The Back to the Future movies are loved for so many reasons. Some love them for their plot, some for their eccentric characters, some can’t stop raving about their dialogue… the list is endless.
If you ask me, I have had my eyes on that time-traveling DeLorean forever.
From its design to its introduction in the narrative, everything about the car is picture-perfect. In fact, I think it’s that thing that holds the entire Back to the Future universe together.
But did you know that the time machine was not supposed to be a car in the first place? Rather, Robert Zemeckis had envisioned Marty’s time travel to happen in a refrigerator!
In this article, let’s unveil what led to replacing the refrigerator with the DeLorean as the time machine in Back to the Future.
What Is the DeLorean?
The DeLorean DMC-12
The DeLorean DMC-12 was a sports car created by entrepreneur John Zachary DeLorean and was produced between 1981 and 1982. While it had its own bits of dazzle, such as gull-wing doors and a stainless steel body, the car wasn’t really the greatest sports car and had significant issues.
The price point was high, and the quality control was inferior, given that the DeLorean Motor Company was fairly new (established in 1975) and lacked the experience for mass production.
Soon, the company went under, and the DeLorean was out of production.
A limited number of cars were sold, yet the car remains a milestone in the automotive industry. Not because of its automotive features, but what Robert Zemeckis and the team did in Back to the Future!
The car is a testament to the power of cinema. DeLorean might have created the DeLorean DMC-12, but it is Back to the Future that gave it relevance and an enduring legacy.
Why Zemeckis and Spielberg Discarded the Refrigerator Idea
Showing a refrigerator as the time machine would have been convenient. But neither Zemeckis nor the executive producer, Steven Spielberg, is known for taking the convenient way out!
The idea was that Marty would enter the refrigerator and, ta-da! He’d be transported back to the 1950s. However, a safety issue led to replacing the refrigerator with the DeLorean.
Early model refrigerators came with a safety latch to keep the door effectively shut, preventing food from going stale. However, it soon became a major issue, as children would sometimes climb into their refrigerators and get trapped, unable to open the latch from inside. The food safety feature quickly proved to be fatal, as several kids died in this manner.
The makers were quick to realize that if Back to the Future featured a refrigerator as a time machine, kids would try to imitate Marty and recreate the scene at home, which could lead to more accidents.
Why the Refrigerator Would Never Have Been as Iconic as the DeLorean Time Machine
The reasons are numerous and significant. Let’s recap the scene to understand its impact first.
1. The Scene and Its Impact
In the introduction scene, Doc Brown and Marty are standing in a parking lot. There is a complex-looking remote in Doc Brown’s hands, while Marty is busy filming the time machine—a DeLorean DMC-12.
Inside the car, Einstein, Doc Brown’s dog, is strapped in with a clock. He switches on the time machine. The lights of this supremely customized car flicker while the engine growls. The remote in his hand features rising numbers. Marty diligently captures every bit of what’s unfolding on his Handycam.
The speed dial races up as both stare at the car, anticipation rising. At around 70 miles per hour, the car starts moving straight toward Doc Brown and Marty.
As soon as it hits 88 miles per hour, the lights in and around the car turn on. Suddenly, it is engulfed by a strange purple cloud of electricity and starts making strange noises. It races straight at them before its wheels light on fire, and it vanishes into thin air.
When it returns to the present, the car looks like it’s had a long journey. Worried about Einstein, they quickly rush to set him free and find him unaware of what just happened.
Doc Brown is ecstatic to realize that his lifelong experiment is a success—the time machine is ready and working.
The moment marks a pivotal plot point that will drive the entire story. It is the car that carries Marty to the 1950s and then traps him there, because it breaks down.
The DeLorean vanishing into thin air and then returning to the present, with Einstein safe and sound inside, sets the tone for the narrative, leaving us to anticipate how the time machine will drive the story (wreaking havoc of some kind). Isn’t that what you expect of something so powerful?
Here’s Why the DeLorean Was a Better Choice Any Day
1. It’s Better Aligned with the Sci-Fi Tone and Aesthetic
Visually, the car is stunning, and its stainless-steel body distinguishes it from its peers. However, it was the gull-wing doors that sealed the deal for the makers and led them to select a DeLorean over a Mustang, even though Ford offered the production of the car.
The image of Marty getting out of a car with such spaceship-like doors is definitely more iconic than him opening a refrigerator door to step out into a different timeline.
2. Exclusive Yet Familiar
As I mentioned earlier, the DeLorean wasn’t as seminal a car as it was as a movie icon. Its gull wings and stainless-steel body had indeed garnered quite a bit of buzz, but it wasn’t a successful car.
Approximately 9,200 DMC-12s were produced between January 1981 and December 1982. By the end of 1981, about 7,500 cars had been produced, but only 3,000 had been sold.
That meant there were only a handful of this make of car on the streets, unlike refrigerators, which are an important household appliance and owned by everyone.
3. It Adds a Layer of Heroism to Doc Brown’s Character
The car made Doc Brown cool (it literally came back from the past frozen). The man was introduced to us as a mad, eccentric scientist who claimed he had invented a time machine that actually worked. He is basically a delusional nerd.
Now, place the car next to him. Bam! He’s suddenly cooler than you thought, now that you know that it was him behind that sharp-looking time machine!
The DeLorean in Back to the Future reminds us of how movies can immortalize anything.
What’s your favorite feature of the DeLorean time machine? Let us know in the comments!
