Great Scott, I Bought Four of Them
There are moments in life where you make a decision that is, on the surface, entirely unnecessary, and yet somehow feels not only justified but almost morally correct. Buying three additional copies of the same LEGO set is one such moment. Let me explain.
The Set: A Long Time Coming
For several years, LEGO fans had been asking for a new minifigure-scale DeLorean Time Machine. And so when LEGO Speed Champions 77256, the Time Machine from Back to the Future, was announced for January 2026, the collective exhale from the LEGO community was audible from space.
357 pieces. £22.99. Marty McFly and Doc Brown minifigures. The first 2-in-1 Speed Champions set ever made. And a design that, finally, actually looks like a DeLorean. We were off.
The Build: A Genuine Joy
Let's talk about the build experience, because it is excellent. The set contains 357 parts with four new mould pieces that have never appeared in LEGO before and you feel that care and thought throughout the build. The techniques are clever without being frustrating. The details reward attention.
The rear of the car is particularly impressive, with the flux bands wrapping around the bodywork, rear lights captured with printed and brick-built detail, and a stickered tile designating the set as a "DeLorean." Inside, removing the printed windscreen reveals two seats and a printed window panel representing the flux capacitor and a printed brick showing the time clocks, displaying 1955, 1985, and 2015.
Both versions of the car feature the rear air vents, cockpit, flux capacitor, and time calculator, the essential BTTF details, and the whole thing sits on the shelf looking genuinely, properly right. The shape is fantastic, with similar proportions to the far larger 18+ DeLorean set despite the much smaller scale.
The Problem: Two Versions. Four Movies. You See Where This Is Going.
Out of the box, set 77256 officially supports two configurations. Build it with a lightning rod and California number plate from the first movie, or rebuild it into the flying version from the second, with Mr. Fusion, an orange number plate, and sideways wheels.
Two DeLoreans. Great.
But there are four iconic versions of the Time Machine across the trilogy. The 1985 original. The flying 2015 version. The 1885 desert DeLorean from Part III, riding high with old-fashioned tyres on rough Utah terrain. And then the railroad version, fitted with train wheels to run along the tracks in the climax of the third film.
Four DeLoreans. One set. The maths does not work.
A brief visit to Rebrickable, the magnificent community hub where LEGO fans share custom builds and modifications, confirmed what I already suspected: the community had been all over this from day one. One designer, going by Fijabrickstar, built the desert DeLorean from Part III almost immediately after the set was announced, complete with the characteristic hood box, raised suspension, and old-style wheels.
And then there's the railroad version. The same designer took on the challenge of fitting train wheels to an 8-stud-wide Speed Champions car. The solution is elegant, clever, and deeply satisfying if you're the kind of person who thinks about these things at length. While my versions are not exactly like these two modifications, they provided the base for me to reuse any parts I had available.
The Solution: Buy Three More Sets
The answer, obviously, was to buy three more copies of 77256, build each one in a different configuration, and display all four DeLoreans side by side.
Three additional sets, a Rebrickable account, a handful of extra parts sourced from the community's suggested lists, I now have all four DeLoreans on the shelf. The 1985 original, lightning rod gleaming. The flying 2015 version, wheels splayed sideways ready for altitude. The 1885 desert version, suspension raised, hood box fitted, looking appropriately dusty and battered. And the railroad version, sitting on actual LEGO train track, exactly as Doc Brown intended.
They look absolutely magnificent. I am completely normal about all of this.
The Verdict
The LEGO Speed Champions Time Machine from Back to the Future (77256) is, without qualification, one of the best Speed Champions sets ever made. It finally does justice to the iconic DeLorean Time Machine at minifigure scale, with a good level of detail, clever build techniques, and two excellent minifigures at a price point that's genuinely hard to argue with.
Roads? Where we're going, we don't need roads. We need shelf space.
