This is an officially licensed replica of the “Time Circuits” fitted to the dashboard of the DeLorean in the Back to the Future film trilogy from the 1980s. In the films they display destination time, present time, and last time departed.
Interestingly, according to those well-versed in Back to the Future lore, it would have been impossible for the DeLorean to travel back to a time before 0 AD or after 9999 AD due to the fact that the display lacked space for a minus sign or a fifth digit.
The dates and times displayed are all accurate to the film, but you’ll need to supply your own Flux Capacitor.
“First, you turn the time circuits on. This readout tells you where you’re going, this one tells you where you are, this one tells you where you were. You input your destination time on this keypad. Say you wanna see the signing of the Declaration of Independence – inputting “July 4, 1776”.
“Or witness the birth of Christ – inputting “December 25, 0000”.
“Here’s a red-letter date in the history of science. November 5, 1955. That was the day I invented time travel. I remember it vividly. I was standing on the edge of my toilet, hanging a clock. The porcelain was wet, I slipped, hit my head on the edge of the sink. And when I came to, I had a revelation. A vision. A picture in my head. A picture of this. This is what makes time travel possible. The flux capacitor.” – Dr. Emmett Brown
The Time Circuits with their distinctive three-tiered display, and the Flux Capacitor, became two of the most famous movie props of the 1980s, along with the DeLorean DMC-12 they were fitted to of course.
The Time Circuits you see in this article were developed by the team at Numskull Designs as an officially licensed Back to the Future product. It’s fitted with fixed dates from the film, and it was developed as a flicker-free ambient light that brightens your space without harming your eyes.
The Time Circuits can be powered by an included USB cable or via 3 x AA batteries for wireless operation. There’s no word from the designers whether you can also use plutonium sourced from some Libyans in a VW Type 2 T2.
It can be powered either via the included micro USB cable or with 3 x AA batteries for wireless operation, the batteries aren’t included however. The device measures in at 3.4″ deep x 8.3″ wide x 8.7″ high, and it’s now being offered for sale on the official Numskull Designs Amazon store.
Images courtesy of Numskull Designs
Articles that Ben has written have been covered on CNN, Popular Mechanics, Smithsonian Magazine, Road & Track Magazine, the official Pinterest blog, the official eBay Motors blog, BuzzFeed, Autoweek Magazine, Wired Magazine, Autoblog, Gear Patrol, Jalopnik, The Verge, and many more.
Silodrome was founded by Ben back in 2010, in the years since the site has grown to become a world leader in the alternative and vintage motoring sector, with well over a million monthly readers from around the world and many hundreds of thousands of followers on social media.
