"Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads." You'd be hard pressed to find someone who wouldn't immediately recognize Dr. Emmett Brown's iconic time travel machine, rump bristling with circuitry and Mr. Fusion, gull wing doors flung skyward. One thing's for certain. Of all the vehicles I've test driven over the years, rarely has one at

Possibly best known as the time-travelling machine in the 1985 movie Back to the Future , the stainless-steel DeLorean sports car is still popular with collectors. It could also appeal to new-vehicle buyers, since there are plans to produce a new replica model – but a piece of paper at the US government level currently prevents it from going ahead

When this DeLorean hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious... tickets. You're gonna get a serious ticket. At least that's what a DeLorean driver from California got for his troubles. Spencer White told The Signal that he decided to take his mother for a highway drive in the car for the first time. White said that he didn't rea

Someone had to do it, right? Surely, with all the media boffins and advertising gurus floating about in the world someone was going to find a way to riff on Back to the Future day... Well, everyone else can stop trying because Toyota just won the day with a five-minute spot. It draws a fairly long bow by tieing the Mirai fuel-cell vehicle t

Mostly, it’s the glasses. On the silver screen, a pair of thick-framed specs is good enough to disguise Superman as Clark Kent, so to the audience they’re sufficient as shorthand for Nerd. Usually it’s some well-known actress, dressed down and fitted with the Steve Urkel look, ready to be transformed near the end with a hair-flip and some slow, swe

Giorgetto Giugiaro’s name is synonymous with automotive design greatness. But don’t try to tell him he’s an artist. He was raised by artists – painters, to be precise – and that, in combination with spending his youth in the northern Piedmont region of Italy, the home of such marques as Fiat and Lancia, created the perfect storm in which to cult

Well, it's 2015. Where's my flying car? Turns out not everything that Back to the Future II predicted came true. Yes, there's a prototype hoverboard, but it's not ready for primetime. My Nikes won't tie themselves. If you wear a double-tie you just look like a complete idiot. And, most importantly, you can't get a flying DeLorean. Actually,

Just out, the new Ghostbusters franchise has an all-new Ectomobile with which to bust ghosts. It's still a Cadillac hearse, but this time a 1980s version. The purists are angry, of course, spewing ectoplasmic rage all over the internet, but given how collectible the original car would be now, maybe the move is not so bad. And hey, whatever happe

Can't afford one of the new breed of hypercars? Oh yes you can – in brick form. Coming soon to a toy store near you (and eventually your desk), leaked images of Lego's 2015 model lineup reveal that a pint-sized, brick-based Porsche 918, Ferrari 458, or McLaren P1 will all launch as official Lego sets. Lego's been on something of a roll – no pun

Quick question: If you're both a parent and car owner, which scenario would you prefer to see: (a) your car gets a scratch on its door or (b) your kid gets a scratch on his arm. Easy choice, right? Hey, the kid's gonna heal in a couple of days, but a scratch on the car? Now we're talking tragedy. So, in light of this protectiveness which most of us

It's been a science-fiction dream for decades but one Dutch company thinks that they have achieved the Holy Grail of transportation: the flying car. The car they're showing off isn't exactly the hover-Delorean that Back to the Future promised or the flying saucer that George Jetson will use to soar over the clouds, but PAL-V claims that their Lib

It’s tough enough to get any business off the ground, but the sheer size and scope of an automobile company adds an extra level of tough. For every automaker still around today, there are hundreds that have been lost to history. Some survived for decades, and companies like Studebaker and Oldsmobile celebrated their centennials before fading awa

Great Scott! Is it 2015 already? Well, let's take a quick look-see at how accurate Back to the Future II was. • Still need roads. When Marty McFly successfully navigated the trials and tribulations of time travel, his reward wasn't a stainless-steel super(ish) car, it was a truck. • Nikes don't tie themselves. • Hoverboard not avail

Photos courtesy of studios. Cover photo by Doug Kline. When Dan Aykroyd's Ray Stantz first brings home a stray, the Ghostbusters aren't too sure about it. “Everybody relax: I found the car,” he says, pulling up in a grey-primered old 1950s relic, “Needs some suspension work and shocks. Brakes, brake pads, lining, steering box, transmission, rea

LOS ANGELES – There’s virtually no signage on the outside of the Petersen Automotive Museum, but it’s impossible to miss the building on Wilshire Boulevard. Covered by an outer skin meant to represent air moving over and around a vehicle, it houses ever-changing displays of some of the world’s most important automobiles. The museum was founded i