New cars take on land and air

For years inventors have been looking for a way to get cars in the air.

This week, the Parajet Skycar is making its maiden voyage from London to Timbuktu, and its inventors are claiming that it’s the first flying car to take to the road — and the air.

Hailed as the first two-seater, high-performance, road legal, biofuelled flying car, the Skycar is really an off-road buggy with a ‘wing’ that turns it into a glider. Apparently it can reach 62 mph in 4.5 seconds, and in “fly mode” gets up to about 68 mph at an altitude of 3,000 feet, so it will be indispensable for hopping over the Sahara. This is only a prototype but you can still buy a slice of the future from Parajet — they also sell personal jet packs at Parajet.com.

Moller International has been trying to get their skycar off the ground for years. They’re still testing their 8-engine “vertical takeoff and landing vehicle,” the M400, which looks like a folding light aircraft. Moller claims the car can take off from just 33 feet squared and cover more than 746 miles. They hope to launch later this year.