How to Put a Little of Doc Brown’s Famous DeLorean into Any Car

Marty: “Wait a minute. Wait a minute. Doc, uh… Are you telling me that you built a time machine… out of a DeLorean?”

Doc Brown: “Yes. The way I see it, if you’re gonna build a time machine into a car, why not do it with some style? 

The DeLorean does indeed have style and is famous across generations for being the car that became a time machine. In the famous car category they are relatively cheap compared to, say, James Bond’s Aston Martin, or the Ferrari 250 GT Spyder from “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off.” But with only about 6,500 DeLoreans left in the world, it may be hard to get your hands on one. 

If you are the proud owner of one already, though, for only $45,000 you can customize your ride to the exact “Back to the Future” specifications. Even if you don’t own the famous car, here are a few ways to get some of the DeLorean style into any car. 

Door Wings 

For roughly $400 you can purchase a gull-wing door kit and make the doors on any car open just like the DeLorean’s. It is a 2-door hinge conversion kit, and will require a bit of work on your part—unless you can get someone else to do it. It will instantly make your car the coolest in town. 

Flux Capacitor 

Those of you who have about $46,000 laying around the house you can get a Flux Capacitor that not only looks exactly like the one in the movie, but also claims to increase your car’s horsepower by 500%. That’s certainly one way to travel! (Although your auto insurance in Edmonton is almost sure to skyrocket with the added muscle to your ride! It may not matter if you travel to the past however….)

Buying a prop replica of the Capacitor (that does not affect your car’s performance) is a bit more budget friendly. You can buy one for $100-$300; the cost varies, depending on how many features you want it to have.

An even more budget-friendly option is to make your own replica. If you are willing to put in the time required this can be a much more rewarding option than just pressing a button to purchase it online. The materials can be found at most hardware stores and the cost of creating a good-looking replica can range (depending on the materials) anywhere from $50 to $200—although once it reaches that price you might as well buy one instead. My favorite tutorial was one I found on instructables.com. 

The best budget-friendly Flux Capacitor option is to download the app on your smartphone or tablet. It has an animated Capacitor with sound effects, and has the time board which doubles as an alarm clock. If that wasn’t cool enough, you can drop a pin anywhere on Google Maps (accessible through the app) and whenever you reach that location it will trigger the Flux Capacitor effects. Definitely the simplest and cheapest way to go! 

Stickers and Decals

Once you have your Flux Capacitor sitting pretty inside your car, you’ll need a little something on the outside to declare your car a time machine. You can get the look with decals of the DeLorean in time traveling action decals, or bumper stickers with different sayings from the show. 

My favorite bumper stickers are Doc Brown’s “Great Scott!” or “When this baby hits 88 miles per hour you’re gonna see some serious shit” to other things like, “My other car is a DeLorean,” “1.21 Gigawatts,” “Don’t worry, I’ve adjusted my Flux Capacitor to reduce my carbon footprint,” or the Mr. Fusion logo.  Or, you can go with Biff’s famous quote: “Why don’t you make like a tree and get out of here?”

From total car renovation to DIY Flux Capacitor’s and decals, any car can have a little bit of Doc Brown’s DeLorean in their lives—and just in time for the 30th anniversary of “Back to the Future” in 2015.