The DeLorean has long been celebrated as the time traveling machine in the Back to the Future movies, but it once upon a time was actually a real car that people could drive and own. And it’s a popular collectible for fans of 1980’s pop culture.
One of the quirks of the DeLorean was that once it hit 88 mph, the flux capacitor would cause it to travel through time. I’m a millennial. I haven’t seen the movie. Don’t ask me how it works.
In the real world, though, apparently people who own DeLoreans can’t resist the temptation to hit 88 on the speedometer. But if you own a DeLorean and you are tempted to do so, it’s best not to do it in front of a police officer.
Via the Santa Clarita Valley Signal, one California driver got pulled over for speeding in his DeLorean going 88:
When Spencer White’s DeLorean hit 88 mph on Highway 14, he didn’t go “Back to the Future.” Instead, he got a ticket.
When Dr. Emmett Brown’s DeLorean time machine would hit 88 mph in the 1985 movie, “Back to The Future,” the flux capacitor would be activated. The passenger inside would then travel through time.
That’s not what happened to White.
Thankfully the officer had a sense of humor and is also apparently a 1980’s pop culture fan because the two shared a laugh about it. But the driver didn’t get out of the ticket.
“I thought, let’s take it up to 88 mph,” White said. “I only got three more miles to go.”
White describes hitting 88 mph for a couple of seconds before seeing a California Highway Patrol officer flashing his lights behind him.
He pulled off on the Newhall Avenue exit and was approached by a smiling officer.
“He asked me how fast I thought I was going,” White said.
The CHP officer, still smiling, told him that he was going exactly 88 mph.
“All of us started busting up laughing,” White said.
Amazingly, this is the second story we’ve encountered of a DeLorean driver getting busted for going exactly 88 mph. Last year a driver was pulled over in England for doing the same thing. I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the percentage of DeLorean owners getting speeding tickets for going 88 mph is probably higher than that of other manufacturers.
