'Flying car' almost up to speed

Paul Heymont 10/27/202:00 PM

The Switchblade, a pricy would-be flying car that's officially a motorcycle and has yet to fly has, at least, made it up to 88 mph on the road, which its makers say will be its take-off speed. And yes, 88 mph was the speed the DeLorean had to get to to start time travel in Back to the Future.

Samson Sky, promoter of the three-wheeled startup, likes to call it a sports car, despite the U.S. Department of Transportation classification. It's powered by a turbo-charged lightweight 200 hp liquid-cooled V4 that can go 0-60 in 6.5 seconds. Samson says it will cruise in flight at 160 mph, but that's theoretical because so far it hasn't flown and isn't licensed to.

That doesn't keep its enthusiasts away, though: they believe in it strongly enough to have put down deposits for over 1300 Switchblades, with the price set at $150,000. It's aimed at a market of people with more money than time, who might want to cut a Boston-DC drive from five hours to two.

Add Comment

Comments (0)

<ul id="{%=id%}ButtonGroup" class="button-group h-popup-buttons even-button-group even-1">
    <li id="{%=id%}Okay_buttonContainer"><a id="{%=id%}Okay" href="javascript:void(0);" class="button success no-margin-bottom h-alert-modal-ok-button" role="button">OK</a><script type="text/javascript">
        (function() {
            function {%=id%}Okay_click(event, data) {
            {%=id%}Popup.hide();
        }
        
                $('#{%=id%}Okay').on('click', {%=id%}Okay_click);
        })();
    </script></li></ul><a href="javascript:void(0);" class="close-reveal-modal" aria-label="Close Modal">&#215;</a><div class="last-modal-focus focus-utility-element" tabindex="0"></div>
</div>
<script type="text/javascript">
        (function() {
            {%=id%}Popup = new SS.Popup.ModalPopup('{%=id%}');
        })();
    </script>

Skip to main content

Add Comment

Membership Required

Remove From Your Block List

Manage Follow Preferences

Block

Please wait...