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concept cars
LaBiche Aerospace FSC-1: Another Flying Car Just Around the Corner.
It's been a little while since we last had any flying cars (the hoaky Monster Garage created flying Panoz Esperante from the last BJ Auction comes to mind). Here's a nifty concept from LaBiche Aerospace called the FSC-1. Rolls right off the tongue doesn't it? The ambitious concept features something which actually looks like a car and does its best transformer act to become a multi-winged flying wonder potentially capable of 275 mph. Of course, they're just waiting for the funding as step one, step two is... something, and finally step three: huge profits. More »
commenter of the day
Commenter of the Day: Gerard Manley Hopkins Edition
As we have learned through the harsh tutor of experience, you can give people the past, the present, and above all else the future, and no matter what, they will still demand flying cars. We're getting there! Closer every day! And not always safely. It's understandable, this earthbound contempt for beloved vehicles that can't fly yet. Even retro-tech of a highly prescient variety is no salve. And so, onward (upward?) to the commenter of the day. More »
flying cars
Cell Craft Flying Cars Will Be the Future, Once Inventor Does More Inventing
Gino d'Ignazio Gizio has a dream. A dream where the average person has access to his or her own flying car. A dream where long commutes are a thing of the past and people take to the skies at 350mph with the freedom and ease we currently enjoy in our land-based cars (as long as we don't live someplace where there's, you know, traffic). Gino wants his Cell Craft to facilitate that dream. The problem, he hasn't quite figured out how it works yet.More »
barrett-jackson
Jalopnik still loves flying cars — it may still be part of our masthead, we can't remember — but here's a perfect example. It's the $100,000 Panoz Esperante converted by Jesse James of Monster Garage into an airborne vehicle whose first flight matched the success of the Wright Brothers. Seriously — they took it to Kitty Hawk where it actually flew in a straight line and then hit the ground just as hard as the Wright plane did. Here's the full description of the "Flying Car" from Barrett-Jackson, which just sold for a steal of a price at $45,000 (just under $55,000 with the auction fees):
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Barrett-Jackson: Panoz Esperante Flying Car Takes Off for Only $45,000
Jalopnik still loves flying cars — it may still be part of our masthead, we can't remember — but here's a perfect example. It's the $100,000 Panoz Esperante converted by Jesse James of Monster Garage into an airborne vehicle whose first flight matched the success of the Wright Brothers. Seriously — they took it to Kitty Hawk where it actually flew in a straight line and then hit the ground just as hard as the Wright plane did. Here's the full description of the "Flying Car" from Barrett-Jackson, which just sold for a steal of a price at $45,000 (just under $55,000 with the auction fees):More »
flying cars
Moller Expresses "Substantial Doubt" About Flying Car Future
Oh Noes! Our dreams of owning a Moller M400 flying car may be in jeopardy. The company's deficit climbed to $40.6 million in the third quarter of 2007, with a quarterly loss of $81,071. Execs at the company say that a lot of capital is required of to continue the quest for the vehicle and that they have "substantial doubt" regarding the possibility of operations continuing. Shares of the company dropped to $0.81 with 1,700 shares being passed around. This is what happens when you fly to close to the sun...
flying cars
We understand why Onion News Network anchor Brandon Armstrong is arguing so passionately for the existence of flying cars and it may seem mean for GM, Ford and Toyota to dash his hopes so stupendously — but Brandon's barking up the wrong tree. If Brandon covered the cult of cars as obsessively as we do, he's know all too well there aren't any flying cars in the secret labs of GM, Ford or Toyota. It's Honda that has all of them. Silly Brandon Armstrong — such an auto industry n00b. (Hat tip to Tony!)
Mean Automakers Deny Existence Of Flying Cars
We understand why Onion News Network anchor Brandon Armstrong is arguing so passionately for the existence of flying cars and it may seem mean for GM, Ford and Toyota to dash his hopes so stupendously — but Brandon's barking up the wrong tree. If Brandon covered the cult of cars as obsessively as we do, he's know all too well there aren't any flying cars in the secret labs of GM, Ford or Toyota. It's Honda that has all of them. Silly Brandon Armstrong — such an auto industry n00b. (Hat tip to Tony!)
flying cars
PAL-V Flying Car Nearing Production! We're Totally Serious! No, Really!
It's a Carver. Wait, it's a gyroscope. No, it's both. It's called the PAL-V and it stands for Personal Air and Land Vehicle and it's supposedly going to be built very soon by a company named PAL-V Europe BV. What we think is it looks like it's the next flying car nearing production we fear will never end up being built. Based on the Carver One tri-wheel car, the PAL-V supposedly will use the same Dynamic Vehicle Control (DVC) system that keeps the Carver going straight and true in turns. That system automatically adjusts the tilt angle of the cockpit to the speed and acceleration of the vehicle enabling what the folks behind this device-to-never-be call "a plane-like tilting before cornering." That's great and all — but how does it fly? Simple — all they need to do is drop a set of gyrocopter blades on top. Sure, why not? Jeez — why do we continue to follow this dream...More »
flying cars
Oh look, Good Morning America found our post from a month ago on the flyingUFO Moller M200 Volantor this morning. Ah, good ol' mainstream media — we can always count on them to get the story — sooner or later.
Mainstream Media Finds Flying Car, We'll Pretend To Be Surprised
Oh look, Good Morning America found our post from a month ago on the flying
jalopnik loves flying cars
In a moment we've been waiting for since the first time we saw The Jetsons, the first flying car has finally gone on sale. Just like the car George uses to drop off the kids, the Moller M200G Volantor is shaped like a saucer. To avoid the need to pass FAA regulations, the civilian version of the Volantor is restricted to heights of 10 feet, but can travel as fast as 50mph and fly for up to 90minutes. Military or rescue versions could be unencumbered by such limitations. Depending on the number of orders, prices could be as low as $90,000. Video of the Volantor in action after the jump.
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World's First Flying Car Enters Production
In a moment we've been waiting for since the first time we saw The Jetsons, the first flying car has finally gone on sale. Just like the car George uses to drop off the kids, the Moller M200G Volantor is shaped like a saucer. To avoid the need to pass FAA regulations, the civilian version of the Volantor is restricted to heights of 10 feet, but can travel as fast as 50mph and fly for up to 90minutes. Military or rescue versions could be unencumbered by such limitations. Depending on the number of orders, prices could be as low as $90,000. Video of the Volantor in action after the jump.More »
flying cars
Flying Car, Sort of: First X-Hawk Could Be Ready By 2009
It sure is tough to find flying-car news these days. (C'mon, Moller, we are you shipping?) But the Seattle Times comes through with a profile on Rafi Yoeli, the Israeli conceptualist behind the X-Hawk urban rescue vehicle, which broached our radar range back in 2004. Apparently, Yoeli's gotten a basic prototype to rise three feet, and says a marketable version could be in play by 2010, with a price tag of $1.5 million. Not quite the Volkswagen Beetle of flying cars, but any progress is good progress. More »
retro
Transport Revolution! The Great Hoverchair of San Pedro!
Despite what y'all think, we at Jalopnik to do not spend our days tearing around in Torino Talladegas playing the Angry Samoans at high volume, outrunning the Los Angeles Police Department and California Highway Patrol, mowing down sidewalk fruit stands and supping on the finest lobster bisque at sunset on the beach with Jodie Kidd on one arm and Sabine Schmitz on the other as the sun drops behind Catalina. We haven't even illicitly airbrushed a Viking mural on the side of an Isuzu I-Mark in nigh on three months. No, mostly we just sit around and look for things to write about. Now and then, to clear our head and purchase a refreshment and/or snack, we walk the half-block to the bodega. This afternoon, we stumbled upon it: The Great Hoverchair of San Pedro, a previously-thought-mythical device designed to ease Angelenos' commuting woes somewhere in the early 1990s. More »
news
Moller Skycar on eBay!
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news
GM's Flying Car Virus
Throw up an Angelfire page, complete with conspiracy-theory and Chomsky namedrops, then post some videos of airborne GM vehicles that look, unlike the lighter-than-air Vauxhall Astra VXR once seen on Top Gear, like they're the product of digital effects rather than remote-controlled floating cars, and well, you've got a semi-neat viral campaign. [Thanks to Josh for the tip.] More »
news: weird news
See, Flying Cars Do Exist! Honda Accord Flies 150 Feet Into Side Of NY House
We've been telling folks for years flying cars existed —but who knew proof would come to us from the sleepy little town of Coram, NY? That's where this morning the owner of a Honda Accord took a 150 foot jump off a dirt hill and flew into the the side of a two-story house. So maybe it's not so much proof of flying cars — but it sure as hell is entertaining. Although normally we prefer our entertainment without death and dismemberment. [Hat tip to Steven!] More »
flying cars
Flying Cars? Streetable Aircraft? What Do You Mean They Won't Work?
Whatever m you call them, our nerdy, tech-obsessed sibling Gizmodo knows an expert that says you won't be getting a hover conversion on your El Camino any time in the near future, much less by 2015. There are a few very real problems, one of which is that airplanes make for crappy cars and cars make for crappy planes. And then you have to deal with the complexity of flying. Do you really think all of the idiots on the road can deal with stall speeds and crosswinds? So for now, the flying car is a pipe dream and we're still stuck following Casey Kasem's advice to keep our feet on the ground and keep reaching for the stars. More »
flying cars
Gimmie My Flying Car Already: The LaBiche Aerospace FSC-1
When it comes to flying cars, it's hard to tell the legit developers from the kooks. Ever since we hung our bald-headed shingle in 2004, we've been getting e-mail from teams of self-described aerospace engineers who assure us they've mocked up the vehicle that'll have us Jetsoning around town like past futurists promised us we'd be. All they need, most say, is a sugar daddy to make it all come to pass. Not to belittle the work of Labiche Aerospace, who've informed us of their plans to build the FSC-1 (pictured), but frankly, we're somewhat jaded by the lack of progress in this area. Still, any hope is good, and the Labiche people say they plan to offer a kit for $175,000, and even talk buyers through the building and flying of it (at an estimated 275 mph). Sure it's outlandish, and, sure, the missing pieces in the car's story outnumber the non-missing ones. But think of it this way: What if you didn't find out until your neighbor rolled one out of his garage? You'd want to kick our asses, right? More »
news
A Flying Transformer-Car-Jet! We're Waiting For The El Camino-ization
Terrafugia's moved up the work on this George Jetson play-toy. Although it may look like it's totally coming straight from a Spacely Sprockets airstrip, it's not. This MIT-designed flying car is called the Transition, and they're gonna try building a prototype in the next two years for a mere $150,000 a unit. Also, it's meant to undergo a metamorphosis on the runway, with the tail folding down, the wings flattening and — excuse me — we've been told the Transition's not a "flying car" but rather a "driving jet." Our mistake. Well, since they don't want to call it a car then I guess we won't cover it. Fuck 'em — we didn't like it anyway. More »
