlockable car. When driven at 88 mph, the camera zooms out and a secret challenge map is unlocked.

In Car Town, the DeLorean DMC-12 can be available in 3 configurations, including stock model and Time Machine configurations. The Time Machine configuration can be bought directly from the car dealer or upgraded from stock model.

Burnout Paradise features a DeLorean DMC-12 mock up called the Jansen P12 88 Special.

In Merry Christmas, Drake & Josh, Crazy Steve drives into a Christmas parade in a DeLorean, from which the license plate spins and falls off.

In the animated series American Dad!, it was revealed that Stan Smith has built his own DeLorean DMC-12 in the episode “A DeLorean Story-An”, but he had never seen “Back to the Future”.

In various Family Guy episodes Back to the Future DeLoreans are featured.

In Owl City’s music video for “Deer in the Headlights” Adam Young is seen to be driving a DeLorean time machine.

In the 2014 movie A Million Ways to Die in the West, Doc Brown (played by Christopher Lloyd) and the DeLorean time machine makes a cameo appearance. When the main character Albert Stark bumps into Brown he asks “what’s that?” (referring to the time machine). Brown quickly covers up the time machine, calling it's “a weather experiment,” in reference to the first film.

In the Regular Show episode “Skips vs. Technology,” the character Techmo is seen driving a DeLorean. In one scene, the car appears to be traveling through time.

In the episode “A Skips in Time”, Techmo’s stormchasing car resembles the DeLorean, with its gull-wing doors and ability to fly. At the end of the episode, Techmo and the car vanish as if they’d disappeared through time.

In Regular Show: The Movie, the ball-shaped time machine invented by Mordecai and Rigby is powered by plutonium, similar to the DeLorean in the first movie.

Techmo’s DeLorean makes another appearance in this special episode, now with Star Wars laser blasters and the ability to fly.

In the July 14, 2015 episode of Pittsburgh Dad, the titular character tells his kids what he would do if he had a time machine, which then goes to a “what-if” cutaway of Dad time traveling in the DeLorean.

In the 2015 short film Movie Magic, the Fairy Godfather gives the character Cody a DeLorean to take his date to the movies.

In Transformers: Rescue Bots, a solar-powered DeLorean is seen in the episodes “Hotshots”, “The Other Doctor”, “Time After Time”, and “Hot Rod Bot”. Invented by Dr. Greene, this version of the DeLorean features green fluid tubes around the car’s body resembling the wiring on the outside, a round core connected to these tubes is in the same position as the flux capacitor, and the gauge meters in the cockpit resemble the ones (including the alarm clock) seen on the inside of the DeLorean time machine.

The car was later destroyed by the MorBot in the episode “The Other Doctor”; however, in the episode “Time After Time” Dr. Greene has either rebuilt the vehicle, or made a new one.

In “Hot Rod Bot”, the car was involved in a test using a remote controlled device meant to speed up cars, similar to how Doc Brown controlled the DeLorean Time Machine in the first film.

In one of Wile E. Coyote and Road Runner CGI shorts from The Looney Tunes Show, Wile.E's stolen rocket car's accidental time traveling ability is the same as the DeLorean's time traveling ability, except it goes up to 9999 mph instead of 88 mph.

In Lego Dimensions, Lego versions of Doc and the DeLorean time machine appear in a Lego version of the 1885 Hill Valley where he meets the main characters: Gandalf, Batman, and Wildstyle, and they help Doc load the time machine into the back of a stagecoach. Doc then departs to hide the DeLorean in the mines.

A second DeLorean, commandeered by Marty, later appears in the middle of a battle between the protagonists and Lord Vortech (ramming him in the process) and picks up Doc after the battle has ended.

A smaller vision of the DeLorean is also a playable vehicle in the game, as a part of the Back to the Future Level Pack, but uses a flight mode instead of the road to time travel.

A miniature remote control vision of the DeLorean is playable if the player is playing as Doc Brown.

In the 2015 animated film, Dreamworks' Home (2015 film), the characters Tip and Oh have a slushy-powered, apparently sentient car named the Slushious. This vehicle has the same flying capabilities as the DeLorean time machine.

In the 1990 television special, The Earth Day Special originally aired on ABC, Doc Brown appears in the DeLorean time machine to report that the future is “not good” due to the environmental destruction caused by mankind.

In the television series, Pac-Man and the Ghostly Adventures, the zucchini-shaped rocket that appears in the episodes “Pac to the Future” and “Cave Pac-Man” share a few functions with the DeLorean time machine. For example, the rocket creates a burst of light in front of it as zooms forward at high speed, and similarly leaves a trail of yellow smoke when it time travels.

In an episode of the television series, The Librarians (2014 TV Series) called The Final Curtain, the DeLorean time machine can temporally be seen in the time machine room when the sheet covering it is lifted revealing the “OUTATIME” license plate.

In Teen Titans Go! (TV series), the time machine built by Cyborg and Beast Boy in the episode “Staring into the Future” has a core that resembles the flux capacitor. A dark blue, weaponized version of the DeLorean appeared in the episode "The Day the Night Stopped Beginning to Shine and Became Dark Even Though It Was the Day".

In 2015, Jazz pianist Aaron Diehl released a composition “Flux Capacitor” from his “Space-Time-Continuum”.

In Raving Rabbids: Travel in Time, the washing machine-like time machine has several functions that are the same as the DeLorean, including the flux capacitor, time circuits, and the speedometer. The time washing machine also appears in Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle where an accident with an invention called the SupaMerge helmet causes it to fuse the Super Mario world and Rabbids world into one.

In the 2015 video game Rocket League, the DeLorean Time Machine is available as a playable car through downloadable content.

The 2003 song Year 3000 by British pop-punk band Busted references a “flux capacitor” and the chorus talks about the time machine being “like the one in the film I’ve seen”.

In the 2004 film The Polar Express, which was also directed by Robert Zemeckis, the flux capacitor can be seen in the train at a certain point.

In Lego Jurassic World, the DeLorean Time Machine also makes a cameo appearance at the dig site in Lego Jurassic Park III. It is shown half-buried in the dirt with one of the dig site workers holding the “OUTATIME” license plate.

In the fan-fiction story My Immortal the protagonist Ebony Dark’ness Dementia Raven Way is helped through time by “Morty McFli’s blak tim machine”(as the author regularly misspells it), an all-black version of the DeLorean Time Machine.

In one of the queue videos in The Simpsons Ride, located at Universal Studios Hollywood, Professor Frink uses a DeLorean Time Machine to go back in time to save Doc Brown from having the Institute of Future Technology closed and replaced with Krustyland and accidentally running over the banker who would have kept it open.

In Robyn’s song ‘Time Machine’, she mentions the DeLorean.

In one episode "Captain Girl", from the television series Drawn Together. Wooldoor Sockbat takes off in the time-traveling car called, the Wooldelorean. Right after the car disappears leaving fire trails, another Sockbat clad in Western gear, runs up behind where the car was, then fades out of existence. When Wooldoor arrives at his destination, the car is covered in ice, just as it was after making its first time travel trip in the the first movie. He also runs over a male and female Sockbat, implying that their deaths erased the first Sockbat.

In the episode "Snapmobile", from the animated Nicktoon series ChalkZone. Snap's car that resembles the DeLorean, with its gull-wing doors and the ability to fly.

In the Disney Junior cartoon, PJ Masks, the cloning machine that appears in the episode "Catboy Squared" has a power source that resembles the flux capacitor.

In the videogame Mario Kart 8, when using the Golden Mushroom and when a vehicle passes over a blue zone, it looks much like the DeLorean.

In the television series, Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir, the akuma-transformed police car that appears in the episode "Roger Cop" has the same flying capabilities as the DeLorean time machine.

In the visual novel Steins;Gate, the mails sent back in time are called DeLorean Mail.

In the movie Lego DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League - Cosmic Clash, the Batmobile-transformed Cosmic Treadmill has a few functions and designs that are similar to the DeLorean.

In the British science fiction television series, Doctor Who, the flying vans that appear in the episode "Gridlock" have the same flying capabilities as the DeLorean, including digital clocks in the cockpits that resemble the time circuits.

In Mater's Tall Tales, in the episode "Time Travel Mater", Mater's time traveling ability is similar to the DeLorean, except he sneezes instead of going up to 88 mph to activate the clock on his nose (which plays the role of the flux capacitor) that instantly makes him travel through time and he makes only one flash of light when he lands in the past or future.

In the 2005 racing video game Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, when Carlos gets into the DeLorean from the films. It includes the Mr. Fusion Generator and the California OUTATIME registration plate. Right after the car disappears leaving fire trails, another Carlos clad in Western gear, runs up behind where the car was, then fades out of existence. When Carlos arrives at his destination, the car is covered in ice, just as it was after making its first time travel trip in the first movie. He also runs over a male and female Carlos, implying that their deaths erased the first Carlos.

The DeLorean also appeared in Steven Spielberg's upcoming 2018 film, Ready Player One (film). (based on the 2011 novel, where it is named and plated "ECTO-88", and it includes parts from KITT and the Ecto-1), as an OASIS mod. The version seen in this movie is a 2015 version, with red lights on the front, an "OUTATIME"-like license plate with "PARZIVAL" written on. The DeLorean is also equipped with a device that collects OASIS coins, as the car is usually drove with gullwings opened. For a brief moment, it also uses the rocket wheels for hovering at a few centimeters from the road, but it appears like it cannot actually fly.

In the 2003 version of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the Sewer Slider build by the turtles has an identical shape and the same flying capabilities as the DeLorean.

In Total Drama Action, in the episode "2008: A Space Owen", it shows the Lame-O-sine drove away and leaving the set like the DeLorean going to time-travel in the first Back to the Future.

The DeLorean makes a brief appearance in the season 3 episode of The Fairly OddParents, Cosmo Con.

In all of the various Blazing Dragons episodes Back to the Future DeLoreans are Featured.

In the television series, Danny Phantom, Surfer Dude's car that appears in the episode "What You Want" has the same flying capabilities as the DeLorean time machine.

In the racing video game Midnight Club: Los Angeles, The DeLorean time machine is the smaller vision and which is the playable car in the game, as a part of the Back to the Future Level Pack, the car was powered by Plutonium, and used by Player. For Example: the digital 88 speedometer is in the dashboard, the time circuits with the keypad is featured, the flux capacitor is in the cabin and the letters DMC between the headlights are the same as seen in the first Back to the Future. When Judas gets into the DeLorean, turn on the engine, turn on the time circuits and punching the keypad in the Midnight Club 1985 timeline. The car takes off, it going up at 88mph, the flash of blue light is glowing in the wormhole emitter, and creates a burst of lightning sparks in front of it as zooms forward at high speed. The car disappears in a flash and create a massive explosion, leaving a double animated fire trails behind and the California OUTATIME registration license plate spins around and landed on the roadway. When Player arrives at his destination, the car is covered in ice, just as it was after making its first time travel trip in Doc Brown's Temporal Experiment Number One. He also runs over some pedestrians.

In one of the Spy vs. Spy cartoons, the DeLorean time machine was used as a trap by White Spy to trick Black Spy into time traveling into the past during a drag race, only for Black Spy to alter history (literally) and trigger White Spy's defeat. This black and white version of the DeLorean has a few differences: the speedometer is under the flux capacitor and the letters DMC between the headlights are replaced with SVS.

In the video game Grand Theft Auto Online, players can purchase a vehicle called "Deluxo", which is heavily based on the DeLorean from the films, barring the time travel components. It includes the abilities to hover close to the ground and fly into the sky, much like the 2015 DeLorean.

The DeLorean can be seen in the 2015 TV series The Last Man on Earth in the Season 2 episode "30 Years of Science Down the Tubes".

In the 2003 racing video game Midnight Club II, when Hector gets into the 1971 Bestia, which it turns into the DeLorean Time Machine from the films. It includes the Mr. Fusion Generator, the California OUTATIME registration plate and the Bumper Sticker in the back that reads, "Time Travel Movies Rock!". The car takes off, it going up at 88mph, the flash of blue light is glowing in the wormhole emitter, and creates a burst of lightning sparks in front of it as zooms forward at high speed. The car disappears in a flash and create a massive animated explosion, leaving fire trails behind and the license plate spins and falls off. When Hector arrives at his destination, the car is covered in ice, just as it was after making its first time travel trip in Doc Brown's Temporal Experiment Number One. He also runs over a male and female future mutants, implying that their deaths erased the first mutant.

"Behind The Scenes"

I believe the material that has been posted there is from the behind the scenes material on the DVD set of Back to the Future. If someone wants to figure out how to cite it, that is where I would look. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 204.83.222.146 (talk) 03:18, 10 February 2008 (UTC)

Liquid Nitrogen or Dry Ice

one part of the article says that liquid nitrogen was used to freeze the outside of the car while another part says dry ice. Which is it? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Uther Dhoul (talk • contribs) 16:55, 25 February 2008 (UTC)

Liquid nitrogen is definitely used for creating some of that frost. However, dry ice is typically more effective for creating theatrical fog that sinks to the ground. My guess is that there was some confusion on part of the contributor. However, we need some sort of citation to confirm my guesses.—Maikeru Go (talk) 12:38, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

I believe that the frozen exterior of the DeLorean was due to the effects of travel through time. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Cybergothiche (talk • contribs) 15:03, 26 May 2010 (UTC)

Iced DeLorean in part I only. False.

"Upon arriving at the destination, the DeLorean is extremely cold, with ice covering much of the exterior (this is only seen in Part 1) for reasons not made clear in the film (although often explained away by fans as a result of Doc Brown's upgrades to the DeLorean with future technology seen at the end of Part 1). In real world terms, it was a matter of production cost/logistics of applying dry ice to the vehicle to achieve the effect, which was felt to be insufficiently important to continue in the sequels."

First, one only needs to watch the movie once to see that there is indeed ice on the DeLorean in part II. At the point when Doc and Marty go back to 1955 and park behind the Lyon Estates billboard. The hood is completely covered in ice.

Second, I don't know how anyone could claim themself a fan if they were to not know this fact in the second film and would explain away that Doc's upgrades reduced or eliminated the accumulation of ice during time travel.

Last but not least, what producer and/or director (Speilberg for that matter) would decide that the COST to produce the ice effect would be too great when it was applied multiple times in the first film and is obviously not a very complicated or involved special effect even for the 80s. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Molec (talk • contribs) 18:07, 14 March 2008 (UTC)

There are spots of ice on the DeLorean that are clearly seen when it comes to a dead stop on the tracks at the end of Part III. So, it was still happening, but to less of an extent. KnightCrusader (talk) 13:49, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

I would hypothosise that the icing of the DeLorean was, in fact, a Bose Einstein condensate, rather than ice, formed by the time machine traveling faster than light. CybergothiChé (talk) 20:56, 28 May 2010 (UTC+10)

Possibly, but FTL is not required for TT, TT is a side-effect rather than a requisite. Penyulap _talk 02:45, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

DeLorean or De Lorean?

Both are used. Are they both also correct? Correct spelling is "DeLorean," after founder John DeLorean - all spellings should reflect this.

P.S. The Flux capacitor chapter says the "what makes time travel possible" part twice. Too repeating. Apoyon (talk) 10:43, 27 May 2008 (UTC)

Repetition

The same idea is conveyed in more or less the same words on two seperate occasions. Its the part about Doc getting the idea about the flux capacitor from a knock in the head. I will remove one of them to make the article read a little better. --Reballare (talk) 03:30, 5 June 2008 (UTC)

Parts about the Mr. Fusion being a parody of Mr. Coffee and based on a Krups machine is repeated also, as well of synopses of all of the films basically occuring multiple times. Also how many times does it need to be said that the thing operates at 1.21 gigawatts, really? RazerWolf (talk) 05:11, 27 April 2009 (UTC)

I removed a redundant sentence fragment in the "Infinite Velocity" section regarding the 88mph joke. The sentence "The 'joke' involved is one of great subtlety indeed - owners and car aficionados familiar with the DeLorean DMC-12 would be the only members of the audience to appreciate the wit of the film-makers." completes the thought; the section removed was "would be the only members of audience to" that was dangling off the end after the period. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Enotdetcelfer (talk • contribs) 07:33, 29 May 2009 (UTC)

"Deus ex machina"

This term is used improperly to describe the Flux Capacitor... It is supposed to refer to a plot device that appears suddenly to solve away a problem. How is the time machine a deus ex machina? It doesn't just appear suddenly. It's a main component of the films.

Perhaps the term is just used because the Flux Capacitor is so advanced that one cannot explain its machanics, therefore making it a plot device that is improbable? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 76.173.128.228 (talk) 05:35, 8 June 2008 (UTC)

In that case, the time machine itself could be considered a deus ex machina

. Im not sure I agree with this term myself. There are plenty of time travel movies, does this mean they all utilise this kind of plot device. --Reballare (talk) 05:18, 10 June 2008 (UTC)

I have to agree that it's not a deus ex machina. It is no more unexplained than a warp drive or stargate. It is just the nature of science fiction to have imagined technologies. Gonna change it. Matuszek (talk) 03:31, 14 July 2008 (UTC)

The capacitor itself couldn't be called a deus ex machina, as the term generally doesn't refer to an actual device, explained or otherwise. In BTTF II when Marty jumps off the building to escape Biff, the DeLorean would be the deus ex machina because it was an extremely unexpected saving grace. 70.142.53.62 (talk) 03:52, 7 September 2008 (UTC)

Requested move (2008)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

De Lorean time machine → DeLorean time machine — There is no external support (that I can find) that shows a space between "De" and "Lorean" being used in everyday and common use. All sources I find (Google and BTTF) show no space. The article title should be titles on how most people spell the name. — NuclearVacuum 14:38, 20 July 2008 (UTC)

---

The above discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

Bot report : Found duplicate references !

In the last revision I edited, I found duplicate named references, i.e. references sharing the same name, but not having the same content. Please check them, as I am not able to fix them automatically :)

• "DVD" :
  • {{cite video | people= Zemeckis, Robert Gale, Bob|year=2002|title= Back to the Future: The Complete Trilogy DVD commentary for part 1| medium= DVD||publisher= Universal Pictures}}
  • {{cite video | people= Zemeckis, Robert; Gale, Bob|year=2002|title= Back to the Future: The Complete Trilogy DVD commentary for part 1| medium= DVD||publisher= Universal Pictures}}

DumZiBoT (talk) 01:47, 13 August 2008 (UTC)

6 Cars, plus a full-scale fibreglass model

"The Behind The Scenes" section lists the count at 3. While there may have been 3 for the first film I have a source that says 6 real ones were used with 1 lightweight, full-scale fibreglass model used for flying shots. One of the real ones was an easily disassemblable "process" version that was used for interior shots. The fibre-glass model was used in sequences where the miniature could not be used (shots where the actors are clearly visible and the landscape/set pieces are shown—eg. landing in 2015, rising up from beyond the roof's edge in alternate 1985, hovering above Marty while lower the rope of flags at the end of the film, etc.)

This information is from the book Back to The Future: The Official book of The Complete Movie Trilogy by Michael Klastorin and Sally Hibbin, London: Hamlyn, 1990. ISBN 0 60057104 1. "Seven DeLoreans, including one 'process' car which can be dismantled for easy access, and a lightweight fibreglass model, were used in the filming. (pg 40)" In a later part of the chapter, in a separate paragraph of text, it clarifies with, "A lightweight, full-size fibreglass DeLorean was built, complete with radio-controlled wheels. This DeLorean was flown by wires with the aid of a crane.(pg 43)"

So we can account for 1 of the 3 (the "process" car for interior shots) the original section author stated. We subtract that from the 7 total cars—as well as the lightweight full-scale, fibreglass model—and we have 5 cars left. So we can officially cite it as 7 used (one of them being the fibreglass model) for the trilogy—I'll make that change. Now the question being is what were the other 5 cars used for? This is the part that we really need citations for. I recall that there were at least 2 that were built near identically with the latter being a spare that wasn't really used, but I can't find support of that and thus we can't use it. I haven't seen the commentary or any of the behind the scenes shows on the DVDs so we may have our answer there. If someone can account for the other 5 cars and cite it that would be great.—Maikeru Go (talk) 12:35, 11 September 2008 (UTC)

Jigowatts ? Gigawatts ?

A gigawatt is a billion watts. What is a Jigowatt ? Ed Mercer (talk) 02:19, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

A fictional unit of energy used in the film, obviously for the purpose of preventing it from being scientifically scrutinized. Nightscream (talk) 03:19, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

The only obvious thing about it is the fact that it is fictional. But I digress. Is there material to support it's use ? Ed Mercer (talk) 23:04, 2 November 2008 (UTC)

Apart from the spelling in the caption, why dismiss the possibility that the intent was "gigawatt"? (Has anybody seen the actual script?) According to Merriam-Webster [1] the preferred pronunciation has a soft "g". — Preceding unsigned comment added by BenStrauss (talk • contribs) 16:59, 5 November 2008

You are correct. The actual unit intended is the gigawatt. Originally, the prefix was correctly pronounced as "jiga" where the g is pronounced as in the word giant.

Weird thing though the watt is a unit of power which is an energy rate. Power can't be stored in a capacitor, energy can, so the unit should have been gigajoules (GJ).

Yes, Ed, I concede that the purpose of its use is my understanding, and not verified. As for the spelling in the closed captioning, that is the source. As for the script, the article mentions it, but I see that it is unsourced, so I fact-tagged it. As for the pronunciation of gigawatt, I'm surprised to see that Webster gives that pronunciation, though the American Heritage Dictionary gives both pronunciations as valid. Me, the only pronunciation I've ever heard is with the hard "g". I'm all for trying to discover sources for the script or the creators' intent, but it's hard with this type of topic. There are a number of books about the film (both novel adaptations and "making of" books) at Amazon.com here. If someone has one or would be interested in buying one, I'm all for it. Right now, it's not in my budget. Nightscream (talk) 17:48, 5 November 2008 (UTC)

I agree with Nightscream that the most common pronunciation is with a hard "g", I only hear native romance language speakers such as myself use the soft "g". I'm not sure what the course of action should be, assume the closed-captioning is propagating a mistake ? A counscious choice of the scriptwright ? Ed Mercer (talk) 18:12, 8 November 2008 (UTC)

I've been a closed captioner for over a decade now, and I need to interject that the captions should NEVER be used as a spelling verification. Captioners almost never have access to an original script. 9 times out of 9, they're people having the exact same discussion you're having on this thread: "How the hell do you spell this? With a g or a j? Was it an intentional mispronounciation or made-up movie science?" Eventually, someone had to make a decision one way or the other, and it would be my guess that it was made because one captioner won an argument over another, not because any hard evidence was found. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.167.230.161 (talk • contribs) 13:33, 14 May 2009

How do you spell the phonetic term anyway? I always thought it was "Jiggawatt" Toad of Steel (talk) 19:14, 23 February 2009 (UTC)

Mispronunciation seems more likely when you take into account it serves no purpose to have an artificial unit in the script, any quantity could be chosen, as no scientific scrutiny is possible on the topic of Energy required for TT. Given the power dissipation of a machine that size, and the duration of it's operation, 3GW is a pretty good estimate for instantaneous power consumption.Penyulap _talk 02:56, 30 July 2011 (UTC)

The jiggawatt was supposedly because christopher lloyd didn't know the correct pronunciation of the word at the time of filming.

The unit jigga is non exsitant. considering an entire nuclear power plant produces 3GW it would seem ludicrous to conclude that this was REALLY a larger unit of power, —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.157.205.136 (talk) 23:00, 22 August 2010 (UTC)

Was the 1955 modifications vacuum tubes or transitors?

Doc said that the damaged time circuits could not be repaired until 1947 (the year the transitor was invented). However, when we see the modifications it looks like Doc-1955 used vacuum tubes. Transitors were not used much for computers until the 1960s... So whats the deal? 98.207.171.2 (talk) 13:28, 9 December 2008 (UTC)

External sites advertising rentals

It is now obvious that advertisements for renting this car should be removed just as advertisements to rent any other car should be removed from corresponding articles. UPDATE: This is my original reference to preventing solications/advertisement of rental and replica services. Retrotechexpert (talk) 18:34, 10 April 2021 (UTC)

Flux Capacitor Tech

Is it possible that the flux capacitor was derived from something like "The Philadelphia Experiment"? Was it not an intense magnetic field that was helping to make the ship invisible, and supposedly moved it in time? If you take what a capacitor does (stores up an electrical charge, perhaps for a quick release later) and what flux is (measurement of a magnetic field), it seems to follow that a flux capacitor would build up a "magnetic charge" to be released in an intense burst, moving the vehicle in time (don't come down too hard on me folks... I'm no physicist and this is imaginary tech). Any thoughts? Thanks! 98.148.24.191 (talk) 21:05, 25 February 2009 (UTC)

Ripple Effect/ fourth Delorean

The page says that the 4th DeLorean in 1955 would have only appeared in the mine shaft after the other one was struck by lightning and sent back to 1885 but wouldn't have been there earlier in the day. If it was there in 1855, wouldn't it have also been there earlier in the day? Therefore, I think it should be edited to reflect that for a brief moment there were 4 DeLoreans in 1955. Any thoughts? 98.115.0.204 (talk) 04:14, 20 April 2009 (UTC)

The entire "Interesting note" is atrociously written. Of course the fourth car would be in the mine. Inferring some sort of "ripple effect" is ridiculous. This paragraph could be reduced to a dot-point list of all the extant DeLoreans in 1955, or removed altogether. 118.210.33.165 (talk) 07:42, 27 January 2010 (UTC)

Infinite Velocity Joke (88 MPH)

Isn't it the case that all speedometers were limited to 85 MPH by the NHTSA in 1979 (55 MPH Speedometers)? This would make the joke accessible to anyone driving a vehicle made for the American market in the period 1979-?. I know my first vehicle, a 1987 Buick Century, had this limitation. I got the 88 MPH joke. This was not specific to DeLorean drivers. —Preceding unsigned comment added by Byronshock (talk • contribs) 06:49, 17 June 2009 (UTC)

Is there any supporting evidence that this was done on purpose as a "joke"? It doesn't seem very funny. Also it seems to give the impression that the DeLorean couldn't go 88 mph because its speedometer doesn't go that high, which seems pretty silly. TastyCakes (talk) 15:49, 19 June 2009 (UTC)

Holy god. THAT'S THE JOKE. 118.209.79.252 (talk) 10:57, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

The DeLorean's speedometer goes to 95. Look when Marty is being chased by the Libyans. I am not sure why everyone is saying it goes to 85. KnightCrusader (talk) 13:53, 1 October 2009 (UTC)

Not only does the spedometer clearly go to 95 in the movie, contrary to what the article currently states, it hardly explains the "joke". Why 88? Why not just 86 miles per hour or, say, 90 miles per hour? DMAJohnson (talk) 19:07, 24 October 2009 (UTC)

Just checked the DVD commentary. In the scene where they're testing the DeLorean with Einstein in it, the commentary notes: "People frequently have asked why... what's the significance of 88 miles per hour? And the only significance to it is that it's easy to remember." DMAJohnson (talk) 19:22, 26 October 2009 (UTC)

Because *in REAL LIFE* the speedometer goes to 85mph. In the movie it doesn't, because movies are fictional, and thats a part of the joke. Why is this such a tricky concept on this talk page? 118.209.79.252 (talk) 11:01, 8 November 2012 (UTC)

Flux Capacitor? Or "Flux Compass"?

Has anyone else noticed that the drawing held up by Dr. Brown in the first movie doesn't actually say "Flux Capacitor"? The wording on the paper is Flux Compass. —Preceding unsigned comment added by IrrationalSanity (talk • contribs) 02:43, 18 August 2009 (UTC)

I have this movie on my PC, and I was able to pause at the moment Doc Brown held up the paper drawing. It does appear to me to be "Flux Compass." The only explanations I can think of are 1) that was the original working name of the device, or 2) Doc Brown simply came up with a better name for it in the 30 years of working on the device. ^Avicenna_sis @ 08:35, 4 February 2010 (UTC)

Or it's a movie that has continuity errors, just like every other movie. 24.20.165.55 (talk) 17:23, 13 February 2011 (UTC)

• anybody who knows a little string theory will tell you that the word is derived from compactification in string theory. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compactification_%28physics%29 flux compactification is how you deal with different dimensions. Aperseghin (talk) 15:10, 5 July 2012 (UTC)

Relativity

If the DeLorean is travelling at 88mph, then travels through time, does it maintain the speed of 88mph? To clarify my point, if the delorean travels through time, then the time factor of 88 miles per hour becomes changed, as when the Doc and Marty travel back to 1955, they travel a very minuscule distance, as they are travelling in time, but not in space, so they would maintain the speed of 88mph, but they have traveled 30 years into the past, therefore they would be travelling at 88 miles per what? Also, if they only travel in time, but not in space, then why, when they emerge from the time portal, does the Earth appear below them exactly where they were? Surely if they were travelling in time, but not in space, then the Earth would move below them, and would either be in a different part of the solar system/galaxy/universe (as the Earth orbits the sun, and the sun orbits the galaxy and the galaxy is flying away from every other galaxy at a tremendous rate), so they have, in fact, traveled in time (to move from 1985 to 1955 [or 1885 at the case may be]) and in space, to 'catch up' with the ever moving earth. Or, does the machine only require the 88mph to begin travelling through time? why does it need to be travelling at this speed to travel through time? I demand answers. CybergothiChé (call) —Preceding undated comment added 14:34, 7 June 2010 (UTC).

When it comes to the speed thing, I think it may be best to quote GLaDOS on this one: "Speedy thing goes in; speedy thing comes out." As far as the "appearing in the same place on Earth" thing goes, my theory is that Earth's gravity affects the wormhole in such a way that it keeps it in the same relative position no matter when in time it is. Where the 88 MPH part is concerned, I think it's just an arbitrary speed the creators came up with. It might be 88 because on the speed display on the dash, when all the number segments are lit up it reads "88". — Preceding unsigned comment added by Chris122990 (talk • contribs) 23:46, 1 September 2010

One possible 'scientific' explanation for the requirement of 88 mph is that the flux capacitor opens a (stationary) temporal gateway directly in the car's path that can only stay open for a very limited amount of time. Based on the length of 4.216 metres of a DeLorean DMC-12 and the given speed of 39.34 m/s (= 88 mph), this window of opportunity would have to be about 0.107 seconds long. That definitely sounds consistent with what has been seen on-screen, although it is doubtful that any thoughts went into this during the production of the film. -- 83.84.122.146 (talk) 00:33, 24 July 2012 (UTC)

Is 88 mph a subtle reference to the movie "Buckaroo Banzai" (1984)? Before appearing in BTTF, Christopher Lloyd co-starred in "Buckaroo Banzai." Although his character didn't appear until later in the film, the opening scene shows Buckaroo testing a jet-powered pickup truck. The truck contains a device called an "oscillation overthruster" to travel through dimensions after reaching a high speed, much in the same way that BTTF has a DeLorean which contains a device called a "flux capacitor" to travel through time after reaching a high speed. The jet truck went far faster than 88 mph (it achieved Mach 1.3), but was decorated with numerous tracking targets with "88" in them, and radio communication during the scene repeatedly referred to the truck as "HB88" and "Hotel Bravo Eighty-Eight". Could the producers have selected 88 mph as a hidden nod to Christopher Lloyd's previous film? -Aahz 24.125.195.21 (talk) 14:59, 14 July 2020 (UTC)

1.21 Gigawatts, Roman Numerals, MC squared

If MC is 1100 in roman numerals, then MC squared would be 1100*1100 = 1,210,000. 1.21 gigawatts is 1,210,000 kilowatts. E=mc^2 is a plausible inspiration for the flux capacitor's peculiar energy requirement: 1.21 gigawatts equals MC squared (in kilowatts) Would this be suitable to mention somewhere in the main article's text? I don't know whether it's just a neat coincidence or not. Qdiderot (talk) 03:10, 22 March 2011 (UTC)

E=mc^2 would not have units in watts, but in joules. E is energy, P is power, an energy rate. A capacitor is a device that stores things, like electrical charge or in the case of a flux capacitor, it would have to be energy, thus the unit gigawatt is wrong. It should have been gigajoule (GJ).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitor

A capacitor is a passive two-terminal electrical component that stores electrical energy in an electric field.

DeLorean Rear seats?

In the article it says that the Flux Capacitor is located between the headrests of the rear seats. DeLorean's don't have rear seats. Behind the driver and passenger is a sort of luggage compartment with cargo netting and that. No rear seats. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.28.183.209 (talk) 15:33, 27 March 2011 (UTC)

The DMC-24 stretched DeLorean had rear seats... though only prototypes were built before DMC went bankrupt. -- 70.51.201.106 (talk) 06:12, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

Move discussion in progress (2011)

The following discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

There is a move discussion in progress on Talk:DeLorean Motor Company which affects this page. Please participate on that page and not in this talk page section. Thank you. —RM bot 03:00, 22 July 2011 (UTC)

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The above discussion is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made in a new section.

A subsection for each version?

It would be great to have a subsection for each 'revision' of the car, which are quite distinct. What do people think? — Preceding unsigned comment added by 207.189.106.4 (talk) 18:32, 14 February 2013 (UTC)

on the Krups "Mr. Fusion"

Section on Mr. Fusion The appliance from which the prop was made was actually a Krups "Coffina" model coffee grinder.[citation needed]

I own the Trilogy on DVD. I also own one of the Krups coffee grinders. The Mr. Fusion is indeed created with a Krups, however I don't see where the Coffina came from. The bottom model info reads "Krups Type 223A COFFEE GRINDER." — Preceding unsigned comment added by 68.20.2.122 (talk) 06:23, 23 July 2013 (UTC)

1885?

Why Marty travels to September 2, 1885 instead of September 1? --CoffeeJohn75 (talk) 11:58, 17 August 2015 (UTC)

If Marty went to September 1, he takes the risk of interfering in Doc's activities when he wrote the letter. Doc would be very careful to avoid changing events they are counting on. As it turned out, Marty could have gone on September 1 and arrived in Hill Valley on September 2. Instead, he spent all day Sept 2 and overnight into the 3rd at the McFly Ranch. GBC (talk) 20:26, 10 October 2021 (UTC)

Other elements

The first paragraph in the Other elements section has some bizarre language that I can't seem to parse. Particularly the reference to "Fuel Public Motor Company" and "fusions the cockpit near the speedometer". Can someone help clarify? Ckoerner (talk) 19:01, 13 October 2015 (UTC)

I've taken it out because it doesn't make sense. If someone knows what it is trying to convey, please rewrite it and add it back.

"An alarm clock was also set inside the cockpit near the m.p.h. scanner, which was left there by the 1955 Doc that rings to let Marty know when to speed 88 m.p.h. toward the clock tower and it can still be seen inside the DeLorean for the rest of the three films and the additional video game. When the DeLorean does not start the engine must be registered to Fuel Public Motor Company (FPM), After the time machine arrives the engine is removed and Marty fusions the cockpit near the speedometer instead of an alarm clock. Additionally, there are boosters on the car's rear end that apparently help the DeLorean reach 88 m.p.h. and will blast steam after traveling through time. The Hover Train's tender booster seemly does the same."

Btljs (talk) 18:23, 18 October 2015 (UTC)

Ordinal numbers

"A similar, but more primitive, steam-powered flux capacitor is also seen in the chimney headlamp of Doc's second time machine, the Time Train, at the end of Back to the Future Part III" It's the second time machine in the Doc's personal timeline but was actually created a long time before his first. If he had been married as a young man would Clara Clayton be his second wife and if he had kids would Jules and Verne be their younger or older siblings? Btljs (talk) 18:17, 18 October 2015 (UTC)

Images

As a heads-up I have listed all the images on this article for deletion from commons here. ed g2s • talk 09:45, 21 October 2015 (UTC)

Listing has been withdrawn after hearing back from the uploader. ed g2s • talk 10:51, 25 October 2015 (UTC)

m. p. h. scanner

Is there such a thing? Are we talking about a speedometer or something more sophisticated? Btljs (talk) 08:40, 22 October 2015 (UTC)

Fuel line damage in Back to the Future 3

In the main article, it states that the DeLorean's fuel line was damaged after Marty went offroad. It's been a while since I saw BTTF3, but I thought the fuel line was ruptured by an arrow, not by offroading. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.28.216.156 (talk) 20:37, 5 December 2015 (UTC) you are correct.84.212.111.156 (talk) 22:25, 21 April 2017 (UTC)

This is incorrect. The arrow is lodged in some of the electronic components that are housed in the driver's rear quarter window. Marty pulls it out, throws it, grabs the photo of the tombstone and cowboy boots, closes the door, and puts the photo in his pocket. At this point, he pauses, notices a smell and sound, and bends over to see the fuel line damage (which is below the rocker panel, far below where the arrow struck, and no liquid is visible running down the car, as it would if the fuel line were punctured by the aforementioned arrow), when he then exclaims "Damn, I ripped the fuel line". "I ripped the fuel line", as in he pinched it or something while offroading. The scene can be viewed here Doctor W117 (talk) 18:57, 28 September 2020 (UTC)

infobox change 2016

DeLorean time machine
Side view of the DeLorean time machine
First appearance	Back to the Future
Information
Launched	1985
General characteristics
Class	DeLorean DMC-12
Propulsion	Internal combustion engine

I'd like to change the infobox from {{infobox fictional artifact}} to {{infobox fictional vehicle}} as seen here. Does anybody object or have any input? — fourthords | =Λ= | 16:31, 26 July 2016 (UTC)

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The TARDIS is "similar"?

Other than the fact that it travels in time, I can't see a similarity.

Also, it's mentioned in the "pop culture" section, which infers that the DeLorean and the movie series influenced Dr Who - a TV show which is now over fifty years old. In fact, I would suggest that it's possible that the TV show influenced the Back To The Future series - especially as Spielberg is reportedly a fan of the original run of the Dr Who series. --24.182.92.247 (talk) 17:40, 2 January 2017 (UTC)

• Yeah, there is no way Doctor Who was ever influenced by BTTF: in fact, the original series was still in production when the first movie came out. The only potential influence is that the elderly-looking Doc Brown falls in love with a schoolteacher named Clara in the third movie, and in the 2014-2015 seasons of Doctor Who, the Doctor, who by this point looks like a man in his late 50s, falls for a schoolteacher named Clara. Even so-called "shippers" tend to dismiss this as total coincidence (for one thing, Doctor Who's Clara was named after the middle name of a beloved, and now-deceased, former co-star on the series, Elisabeth Clara Sladen, not the BTTF character). 70.73.90.119 (talk) 14:23, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

What colour was DeLorean anyway? Was it silver, or grey perhaps? Is there any difference between the two at all?

I was always wondering how come nobody ever mentioned what colour exactly was DeLorean. It was never specified whether it was grey or silver, when it comes to colour. Does anybody know the right answer to this question of mine, or should I just ask Marty and Doc instead? Or take a guess? Help! Wikster X (talk) 00:12, 10 December 2017 (UTC)

It is metal colored. The car body panels are unpainted stainless steel. -- 70.51.201.106 (talk) 06:10, 6 February 2019 (UTC)

A Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion

The following Wikimedia Commons file used on this page has been nominated for deletion:

• Thermal heaters.png

Participate in the deletion discussion at the nomination page. —Community Tech bot (talk) 01:38, 9 January 2020 (UTC)

Million Ways to Die in the West

Added a couple paragraphs about the vehicle's cameo in the Seth MacFarlane film. As the director's own copy of the car was used, I felt it was germane to mention it both as an appearance and in the section about replicas. 70.73.90.119 (talk) 14:27, 21 September 2020 (UTC)

Replica Solicitations and Advertisements

There have been spam edits done to this page by DeLorean time machine replica service and/or rental providers in order to advertise their web addresses. Wikipedia is not advertising space and such these references should be carefully weighed for their significance versus an outright play for SEO gains. Users and IP addresses have been banned permanently for these infractions and the domains in question blacklisted. If you notice a domain citation that is clearly leading to a web address with solicitations for DeLorean Time Machine replica services, please notify this talk page and appropriate admin actions will be taken. Retrotechexpert (talk) 13:17, 12 May 2021 (UTC)

Calendar Fiddling

How did Doc program the time circuits? Did he allow for the Julian/Gregorian calendar changeover? If so, then entering the dates October 5 to 14, 1582, inclusive, should result in rejection or some kind of anomaly indicator.

On the other hand, Doc could simply program it so that the Gregorian calendar would have been in effect on the device since A.D. 299. If you wanted to go to October 4, 1582, Julian calendar, you would have to enter October 14. The discrepancy would increase by a day almost every century from 300 onward until it was a ten-day discrepancy. Doc would also have to be careful of New Year's Day references - in the British Empire, March 24, 1750 was the day before March 25, 1751, and 1751 was made a short year by moving New Year's Day from March 25 to January 1 effective with 1752.

If we stick with the original premise, that Doc would allow for the deletion of ten days in 1582, then if your target was a date/place (always the same place as place departed) where the calendar being used was still the Julian calendar, he would have to know the Gregorian date.

It is entirely possible that Doc simply didn't care about dates that far back, so he didn't worry about it except as a speculation of how he would travel to such times. That the time machine could not change location limited him to traveling through time only at the place he has moved the car to without time travel, i.e., if he did want to watch the signing of the declaration of independence, he would have to drive (or transport the car) to Philadelphia before using the time circuits. In this case, he likely would ignore the 1582 change and instead delete September 3 to 13, 1752. (If he was Russian, he'd delete January 1 to 13, 1918.) GBC (talk) 20:37, 10 October 2021 (UTC)

Back to the Future: The Ride post credits scene

Hey there, editor here. I saw something that had been erroneously listed on the article regarding a post credits scene of the ride that apparently featured Clara traveling to a farm sometime in 1947 with a repaired time machine. Kind of impressed that the information had been listed for as long as it had been with nobody catching it or possibly second guessing themselves on this supposed scene as riders got out of the ride vehicles and there were no credits to be seen anywhere since it was a theme park attraction. 71.47.74.163 (talk) 02:47, 7 April 2023 (UTC)