Back to The Future MODs Survey

[stranovegas]

I want to take a quick survey. If you, as a Stock Delorean Owner could convert your car into a NON-INVASIVE BTTF Car with things like: Exhaust fins, light up flux bands, and general outside Time Machine looking parts, that are attached without drilling holes into your car... Would you buy such parts?

I'm currently working on a project that will offer stock D owners some outside parts that can be attached to your car fairly easily without costing a fortune, and can be used for the BTTF owner for entertaining the public and detached when wanted.

Is this something the community might be interested in? My theory is, many of us owners are BTTF fans, but don't have the $$$ to send it to the professionals to get a permanent conversion. If you could purchase a few BTTF Exterior parts to attach to your car to impress the public, would you? I've attached some photos of my non-invasive conversion. Everything you see here is attached to the car yet can be taken off with no harm to the car itself.

Thoughts?







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[Soundkillr]

Moved to bttf forum. I think traffic will be better here, and this forum is better suited to what you're going to need to know. For sale area, is only for items you have for sale....

[stranovegas]

Moved to bttf forum. I think traffic will be better here, and this forum is better suited to what you're going to need to know. For sale area, is only for items you have for sale....

Thanks!

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[BladeBronson]

I wouldn't. I value both stock Deloreans and time machines, but nothing in between. For me, there's nothing worse than a DMC with a few BTTF props stuck on it.

[sdg3205]

No. I've found even when an event wants a BTTF replica, they're quite happy even to find a Delorean at all. When my friend Dan (2991) provided the DeLorean for the Michael J Fox charity golf tournament here in Burnaby a few years ago, he was quite chuffed when MJF commented about how nice it was to see a "real delorean without all the props on it for a change." Non-destructive or not, I'd still worry about damage, too. I might throw a flux capacitor in the back if i had one, but thats about it. I aspire to make and maintain my DeLorean as a fine example of the marque. Despite the joking around we do about DeLorean being kind of crappy, the reality for me is that it has been unbelievably rock-solid, reliable and enjoyable. I take pride in that and showing others that truth. BTTF is fantastic in it's own right, but it diverts attention in a different direction, and its a direction I'm not interested in pursuing.

[Jonathan]

No for me.

I don't like permanent, like others, but I would rather have a few interior BTTF props than exterior if I had either.

During car shows (some of them, not all) my BTTF set-up can include a flux capacitor that I sit on the parcel shelf, paper props including the magazine covers (Ooh La La, Sports Alamanac, Tales from Space, etc.) that I put in behind the rear quarter glass resting on the pontoon, the Save the Clock Tower flyer on the dash along with the OUTATIME license plate, and some FAQs in a clear plastic sleeve taped to the opposite rear quarter glass.

I've been interested at times in getting a hoverboard (until the for sale prices started to gouge), the plutonium gauges set-up to clip into the glovebox, and maybe that Old Biff top of the cane reproduction that someone on here made years ago.

Like Dave mentioned that MJF had said, I now tend to more often go to car shows and keep the car naked of all this BTTF stuff. Oddly enough, the last show I went to, the big British Car Day in Oakville in September, I did not put one single thing out with the car and I won 1st place in our class. I too am going in the direction of celebrating the car for the car and not for the movie anymore.

You asked, that's my answer.

[SamHill]

No.

[powerline84]

I am surprised at the responses so far. I think there is a market for this but what do I know lol. Me personally Ifeel I was to do anything it would be interior props. I think the exterior of the car is gorgeous ;-). I like the idea of a screen accurate interior car with a stock exterior. I am sure someone has done it.
Jimmy

[Mark D]

You may want to use the forum tools to add an actual survey to this thread at the top. You'll get a better response with people that may want to vote but don't want to type out a response.

I personally have no interest in a non-permanent type conversion for my car. I know a few people that have non-invasive mods to their cars but no real plans to ever remove them. The cars in particular I'm thinking of would take days to undo the modifications and aren't just a few stick on type modifications just for car shows.

It's also much, much harder to sell props that are not visually accurate than parts that match the screen used props. They don't have to be legit vintage aircraft parts but at least castings of original parts, or fabricated parts that have the same look as the screen used parts.

If people are not sticklers for accuracy then they are more likely to get creative themselves to build a replica (invasive or not) than to buy parts from someone else. If you're trying to set up a run of BTTF props to sell my advice is to build them so they are as visually accurate as possible. If you're main goal is non-invasive then that may not be possible in some cases.

OR you can sell parts that are less than visually accurate but then they would need to be cheaper than what some someone else could build on their own. People who don't care as much about accuracy tend to build with whatever they can get their hands on and aren't going to buy a 'kit' from someone else if they know they can find similar materials themselves for cheaper.

Another way to think about it is this: If there were 9000 DeLoreans ever produced, and roughly 6000 left in existence, 200 or less have been converted into time machines. Of those 200 cars, even if 10% of those were non-invasive conversions, that's only 20 people in the world that would be a potential market. Of those 20 people most are going to be the type that will get creative themselves and build something in their garage. Your market may less than a handful of people, or non existent.

[DMCVegas]

Personally, I would pass. Those items are big and bulky, and I wouldn't want to scratch or ding my body panels getting the props on and off. Then there are the logistics of where am I supposed to store all of the props when not in use. Because if I have a 2 car garage, I am going to park two cars in there and not kick a second one out to store the props.

Most of all though, while I love BTTF my fondness for the film kinda ends right there at the screen. I have a few collectibles, sure. But I'm not that in to it that I'd dress my car up as a cosplay accessory. Not because I'm afraid of permanent modifications, but because I'm not that passionate about it. But that's just me.

Having said that, I think that you've got a good idea on your hands. There also is probably a market for it too, but I don't think it's that big of one. If this was 13-18 years ago, you'd probably have an inbox full of replies and a line of people ready to buy such a product that would be beating a path to your door. Admittedly, I would have been one of them. But time has moved on and tastes have changed. Maybe it's just because so many people suddenly arrived on the scene to crank out all these soulless replicas devoid of passion that the time machine cars lost their luster. It was one thing to build your own car because you loved the movie, but when you're a conversion shop that doesn't give a shit about the marque and view the DeLorean simply as a disposable ingredient to turn a quick buck, resentment came and that certainly didn't help the perception of the cars. I dunno.

In any case, best of luck to you. I hope you can find your audience and make it work for you.