The DeLorean DMC-12
The only car that can take you anywhere, anytime, as long as you hit eighty-eight miles per hour.
The DeLorean DMC-12 is a stainless-steel sports car that transcended its reputation as a commercial failure to become the most iconic vehicle in cinematic history within this universe. Originally manufactured by the DeLorean Motor Company, it was purchased and radically modified by eccentric scientist Doc Emmett Brown to serve as humanity's first functional time machine. Its gull-wing doors and brushed metal exterior are instantly recognizable symbols of adventure across three decades.
Quick Facts
- Original manufacturer
- DeLorean Motor Company
- Primary modifier/owner
- Dr. Emmett L. Brown
- Key modification
- Flux Capacitor
- Time Circuits
- Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor
Lore & Background
The vehicle's operation is strictly bound by the laws of physics as understood by Brown; it requires a precise speed of eighty-eight miles per hour to bridge the gap between temporal coordinates. Doc mentions that the stainless steel body of the DeLorean has a direct and influential effect on the flux dispersal. Over the trilogy it travels to 1955, 2015 and 1885.
Reader's Guide
The DeLorean DMC-12 is less an automobile and more a temporal vessel, forged from stainless steel to withstand the rigors of time displacement. Its operation hinges on a single, non-negotiable threshold: reaching exactly eighty-eight miles per hour while channeling sufficient energy into its flux capacitor. It was originally powered by plutonium that Doc had taken from Libyan terrorists. He ingeniously retrofitted the chassis with 'Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor,' which converts household waste to power for the time machine's flux capacitor and time circuits.
More in Production & Legacy
Elsewhere in Back to the Future
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