The Flash Rods company has created a new die-cast custom hard drive shaped after the famed DeLorean time machine featured in the Back to the Future movie trilogy. There is a 500GB Seagate HDD inside the 1:18 scale replica car with working gull-wing doors.
Flash Rods said the stainless steel design has been in development for more than four years. The design has been closely mimicked to ensure authenticity, which is sure to please movie fans. I especially like the added Mr. Fusion reactor on the back of the car to make it even more authentic.
The rear license plate has been removed from the car and features the USB connector so the external HDD can be plugged into a PC. I'd strongly recommend using the 6' included USB extension cable when connecting the DeLorean to a PC or notebook.
The fancy hard drive costs $250 and is a novelty item available only on the Flash Rods website.
Flash Rods normally use smaller, Hot Wheels types of car designs for 4GB flash memory drives -- but this is an attempt to appeal to a different niche market, and movie buffs seeking a novelty item from Back to the Future.
Custom flash drives and HDDs are not new, with companies trying to release niche products to cater to enthusiast consumers. Thyme Machines, maker of custom flash drives, previously released custom Iron Man 2 and Star Wars flash drives as novelty products.
If nothing more, manufacturers are trying to shrink the size of portable products while increasing storage capacity of these custom products.
