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A Delorean Dr. Emmett Brown would be proud of

British Columbian spares no expense to recreate iconic movie car

Alyn Edwards
Jul 24, 2021  •  July 24, 2021  •  3 minute read  •  Join the conversation
Hank Funk spent 1,200 hours over two years to build an exact replica of the Back To The Future DeLorean.
Hank Funk spent 1,200 hours over two years to build an exact replica of the Back To The Future DeLorean. Photo by Alyn Edwards

Fraser Valley resident Hank Funk remembers the day he drilled the first hole through the stainless steel body of the rare DeLorean sports car he had purchased for $50,000. It was excruciating.

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But he was going to follow through with his dream: Turn the stock DeLorean into an exact working example of the time travel car that starred in the Back To The Future film trilogy. Michael J. Fox would approve. The job would consume 1,200 hours over two years of obsessive detail and work to get it right. After all, this nuclear-powered time machine would have to run on either stolen plutonium or banana peels, garbage and beer cans to generate 1.21 gigawatts, enough to power 1,000 homes, just like in the movie.

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Complete with the plutonium chamber, its own nuclear power plant, flux capacitors, spectrometer, a compass from 1972 and a period-correct Bulova clock mounted on the dashboard, the time traveler punches in dates for the future or to go back in time and hits the accelerator. As millions have seen in the film from 1985, all hell breaks loose at 88 miles per hour with flashing lights and screens, hissing, smoke and fog emissions – all blasting out to the soundtrack from the movie. The traveler is suddenly somewhere else in time.

“What did I tell you,” mad scientist Doc Emmett Brown is heard to say to 17-year-old high school student Marty McFly, aka Michael J. Fox. “There you have it. Back in time.”

So how did Hank Funk, a talented poster artist who has done renderings to promote rodeos all through the west and the founder of Cap-It International, a pioneering 27-store truck accessory and camping supply franchise, create a perfect replica of the car from Back To The Future?

“I went to see the original Back To The Future car at the Petersen Museum where it has been on display in California for almost 35 years and took hundreds of photos,” Funk says of his quest to get everything right.

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  1. The Back To The Future DeLorean with all the exotic equipment necessary for time travel.
    The Back To The Future DeLorean with all the exotic equipment necessary for time travel. Photo by Alyn Edwards
  2. The attention to detail is remarkable, to say the least.
    The attention to detail is remarkable, to say the least. Photo by Alyn Edwards
  3. The Mr. Fusion nuclear reactor is designed to run on plutonium or a diet of banana peels, garbage and beer cans.
    The Mr. Fusion nuclear reactor is designed to run on plutonium or a diet of banana peels, garbage and beer cans. Photo by Alyn Edwards
  4. Hank Funk taught himself air brush techniques to apply the proper flames on the DeLorean fuselage.
    Hank Funk taught himself air brush techniques to apply the proper flames on the DeLorean fuselage. Photo by Alyn Edwards
  5. Lift the hood to see the maize of wires linking inverters, batteries and high voltage capacitors.
    Lift the hood to see the maize of wires linking inverters, batteries and high voltage capacitors. Photo by Alyn Edwards
  6. The rear of the cabin is crowded with screens, lights and the electronic wizardry necessary for time travel.
    The rear of the cabin is crowded with screens, lights and the electronic wizardry necessary for time travel. Photo by Alyn Edwards
  7. Hank with his baby.
    Hank with his baby. Photo by Alyn Edwards
  8. The lounge in Funk’s Garage where the replica of the Back To The Future DeLorean was built.
    The lounge in Funk’s Garage where the replica of the Back To The Future DeLorean was built. Photo by Alyn Edwards
  9. Hot rods are also Hank Funk’s passion and he has many, including these two beauties.
    Hot rods are also Hank Funk’s passion and he has many, including these two beauties. Photo by Alyn Edwards

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Months of pre-build study resulted in dozens of plans, wiring diagrams and blueprints, painstakingly sketched out by the builder. Funk put together a five-page manual just so he could remember how to start and operate the famed time travel machine. After being told by audio/video experts that the remote-controlled time machine replica couldn’t be outfitted to do what he wanted it to do, Funk found a movie business special effects company in Las Vegas that said, “No problem.”
“Lucky this is a rear-engine car so there is lots of room under the hood,” he says of the maize of wires, inverters, batteries and high voltage capacitors linking this to that. “There are so many parts and components that people wouldn’t recognize anything.”

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The build took a lot of imagination and sourcing. The exhaust pipe for the nuclear reactor is from a Sikorsky helicopter, fuel lines came from a jet aircraft and Apache helicopter connecting rods are used as power components. Funk wouldn’t let his grandchildren sit in the car and witness time travel until they had seen the movie. “They wouldn’t have appreciated what this is,” he says.

Outtatime is the license plate from the original Back To The Future DeLorean made famous in the film from 1985.
Outtatime is the license plate from the original Back To The Future DeLorean made famous in the film from 1985. Photo by Alyn Edwards

The Back To The Future DeLorean wins top awards whenever it is shown. Funk hopes to continue sharing his dream machine with others by renting it out for special events like conventions, parties or birthday celebrations.

“I ask people if they would like to see the future or the past,” he says. “It’s funny: No one wants to see the future. They all want to go back in time.”

Hank Funk’s Back To The Future DeLorean does it all.

Alyn Edwards is a classic car enthusiast and partner in Peak Communicators, a Vancouver-based public relations company. aedwards@peakco.com

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