Film · Canada and United States · On-screen association · not ownership

Michael J. Fox

1981 De Lorean DMC-12 ‘Time Machine’ Hero Car · NHVR no. 29 · HAER CA-2377

Michael J. Fox’s actual Back to the Future Hero Car, a restored stainless-steel 1981 De Lorean time-machine prop displayed front-left at the Petersen; no registration is visible.
The actual 1981 ‘Time Machine’ Hero Car from Back to the Future, photographed by Sicnag at the Petersen Automotive Museum on September 2, 2018. The photograph shows the restored museum car; no registration is visible.Photo: Sicnag · CC BY 2.0. Joyride serves the current 4689 × 3128 Commons crop byte-for-byte. Commons records it as a crop of Sicnag’s original; Joyride applies no additional crop, resize, retouching, generation or vehicle reconstruction. No registration is visible. Responsive presentation may crop displayed edges.
Michael J. Fox at the 40th Primetime Emmy Awards in August 1988, photographed by Alan Light.
Michael J. Fox1988 · Identification portraitAlan Light · CC BY 2.0. Joyride serves the current 376 × 481 Commons crop byte-for-byte. Commons records it as extracted from Alan Light’s Emmy Awards photograph and later color-adjusted; Joyride applies no additional crop, resize, retouching or generation. The portrait remains separate from the De Lorean photograph.

The time machine was a real working prop

Connection
On-screen association · not ownership
When
Back to the Future released 1985 · exact car photographed September 2, 2018
Identity
Individual 1981 De Lorean DMC-12 ‘Time Machine’ Hero Car · NHVR no. 29 · HAER CA-2377 · no VIN claimed

The Library of Congress records Michael J. Fox as Marty in Universal Pictures’ 1985 Back to the Future. The National Historic Vehicle Register identifies this individual 1981 De Lorean DMC-12 as the film’s ‘Time Machine’ Hero Car. That is an on-screen association, not evidence that Fox owned the car.

The register says Universal acquired this car with two other De Loreans for the first film and still owns it. It records a 2012–2013 restoration spearheaded by writer Bob Gale, with the time circuits, flux capacitor and other film details restored or reproduced. The surviving museum car is therefore a restored production object, not untouched 1985 evidence.

Sicnag photographed the actual Hero Car at the Petersen Automotive Museum on September 2, 2018. The image shows the restored car from the front-left with no registration visible. Joyride does not claim a VIN, infer that Fox personally drove every shot, or treat this one screen prop as coverage of all production De Loreans or replicas.

Documented custody

Where the car went next

  1. 1985Fox plays Marty McFly

    The Library of Congress copyright record names Michael J. Fox as Marty in Universal Pictures’ Back to the Future. Screen association is not ownership.

  2. 2012–2013Hero Car restored

    The National Historic Vehicle Register records a Bob Gale-led restoration and says film details were restored or reproduced, so the present object is not untouched from filming.

  3. September 2, 2018The exact car photographed at Petersen

    Sicnag photographed the Universal-owned Hero Car on permanent loan to the Petersen. The image documents museum display, not Fox’s ownership or custody.

  4. Registry recordNHVR no. 29 · HAER CA-2377

    The register preserves a stable identity for this individual 1981 Hero Car and records that it is not currently in running condition.

Follow the evidence

Sources for this story

The Library of Congress identifies Fox as Marty in Universal Pictures’ 1985 film; the National Historic Vehicle Register identifies the individual 1981 Hero Car, Universal ownership, restoration, Petersen loan, NHVR no. 29 and HAER CA-2377; Sicnag’s licensed museum photograph shows that exact car. No personal ownership, VIN, untouched-1985 condition, current running ability, every-shot driving claim, production-family coverage or replica equivalence is claimed.

  • Back to the FutureLibrary of Congress · 1985 copyright deposit · reviewed 2026-10-05 · external source

    Universal Pictures’ 1985 film identity, Robert Zemeckis direction and Michael J. Fox cast as Marty.

  • 1981 De Lorean DMC-12Hagerty Drivers Foundation / National Historic Vehicle Register · Registry record · reviewed 2026-10-05 · external source

    Exact Hero Car identity; Universal ownership; 2012–2013 restoration; Petersen loan; original PRV V6 and five-speed; NHVR no. 29; HAER CA-2377; not-running status.

Reviewed

Why this is the actual car
  • Photo identity evidence

    The National Historic Vehicle Register identifies this individual 1981 De Lorean as the Back to the Future ‘Time Machine’ Hero Car, Universal property and NHVR no. 29 / HAER CA-2377.

  • Photo identity evidence

    Photographer Sicnag identifies the September 2, 2018 Petersen Museum image as the first of three movie-built De Loreans and licenses the existing crop CC BY 2.0.

The matching photographer, venue, date and vehicle history establish the identification; the chassis stamp is not visible in these photographs.