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There was a refined petroleum product called "petrol" available as far back as 1870 which was used (among other things) to kill lice nits and as a solvent. When internal combustion engines were being developed, this product, unchanged, was found to be an ideal fuel. Why couldn't Doc and Marty have bought some of that to refill the DeLorean?

JoelFan
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6 Answers6

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This is all just speculation, but some points to consider:

  • How many bottles of this “petrol” would be required to get to 88 mph?
  • To what degree is this “petrol” compatible with combustion engines from 1985?
  • There were no highways back then, where could you find a place to accelerate to the required speed? (If I remember correctly, flight was not an option.)
svick
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    As to compatibility, it might be the right chemicals, but I would imagine that the refining would have been a bit crude. A 1955 junker American car could burn stuff that a Delorian, being an expensive sports car, would have found quite unpalatable. – Donald.McLean Aug 26 '13 at 17:52
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    "This is all just speculation" - Well, no need to feel sorry, often enough such "hey, the writers didn't do their research"-plot-hole-questions just inspire answers full of mere speculation. – Napoleon Wilson Aug 26 '13 at 18:08
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    They had the flat desert for the accelaration – JoelFan Aug 26 '13 at 18:13
  • Alcohol could have been used as well ... I know they made plenty of that back then ... – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Aug 26 '13 at 19:16
  • @Paulster2, umm... did you actually see the movie? :) – JoelFan Aug 26 '13 at 19:31
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    @Paulster2, they tried alcohol. Literally the strongest stuff the local bartender had to offer if I remember correctly. It caused [if I remember correctly] the intake manifold to blow out. – Drew Chapin Aug 26 '13 at 23:12
  • Sorry people, I was being facetious. I will be more obvious next time. – Pᴀᴜʟsᴛᴇʀ2 Aug 26 '13 at 23:41
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    Come on, how many bottles would you need to accelerate to 88 mph? One gallon should be more than enough. That's like a dozen bottle. Yes, petrol could happen to be incompatible but it would unlikely be worth than alcohol which they tried. – sharptooth Aug 27 '13 at 07:45
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    @Paulster2 Then you should either use the sarcastic font or a :P – Tobias Kienzler Aug 27 '13 at 11:14
  • @druciferre great scene. – MDMoore313 Sep 18 '13 at 20:42
  • Would it be likely that a small town in 1885 would carry twelve bottles of this stuff? They had a (literal) deadline, and it's not like they could use Amazon Prime and get next-day shipping. – John Sensebe Sep 17 '16 at 19:18
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    @Donald.McLean Lol, expensive sports car. The DeLorean was powered by a weak V6 from Pugeot-Renault-Volvo, which would make ~130hp if you were lucky. In comparison, a 280Z had ~170hp, cost $10-8k less, and ended production 3 years before the DeLorean was released. DeLorean had all style (evident in the price), very little substance. An article from Car and Driver in 1981 pitted it against 4 other cars, and it came in 4th (granted one of the cars was a Ferrari...) http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/de-lorean-vs-chevy-corvette-datsun-280-zx-ferrari-308gts-porsche-911-comparison-test – n_b Sep 18 '16 at 04:46
  • Seems to me that anyone who could build a time machine probably could build a 19th century era refinery for any variety of hydrocarbons. – Kevin Milner May 17 '18 at 18:00
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They were going to try alternative combustible liquids. The first they tried was alcohol. The strongest one the could buy from the local bartender if I remember correctly.

With that the intake manifold to blew out and then it would have taken about a month to repair it according to Doc. They didn't have the time for that since they were planning to leave before the next Monday to avoid Doc's death.

Probably if they didn't blow the intake manifold they would have tried also Petrol eventually.

KarelPeeters
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Maurizio In denmark
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Because that wouldn't make a good movie.

In reality they could have burned Kerosene that no doubt has a higher octane rating (150) than petrol of the time.

With a low octane rating, they wouldn't have gotten to 88mph because the knock sensors would have cut timing and put the car in limp mode.

DustinDavis
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Petrol wasn't invented until 1870 or 1871 and it seems likely it was a small potatoes British business. While I don't doubt that some of their product made it to the eastern U.S., it seems very unlikely it was well distributed and probably would not have made it to the Wild West, especially California.

Even if it was sold in San Francisco, what are the chances it would have made it to Hill Valley? As portrayed, the town had made it to the iron age, but that was about it.

wallyk
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  • This. Even if it was on the market, it was not in the market in bumble fsck California at the time. – cde Sep 17 '16 at 06:26
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Part of the issue was that they had a time limit. Doc (and then Marty) was going to be murdered in a week. They didn't have time to do much more than try what they had available to them locally.

Jamie Z
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Doc was a scientist. So therefore he should have known gasoline was a by product (useless at the time) of the process of making kerosene. So in theory should have been pretty easy for Doc to cook up. But then again the movie probably wouldn't have been as good.

j salmons1999
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