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Biff-ford2

Biff and his gang in the Ford.

" After a half block of falling rapidly behind their prey, Biff's pals turned and shrugged, looking to Biff for a new tack. / "Get the car!" Biff ordered. / The four hotfooted it over to Biff's convertible, which was parked nearby. A few seconds later, they roared off after Marty, burning rubber on the town square and disappearing in a cloud of black smoke. "
—From Back to the Future by George Gipe (quote, page 177)
" 'Here she is, Biff,' Terry gestured proudly, 'all fixed up, like new. Except we couldn't get her started.' He glanced over at the eager Tannen. 'You got a kill-switch on this thing?' / Tannen grinned at that. / 'Nope, you just gotta have the right touch,' he bragged. 'Ain't nobody can start this car but me.' / He climbed in the car and turned the key. The car growled to life on the first try. "
—From Back to the Future Part II by Craig Shaw Gardner (quote, page 144)
Marty: "Let's land on him, we'll cripple his car."
Doc: "Marty, he's in a '46 Ford. We're in a DeLorean. He'd rip through us like we were tin foil."
— As the DeLorean hovers over the Ford

The Super De Luxe was a model of vehicle manufactured by Ford during the 1940s.

Biff Tannen owned a 1946 model in 1955 which was a convertible, painted black with a red interior, and had the nickname "Shiela".[1] Its license plate number was 6H 96472.

Biff was the only person who knew the trick to starting the ignition (a push-button on the dashboard)[2], as he explained to Terry at Western Auto, who had been unable to start the car whilst working on it and wondered if it was fitted with a kill-switch: "You just gotta have the right touch. Nobody can start this car but me." Biff still remembered the technique in his old age — much to the amazement of his younger self, who demanded to know how this "old codger with a cane" knew how to do this.

History

Manure ford 1955

The Ford filled with the contents of a manure truck.

Smoking Required-Sign

The newly restored Ford Super De Luxe on display at the entrance to the Biff Tannen Museum in 1985A (on the far right).

"You just got to have the right touch. Nobody can start this car but me."
—Biff to Terry, regarding the trick to start his car.
Marty biffscar

Marty McFly hiding in the back seat of Biff's car.

After being provoked by Marty McFly in Lou's Cafe on November 8, 1955, Biff and his gang chased him in the Ford around Courthouse Square before slamming into a manure truck.

By November 12, Biff had the car repaired. In order to repair the damage to his car, Biff was pressured by Terry to pay $302.57 for the job, but refused payment. As he argued with Terry, both Marty and Biff's older self jumped into the Ford, with Marty hiding in the back seat. Old Biff drove the Ford back to his house and parked it in his garage before displaying the Gray's Sports Almanac.

Later that night, Marty snuck away in the back seat again as Biff drove to the Enchantment Under the Sea dance at Hill Valley High School. Biff parked the vehicle outside the door of the gymnasium and drove off in it after discovering that Marty had been after the almanac. Biff drove the Ford towards River Road Tunnel on the way home before Marty swooped in using the hoverboard. Biff and Marty fought over the almanac outside and in the tunnel, with Biff sideswiping the wall of the tunnel with the right side of the Ford. When Biff reached the end of the tunnel, he turned completely around and faced Marty who was still halfway inside. Biff charged the car towards Marty in the hopes of running him over, but failed when Marty grabbed a string of pennants attached to the DeLorean time machine. As Biff watched Marty and the DeLorean hover away into the night, he crashed the Ford into a manure truck again, filling his car with manure.

It is unclear what became of the Ford after 1955, but it reappeared newly restored in 1985A where it was on display at the entrance to the Biff Tannen Museum, alongside a waxwork figure of Biff.

Trivia

  • During the filming of the first two films, three different Ford Super De Luxe cars were used (a 1946 car, a 1947 model and a 1948 model). The 1946 car was a black coupe, with the roof cut off, so it looked like a convertible. This car was used the most, and was also the one that got covered in manure. The other two cars (the 1947 and 1948 Fords) were used in long shot or in close-up. The 1946 car was kept by Universal after Back to the Future Part II was completed and put on display in their back lot tour, before being sold to a private collector.[3]
  • Through the course of the first film, the car changes from a 1946 Ford to a 1947 Ford. This difference is noted by the fact that the 1947 Ford Super De Luxe differed from the 1946 model with the absence of the red accents on the grill and parking lights below each of the front headlights.
  • Another difference between the 1946 and 1947 Ford Super De Luxe is that the upholstery seating in the car changes.
  • As shown in Back to the Future Part II, when 1985-A Biff spoke of the manure incident from the first film, Biff states that he had rolled the car in a drag race a few days earlier. Marty correctly guessed Biff had crashed his car into a manure truck (much to the surprise of 1985-A Biff). When Biff demanded to know how he knew that, Marty lied that his father told him before he died. Also, unknown to Biff, Marty was responsible for his car being wrecked.
  • In Back to the Future Part II, when Old Biff gives the almanac to his younger self, the sun visors on the convertible are gone, while in the rest of the film, the sun visors are still there. The car also has sun visors in Back to the Future.
  • In Back to the Future: The Game, while Biff is restraining Marty, the player has the option to try and snap Biff out of the X-11 initiative by telling him about the license plates belonging to his car. Biff then calls his car "Shiela" as if it was the car's nickname, like calling a Camaro "Bumblebee" for instance.

Appearances

Notes and references

See also

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