DeLorean Time Machine replica to appear at Bama Theatre's 'Back to the Future' showing

It'll be Bill Simpson, not Doc Brown, pulling up to the Bama Theatre on Tuesday in his DeLorean Time Machine. Whether or not the stainless steel retro-futurist car can crank up to 88 mph, only time will tell.

But fans can take photos of the opened DeLorean DMC gull-wing vehicle, and all its looped wires, digital time-date display panels, flux capacitor and banana- and beer-can-fed Mr. Fusion Home Energy Reactor.

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The DeLorean replica will be out in front of the Bama Theatre, 600 Greensboro Ave., from 4:30-8:30 p.m. Tuesday, linked to a showing of the 1985 film "Back to the Future."

Simpson will be hauling his DeLorean from Bethlehem, Georgia., where he operates Simpson Movie Cars as a weekend hobby, and someday perhaps, a retirement gig. He's also adapted vehicles into a Gotham City Crime Fighter Bat One (the Batmobile from the 1989 "Batman"), "Jurassic Park" rough-terrain vehicles, the Black Trans Am from "Smokey and the Bandit," and more.

"It's just one of those things; I've always been a car guy," Simpson said. "I actually drove a 'Smokey and the Bandit' Trans Am back in high school," but for some reason sold it, and regretted that later.

"Back in 2012, my wife would call it a midlife crisis, I bought another one and began restoring it. Then when my daughter turned 16, she wanted a Jeep, and I thought the only way I'd do that would be to build a 'Jurassic Park' one," he said.

By the time the 2015 "Jurassic World" rolled into theaters, Simpson Movie Cars had updated to that film's Ford Explorer. His various replicas rent out for movie openings, birthdays, weddings — the bride and groom can drive off in a Time Machine, but only about 50 feet — corporate events, conventions and more.

"It's been replacing one vehicle with the next best one," Simpson said. "The Time Machine is the only one that's paid for itself. If there's anything else close, it's the '89 Batmobile." That long, swooping speed-tank and its companion vehicles post outside Atlanta Comic Convention annually, where Simpson charges a small fee for individuals, to keep his costs down.

These aren't cars used in the films themselves, Simpson stressed, but his own painstaking reproductions. Universal Studios built three main Time Machines for the "Back to the Future" movies; repaired models have sold at auction for upwards of $500,000.

"We bought a 23,000 mile DeLorean with the thought process when it comes in, we're gonna make it a time machine," Simpson said.

The much-vaunted DMC, aimed at launching the future in a more day-to-day on-the-road method not involving flux capacitors, launched in 1981, after numerous changes to early plans and schemes that suggested a production-line James Bond car.

Though its striking lines, doors that opened upward and brushed silver exterior drew eyes, the DMC rapidly earned a bad reputation for high prices (the equivalent of $80,000 to $100,000 today), poor build quality and performance, and uncomfortable rides. Ironically, the DMC couldn't hit the 88 mph required by Doc Brown's adaptations to leap forward or backward in time: Its speedometer only went to 85. DeLorean only rolled about 9,000 cars off the line, from 1981-1983. Roughly 6,000 are still around, with various collectors and owners.

By the time the 1985 sci-fi/adventure/comedy film came out in theaters, DMC (DeLorean Motor Co.) had collapsed. The car's appearance on-screen drew wild laughter. Director Robert Zemeckis had chosen it for the silver screen due to the DMC's silver sheen, and, reportedly, also because founder John DeLorean was being charged with cocaine trafficking, a widely publicized case due to the company's insolvency, its rise and fall. He was found not guilty by reason of entrapment, and in a final irony, wrote to thank Zemeckis for immortalizing his dream car.

While it couldn't save the car line, "Back to the Future" made $383 million in pre-Marvel-hero dollars, and its two sequels did nearly as well. People know the car now better for its film life than its actual existence.

Simpson found spare parts on Ebay, or through groups of like-minded movie-car fans. He estimates there are probably 120 adapted DeLorean Time Machines around the world. Most parts for the actual "Back to the Future" models were airplane surplus in the '80s, and thus tend to be expensive, and rare. Enthusiasts hunt down what they can, and then have to pay what's asked. Simpson paid $1,700 for one hose from a Sikorsky helicopter.

"Everybody looks at screen accuracy," he said. Detailing may not be picked over by an average fan, but serious followers know some of those wires go through 14 loops before they even pop into a plug.

Though his DeLorean can drive, he'll be bringing it to Tuscaloosa on his rollback truck.

"These cars are real small and tight. I don't know how John DeLorean ever fit in one. I'm not a big guy, and it's uncomfortable for me," he said. "It's stainless steel, so it's extremely hot, and those side windows are only 8 inches tall.

"On day one when I bought the car, I got stuck in it. Nobody told me you had to slam the door. I was trying to be easy on it." So he drives the DMC drives to events local to Bethlehem, or to the gas station, and that's about it.

Due to crowds that swarm, he'll have to put up extensions with velvet ropes around the Time Machine on Tuesday. But the DMC will open its wing doors wide, and play music and scenes from the movie. Fans can take all the photos they want, but Simpson can't allow everyone to sit in it, due to wear and tear.

"The only way I'd ever break even in this is if I'd sell all the cars," Simpson said. His day job in modular building keeps the tanks full, and the tires rolling. "I call this my 401K at work."

The movie "Back to the Future," final of the summer 2023 Bama Art House series, will screen at 7 p.m., with the doors, box office and Bama Bar (concession stand) open at 6. Tickets are $10 general, $9 for students and seniors, and $8 for Arts Council members. Punch-card tickets are available for $70, giving 10 admissions to any films in the ongoing series. For more, see www.tuscarts.org/bama/bama-art-house.

Reach Mark Hughes Cobb at mark.cobb@tuscaloosanews.com.

This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: DeLorean replica will be part of 'Back to the Future' at Bama Theatre