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Lyft Has 'Back To The Future' Deals Today

by Alicia Lu

We are officially in the future — well, at least the future of Marty McFly and Doc Brown. Wednesday, October 21, 2015 has been dubbed "Back to the Future Day" because it's the date the protagonists travel to in Back to the Future Part II in order to save Marty's future children. Kinda makes you feel old, right? Don't worry, your consolation is pretty great: In celebration of Back to the Future Day, Lyft is offering free DeLorean rides in New York City. Why not live in the future the way Robert Zemeckis envisioned it? Trust me, a ride in the DeLorean is way cooler than a regular black town car.

Lyft has teamed up with Universal Pictures and Verizon to bring you the ultimate future-by-way-of-the-'80s experience. From 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., the rideshare service will offer users in the Big Apple a free ride in the famed DeLorean time machine. If you want to channel Marty McFly for the day, just request a ride in McFly Mode on the app for the chance to win a ride for up to 15 minutes. Lyft will certainly try to give users an authentic experience, but unfortunately, there will be no flying or time traveling involved. (You'd need to provide your own flux capacitor for the latter.)

Lyft is launching its Back to the Future promotion in conjunction with Verizon's #WhyNotWednesday campaign, which allows customers to win something every Wednesday, in the hopes of giving Hump Day as much buzz on social media as #ThrowbackThursday.

And what's a better way to make Wednesday awesome than riding in a DeLorean?

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But if you want to ride in McFly Mode, then act fast. There will be a limited number of DeLoreans on the streets Wednesday (Lyft declined to say how many exactly), and as usual, users' chances depend on their proximity and availability.

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However, even if you're not able to win a ride for the promotion, you can still ride in — or even drive — a DeLorean any other day of the week. What some might not know is that the DeLorean was an actual car model that existed before the Back to the Future franchise. The DeLorean DMC-12 was produced between 1981 and 1983 by the DeLorean Motor Company, and then modified and converted into a time machine for the first film in 1985.

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It might look more "'80s" than "future," but if you're so inclined, you can live every day like Back to the Future Day.