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With the 30th anniversary of the Back to the Future trilogy this year, and several networks showing it, I watched all three for the umpteenth time (and enjoyed every second of them), but wondered about something that happened in BTTF 2.

In 2015, when Biff realizes Doc Brown has invented a time machine, and gets a hold of the Almanac after Doc throws it away in the alley, he takes it, and steals the Delorean while Doc and Marty are getting 1985 Jennifer out of her 2015 house in Hilldale. He then goes back to Nov. 12, 1955 to give himself the Almanac, creating 1985A.

But where did he stash the Delorean while he was there?

Consider where we see 2015 Biff in 1955. We first see him hiding behind a tree in Courthouse Square as 1955 Biff picks up his damaged car, and begins talking to himself. He then drives his 1955 self home and gives him the almanac, leaving 1955 Biff's garage. He then must go back to wherever he's hidden the Delorean, and leave for 2015. Given that 2015 Biff is ~77 years old, uses a cane, and clearly is not the best shape, he could not have hidden it in a distant place.

He can't hide it near Courthouse Square, as there are too many witnesses. He can't hide it near Biff's house (apparently walking distance from Courthouse Square, as both Biff and Marty walked there in the previous scene) because, again, too many witnesses.

Most anywhere else that he might reasonably hide it (the school, Old Man Peabody's Farm, etc.), are too far to walk, and he doesn't have 1955 money to pay a cab driver, since he paid the 2015 cab driver with his thumbprint. He can't have 1955 Biff drive him, otherwise Marty would not have been trapped in the garage until that evening.

We know that in BTTF 2, on Nov. 12, 1955, that there were 4 Deloreans:

(1) the original from Marty's trip in BTTF (at Doc's lab)

(2) the one Doc and Marty bring back to recover the Almanac (behind the Lyon Estates sign)

(3) the one Doc leaves in 1885 for Marty to get home (the Old Delgado Mine), and

(4) the one Biff takes from 2015 to 1955 to give himself the Almanac (location unknown).

Where could Biff have hidden it?

UPDATE (Post-Oct. 21, 2015): I'm not trying to say "I told you so", but even CinemaSins agrees with me on how big of a plot hole this is in BTTF 2. Check out sin #75 from their video (or sin #55 had the Cubs won..... :-/), that mentions this same exact problem. Sorry, I can't help but smile at having posted an SE question about BTTF 2 over 6 weeks before CinemaSins posted about it... :-D

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    Biff is pretty dumb; he mightn't have even considered hiding it!
    – Often Right
    Commented Sep 7, 2015 at 2:40
  • 11
    Presumably not inside a pile of manure.
    – Wad Cheber
    Commented Sep 7, 2015 at 2:42
  • 4
    I'm more interested in why old Biff returns to the same timeline in 2015 he comes from, whereas he should return to the different timeline - the terrible future created by his changes in 1955 (see also this answer).
    – hindmost
    Commented Sep 7, 2015 at 13:58
  • I don't think it's that big a plot hole, he could have arrived at night with his lights off and flown right near the town center without anyone noticing, maybe he parked it on the roof of some building with an entryway on the roof, like the high school.
    – Hypnosifl
    Commented Oct 24, 2015 at 5:18
  • @hindmost - Bob Gale and Robert Zemeckis explain in question 1.9 of the official BTTF FAQ that old Biff doesn't return to the same 2015 he came from, instead 2015 changes around Marty and Doc and Jennifer around the time old Biff returns (in the same way that Doc said the alternate 1985 would change around Jennifer back into the normal 1985 if they succeeded in fixing history in 1955). It's true that 2015-A seemed to look just like 2015, but also see question 1.19 where they discuss the "self-preservation instinct" of the timeline.
    – Hypnosifl
    Commented Oct 24, 2015 at 5:25

2 Answers 2

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We can't really say

The crucial factor here is to remember that when Biff returned from 1955, he was driving the DeLorean in flying mode, ergo, he knew how to drive a hover-car. Because of this, it's possible he may have left it anywhere.

However, I have a theory...

Remember when Biff gets out of the DeLorean, he is in a lot of pain, clutching his chest. It is probably because he erased his existence. If Biff had changed the timeline, it wouldn't take very long for Biff to begin experiencing the effects of altering the timeline; unlike in Marty's case where there were fleeting opportunities for his parents to get together, as soon as young Biff got the Almanac, it wouldn't take long to determine the future. Hence, Biff would fairly soon begin to feel the effects. Because of this, I would suggest there wouldn't have been a huge time lag between Old Biff giving Young Biff the Almanac.

So, Biff probably wouldn't have hidden (assuming he hid it at all) the DeLorean too far away from Hilldale. If he had hidden it far away, he probably wouldn't have had the chance to get back to the DeLorean and our heroes would be stuck in the twisted future! It is certainly quite possible that he hitched a ride with someone both ways?

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    At least on the taxi question: like I said, he's got 0 cash. He paid with his thumbprint in 2015, so cash is irrelevant. Not to mention, even if he had it, it would look totally different than 1955 cash. Doc had a suitcase full of cash from various times, so it's clear that change in appearance of currency is well known.
    – iwantmyphd
    Commented Sep 7, 2015 at 5:53
  • Very reasonable theory, +1!
    – Praxis
    Commented Sep 12, 2015 at 4:58
  • The time taken to erase you shouldn't be proportional to the time of your death/birth...? I always thought that's why Marty is the last of the McFly brothers to be erased. If this is the case, according to futurepedia, Marty was born in 1968. That would give Biff plenty of time since he should have died AFTER 1985.
    – user102525
    Commented Sep 13, 2018 at 0:54
  • Reads through the answer... "Hmmm I'm not sure if this is right". Reads the username of the answerer.... "Ah damn. That's all you had to say!".
    – Sandun
    Commented Jun 9, 2021 at 12:37
  • I always assumed that Biff grabs his chest while exiting the DeLorean because he hit himself with his cane when he breaks it getting out.
    – Xantec
    Commented Nov 14, 2021 at 10:20
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Officially: we don't know.

Unofficially - I really doubt he hid it at all. First of all, its Biff - someone who on "The smartest person of Hill Valley competition" would show up only to give a wedgie to the winner. He probably even for a second wouldn't think that he might look weird getting out from the DeLorean in 1955 and even if he did - he wouldn't care: it is his last big chance to "Set things right". Also even upgraded to 2015 standards DeLorean wouldn't look THAT different than other cars - it could turn few heads but most people would shrug it of thinking "its a weird foreign sport car".

So in all probability he simply parked nearby to his 1955 self without any special thoughts about hiding his vehicle.

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  • I agree, I don't think Biff would have cared who saw him in 1955, his only mission was to get the Almanac to his past self. He is also so thick he doesn't pass out from seeing himself (either? both?) in different times (like Jennifer did).
    – Skooba
    Commented Sep 12, 2018 at 19:50

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