Gizmodo: skycar

British Adventurer to Traverse Europe, Africa in His Amazing Skycar

John Herrman — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 06:53:43 EST

Lifelong risk-taker Neil Laughton plans to travel from London to Timbuktu in a dune buggy, a trip that will take him an estimated 42 days. Oh, and that dune buggy? It can fly.

Laughton's journey will commence from central London on Wednesday morning—on the ground, I presume—and will take him through some of Western Europe, then a large swath of Northern Africa. He'll take to flight when passing through the Pyrenees, then again to cross the Straits of Gibraltar and over the Moroccan Atlas Mountains.

His flight won't be limited though, and Laughton says he'll take off whenever he needs to, or feels like it.

The car was designed by the same team that put together the powered glider that (nearly) flew Bear Grylls over the top of Mount Everest for a TV stunt in 2007, but this machine is altogether more ambitious. Based on a ruggedized dune buggy, the Skycar carries a nylon "ParaWing" which can be fitted and deployed in about three minutes. By utilizing a giant propeller fan, the car is able to take off at about 45mph, after which it an reach a cruising speed of 70mph and an altitude of 3000ft, with the ceiling at a terrifying 15,000ft.

On the ground, the car is no slouch. It'll run 0-60mph in under five seconds, and top out at a bit above 100. Thought the car will spend most of its time on the ground, it can fly continuously for about 180 miles before needing to refuel.

The most interesting bit of this whole story isn't the gee-golly expedition, it's that the team, pending the success of the adventure, plans to sell the Skycar to the public. Though the project has so far cost them $380,000—much of which was dedicated to R&D—the boys think they could sell the whole kit, which would be street legal in the UK, for about $75,000. It's not exactly a Terrafugia, but it'll do. [Skycar via BBC]

When Pigs Fly: Moller M400X Skycar Prototype For Sale on eBay

Charlie White — Thu, 12 Oct 2006 10:05:49 EDT

This can't be good news for those of us who fantasize about driving the Skycar, flying over traffic and thumbing our noses at the rest of the world as we jet along at 500 mph. Alas, the Moller M400X Skycar Prototype is for sale on eBay, its owners saying they're trying to raise capital for the company. Although the reserve has not yet been met, the current bid is $1.7764 million.

Sure, this Skycar hovered a couple of times in tests, but it looks pretty shaky. You know something's fishy when the sellers are touting it as a "fantastic piece of aviation history." We're about as skeptical as Mike Elegan at Personal Tech Pipeline, worried that today's shitty drivers might be tomorrow's flying car pilots. Flying cars? When pigs fly. – Charlie White

Jump for the video of the flying car tentatively hovering, and look carefully for a little secret.

Check out the crane's safety line, holding onto this "flying car."

Sky Car - A Flying car you can buy for real.

Fly Wheels XPV: Flying Remote Controlled Car

Brian Lam — Wed, 09 Aug 2006 22:18:59 EDT

This remote controlled car looks like a little Moller Skycar for a reason. It zooms over grass, concrete, and dirt. But at 20MPH, it goes airborne. Whoosh! During flight, the vehicle can reach heights of 20 stories at 30MPH. And the racer only costs 60 bucks (plus $20 for a rechargeable battery that'll last 10 minutes). Like Doc Brown said, "Where we're going, we don't need roads."– Brian Lam

Skycar [Moller]
Fly Wheels XPV [Jakks Pacific]

Skycar, Levitating Sculpture, Treehouse - From Neiman Marcus This Christmas

Noah R — Wed, 26 Oct 2005 13:06:26 EDT

Every year, the Neiman Marcus Christmas Book includes a handful of outrageously expensive items, including a couple that sound like mis-placed April Fool's Day gags.

This xmas, for instance, you could stuff your loved one's stocking with the $3.5 million Moller Skycar pictured above. It's a prototype that runs on ethanol and takes of vertically. The first test flight is scheduled for early 2006.

The Dreamboat Limited-Edition Levitating Sculpture uses a 6-foot long mahogany base filled with magnets that suspend a slab of polished aluminum in space. The magnets are supposedly made to never lose their strength—which is important to consider when you are investing $90,000.

There is also a custom-made treehouse starting at $50,000, a 1.5-hour private concert with Sir Elton John, and an old-fashioned strip-style photobooth for $20,000 (these are no longer in production, but you can find them on eBay for about the same price). There is a complete rundown over at The Purse Blog.

Christmas Gift Idea Extravaganza [Purse Blog]

[Thanks Vlad!]