While the DeLorean-based time machine was cool, it was really the wet black 1985 Toyota Pickup SR5 from Back To The Future that most people we know still dream about. Freshly waxed by Biff Tannen, of course. Toyota agreed, building the Tacoma Truck Concept for last year's SEMA show to look somewhat similar to that original.

Our friends at PickupTrucks.com had the opportunity to drive this SEMA special that's a homage to McFly's classic '85 pickup truck, taking the BTTF out to Southern California's Johnson Valley OHV park, where the ultra extreme King of the Hammers cross-country/rock crawl race is held.

It's not just the exterior that looks like it's gone back in time. The BTTF's inside is retro too. The brown and tan interior features seats with genuine 20-year-old Recaro cloth inserts. And when we say "genuine" — we mean it. The surplus patterns were found in the corner of a Toyota warehouse.

But this Tacoma ain't just a homage — it's got some serious rock-crawling street cred. That's thanks to the ultimate nod back to the Toyota Truck of the BTTF's solid front axle replacing the Tacoma's stock independent front suspension. Hardcore rock crawlers and trail junkies instantly recognize the credibility of an SFA because it provides better wheel travel off-road over obstacles than IFS does. It's simple, functional and practical, like the live-axle setup and leaf springs that continue today on almost every pickup sold in the U.S.

Want to know more? Head on over to PickupTrucks.com.

EATR, short for Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot, is currently being developed by Cyberdyne Cyclone Power Technologies (CPT) and heavily funded by our government via the DARPA research lab. Being built as a fully autonomous, long-endurance drone robot meant for long term scouting missions behind enemy lines, the EATR features a unique approach to the idea of refueling and quite frankly, an approach that scares the piss out of us. We'll let CPT explain how the system would work with their semi-sane description and then we'll give you our scenario;

"EATR is an autonomous robotic platform able to perform long-range, long-endurance military missions without the need for manual or conventional re-fueling. The patent pending robotic system can find, ingest and extract energy from biomass in the environment, as well as use conventional and alternative fuels (such as gasoline, diesel, propane and solar) when suitable."

In theory, this idea sounds fantastic and starts to remind us slightly of the Mr. Fusion device on that Doc Brown had installed on the Delorean in Back to the Future II. But that slight glimmer of revolutionizing hope quickly fades when we recall another one of our favorite sci-fi movies, The Matrix or maybe even the more recent Terminator: Salvation. You see, allowing autonomous robotic drones to roam free slurping up whatever kind of waste byproduct they want will initially prove to be quite successful. Feeding their steam-driven 'biomass furnace,' six-cylinder, 16-horsepower Waste Heat Engine (WHE) for the first couple of iterations will be simple. They'll be small, light and nimble, requiring only small bits of refuse and small foliage. At this point it doesn't seem so bad.

That's when it all changes. The need for larger, more powerful EATR drones will necessitate a larger so-called appetite. So where does it go from there? In a battlefield, that means that it'll find plenty of dead bodies of both animal and human nature, large trees, etc. Now CPT wouldn't want to limit the EATR's capabilities so it's also built in the ability to run on standard fuels such as gasoline, diesel and ethanol. Equipped with large articulating arms, the EATR will be able to use its artificial intelligence to seek out these fuel sources whether they are located in a fuel pumping station or just by forcibly removing it from a passing motorists car. After all, EATR will also be armed, so who's gonna say no to a fuel sipping autonomous robot that wants your gas?

We think you see where this is going and if you don't then you need to spend a few hours catching up on a few movies over the next couple of days. Call us skeptical, call us paranoid, but don't say we didn't warn you when you're being chased down the street, fearing for your life because Wall-E is hungry.

From the Cyclone Power Technologies Press Release:

[switched via theregister.co.uk]

'Chariots Retired' went on sale last night at midnight and will continue on throughout the day, so if you want an opportunity to own this killer limited edition T, you'd better get on it. This writer did.

TeeFury is a relatively new outfit started in 2008 by a bunch of graphic designers and artists interested in limited edition apparel. Their basic catch is that each t-shirt goes on sale for a single 24 hour period of time or until the first run of t-shirts sells out and then... poof! They're gone, never to be seen from again, except for the lucky group that managed to get first dibbs. And at only $9, they're cheap too.

The biggest difference between TeeFury and some of the 'other' limited edition t-shirt sellers is that rather than rely on a community vote, the designs are carefully chosen by a professional team of designers and artists, guaranteeing that the designs are of quality appearance and execution. We're hoping for some more of these 80's autogeek-gasmic Ts for us to grab in the near future. [via TeeFury]

Scott Listfield studied art at Dartmouth College and in 2001 found his muse. His oil paintings feature a "lone exploratory astronaut lost in a landscape cluttered with pop culture icons, corporate logos and tongue-in-cheek science fiction references." We got a good chuckle perusing his collection, so after taking a peak at the decidedly auto-erotic paintings below, head on over to his site and see the rest of his amazing work and maybe even see what his iconic Dinosaur has been up to.

[Astronaut Dinosaur via Booooooom]

Rock The Casbah
2005 36x48 — oil on canvas
©Scott Listfield, Astronaut Dinosaur

Mach 5
2005 18x24 — oil on canvas
©Scott Listfield, Astronaut Dinosaur

Stop Drop Kaboom
2004 36x36 — oil on canvas
©Scott Listfield, Astronaut Dinosaur

Waiting Dangerously In Rio
2009 24x48 — oil on canvas
©Scott Listfield, Astronaut Dinosaur

The Firebird
2006 36x48 — oil on canvas
©Scott Listfield, Astronaut Dinosaur

Back To The Future
2006 24x48 — oil on canvas
©Scott Listfield, Astronaut Dinosaur

Grand Canyon
2006 24x48 — oil on canvas
©Scott Listfield, Astronaut Dinosaur

It's A Question Of Simian Survival
2007 36x48 — oil on canvas
©Scott Listfield, Astronaut Dinosaur

Time Studios and XYZ Films will join Stainless Steel Productions in the race to share the rise and fall of both John Z. DeLorean's personal life and professional career. While previous attempts at making a film were failed due to DeLorean himself wanting to control the project, his death in 2005 at age 80 allowed the filmmakers to proceed full steam ahead. With the help of DeLorean's family and friends, the three film studios will feature everything from his successful GM days, his accused drug smuggling charges as well as everyone's favorite gullwinged DMC DeLorean. That's heavy. [via Variety]

Ha ha, fooled you. Take that Trekkies. [Youtube]

Inside the gallery there’s a bunch of cool gadgets and a gaggle of prepubescent dorks Gizmodo contributors and fans playing Call of Duty on a huge TV. But the tech inside is, as we just said, quite cool.

We are, of course, big fans of BTTF-related automobiles and have visited the new Delorean HQ to test drive a refurbished Delorean DMC-12. That being said, we're not quite so committed as Jeff. A funny sidenote to this story, the events that occur in the film involving the BMW are to occur almost exactly seven years into the future from this post. The story of his work below.

In late 2004, I was presented the opportunity by a fellowBack to the Future collector to acquire a huge piece of memorabilia from the films. That piece turned out to be the BMW used by the character Griff Tannen in the future sequence in the Café 80’s and hoverboard chase sequence. After making my way down the east coast from Connecticut to Georgia with my dad, we were soon in possession of the car. We ended up hauling it on a u-haul trailer on the back of a Jeep and smack-dab into the center of the blizzard of that December, right on the D.C. Beltway. We finally made it home safely and the work began.

What you’re probably interested are the details. It’s a 1976 633 CSI. This was the first year of production for the 6-series and this car was one of the first 400 off the line. From what I gather and during my restoration I found that it appeared to be originally silver. The car is a Euro-spec model with less than 75K miles on it. This was the model that BMW introduced the status panel to the left of the steering wheel. Also, that beautiful shark nose has always been my favorite BMW styling cue. The car was a gray-market import, but the paperwork has long-since been lost.

Going through the car, was quite a rush. I had approximately a month to hunt down missing parts from the movie, replace the interior, fix previous bodywork, fabricate missing bodywork and paint the car and get it ready for a car show in early February. After contacting another car guy who had some available space to work on it, the car was hauled to his garage and work was quickly started.

As you can see from some of the pics, there is a lot of one-off fabrication done on this car. The roof was chopped off and steel beams welded to the undercarriage to obtain the roadster look, without having the car fold in on itself like an accordion. Replacing where the rear window sat, was a custom deck lid that had long since disappeared. A temporary job had been put in place, but I decided to hack it to the core and build a new one out of fiberglass and bondo that more closely resembled the screen-used version.

Some hover conversion parts were scattered all the way up to New Jersey and I was able to locate those and then get them to a prop house in New York for reproduction as the originals were badly damaged. Speaking of originals, 3 of those tires are still original from the film, along with the broken taillight lens.

A few long and excitement-filled weeks later, the car was ready for showing. Think of the high-pressure you see on “American Chopper” and multiply that by like 10, remove the jerk attitudes and high-budget shops and tools and there you have it.

Currently, I’m hoping to find a dealership here in the northeast (or anywhere) that would like to display the car in exchange for working on it. There is still a lot to be done with the car, like getting the drive train straightened out, along with wiring the 320i taillights in, and making it roadworthy. Oh, that’s right, I don’t NEED roads.

If anyone knows a BMW dealership in the greater New England area don't hesitate to drop a note in the comments. Thanks to Jeff for sharing this wonderful and weird story with all of us.

What better way to top off two decades of reading (or writing) "Back to the Future" fan fiction (other than spending some needed "downtime" in a home) than buying a near-exact replica of Dr. Emmet Brown's time-machine Delorean. Reportedly the product of five years of research, this prop comes complete with a working mock-up of the Flux Capacitor, plutonium reactor and true-to-film interior lighting system with programmable time circuits. Reserve's not met at $45,500, but it may have a long and prosperous life ahead of it at the local BTtF convention and swap meet. See it in action (MOV) here, here, here and here. [Thanks to Brian and Matt for the tip.]

Back to the Future DeLorean DMC 1:1 replica [eBay]

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