By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

The human monkey will never cease to seek novel and exciting ways to propel its fragile organism through space, and the flying car has always been a sort of holy grail for those looking to combine the miracle of flight with commuter convenience. In practical reality, though, a lot of flying-car concepts through the years have just been plain goofy. Check out the Terrafugia, basically a folding-wing aircraft with a vaguely car-like body. The photo gallery accompanying the flying ride’s big launch is rife with images demonstrating how easily the Terrafugia fits into everyday life, how heartwarmingly suburban-normal it is. You know–filling up the Terrafugia at the corner gas station. Washing the Terrafugia with a bucket of suds in your driveway on a Sunday morning. Picking up the kids from soccer practice. See, consumers? There’s nothing to fear. Cute, but I’d take a levitating retractable-wheel DeLorean any day. Oh, but wait, the Terrafugia is “real.” Check out the first-flight video here, and read more at Jalopnik.

Alex blogged some time ago about the Taylor Aerocar that was slated to appear at the Meadowbrook Concours. What I didn’t realize at the time is that we’ve got an Aerocar right here in Seattle at the Museum of Flight, where I did the obligatory tour while my dad was in town visiting this weekend. The Taylor venture was once a pretty promising one, and at one time it turns out that the company was planning to base a future model on a Honda CRX. That could’ve been kind of cool—probably good on gas, too! Follow the jump to see pics of the full-size Aerocar on display at the Museum of Flight.

Continue reading "What Could've Been: A CRX Aerocar!" »

Save the date! Meadowbrook Concours d’Elegance staffers have invited the last flying example of the Moulton Taylor’s Aerocar to attend the August 3rd event. Meadowbrook is the Midwest’s version of Pebble Beach, for those unfamiliar with the event. I’ve attended the last two years’ shows–both have been outstanding with truly amazing cars on display. Concours rules make for an unusual show–each car displayed must be driven (or flown!) onto the show field under its own power. To me, this is the best part of the show: during the presentation of each class, the owners drive the cars to the viewing stand for commentary and review. Last year’s celebrity reviewer was none other than Bob Lutz of GM. Listening to Lutz gush over the parade of automobilia was worth the ticket, even if he was constantly being prodded to move on to the next car. Surprisingly, watching the cars pales compared to hearing them: the old straight 12s make noises that would be positively illegal today, and it’s one of the few occasions I’ve ever had to hear the Chrysler Turbine concept spin up. I’ll be out at the show photographing cars and taking notes. If you plan to come out, keep your eyes open for my CarDomain t-shirt!

Milner Motors is set to unveil this creation at the New York International Auto show, but Jetsons geeks shouldn’t get too excited. It’s actually more like an airplane that can be driven on the road than a proper flying car. The biggest problem?  It needs a runway to get airborne, which makes the whole idea of taking off from your driveway impossible. For a flying car, vertical takeoff/landing is a must. Without that capability, how are you supposed to take it to the grocery store? Get more info over at Areo-News.

Aero-News via Born Rich

Is it just me, or does it seem like there are more stories starting to surface about flying cars? Personally, I think the one below—the Terrafugia Transition—is pretty hideous looking, and I’m still not sold on the idea of a machine capable of transforming from an earthbound vehicle into an aircraft. But hey, in the flying car department, I’ll take what I can get. The one thing I didn’t like about the story referenced above? The author seems to simply dismiss Moller’s recent "flying saucer" effort. Seriously dude, at least Moller build something, and didn’t just provide a photochop. Do you think flying cars will ever be a reality?