When you think of Back to the Future, you’re virtually guaranteed to picture Doc Brown’s iconic time-traveling DeLorean — complete with its factory-made gull-wing doors and decidedly aftermarket flux capacitor. What you may not know that the film’s 1955 setting uses both plot-relevant and background vehicles to remarkable effect. Here are just a few of the noteworthy Chevys that made Back to the Future the film it is.
Plot-relevant
Excepting the DeLorean time machine, the most immediately recognizable vehicle in Back to the Future is probably the Chevrolet Bel Air. According to the IMCDB, four iterations of the classic car appear in the film, including the use of a megaphone-equipped 1955 Bel Air Nomad that drives around Hill Valley espousing the values of Mayor Thomas, and why he should be re-elected.
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The best Bel Air moment in the film easily belongs to the 1953 model that lays Marty McFly flat on his back after he shoves his father out of the way. The results are the potentially disastrous reset of the timeline, and the delivery of the immortal line, “Stella! Another one of these damn kids jumped in front of my car!”
Fun Moments
The whole Back to the Future trilogy is packed with iconic and moments and running gags, and one of them is the fact that the antagonist(s) — Biff Tannen and his ancestors — tend to end up under a pile of manure at some point. In the first film, the poop truck in question is highly suspected to be a 1951 Chevrolet Advance-Design High Rack, which ends up depositing its dubious cargo directly into the interior of a 1946 Ford Super Deluxe Convertible.
Of course, it’s also hard to forget the segment where Michael J. Fox skitches off the back of a police car, which happens to be a Chevrolet Malibu.
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All-important background cars
These cars may not tow away Marty McFly’s dad’s car (a Chevrolet C-30) or be his dad’s car (a Chevy Nova), but they set the scene and complete the 1955 illusion. Keep an eye out, and you might catch a glimpse of a 1951 Fleetline Deluxe, a 1952 Chevy 3600, and a 1953 Chevrolet 210.
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