https://jalopnik.com/google-billiona...-65-1840211205
It is probably fair to say that the Taylor Aerocar was not a particularly good
car, nor was it a particularly good plane. Only five were ever made, one of
which being a prototype. But that’s still more than Larry Page’s now-delayed
Kitty Hawk project, and you can even buy an Aerocar.
That is, you can buy one of the Aerocars. This one is going up for sale at
Barrett-Jackson at Scottsdale 2020, held in early January.
https://www.barrett-jackson.com/Even...AEROCAR-236076
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jeremyb.../#6363858b58ab
Price is just “no reserve” but someone appears to have listed a Taylor Aerocar
for about $1 million (600,000 pounds) a few years back, as the New York Daily
News reported at the time.
How it drove was a bit funky, as the Hemmings noted in a 2013 profile:
Still primitive by automobile standards of the day, the Aerocar featured an
air-cooled Lycoming flat-four engine, positioned over the rear wheels. A
three-speed manual transmission provided drive to the front wheels, and this
road transmission was simply placed into neutral when the Aerocar was in flight
mode. Part of the conversion process from automobile to airplane involved the
fitting of a tail cone and propeller assembly, which was driven by a power
take-off located behind the rear license plate.
And while the market for the car never took off, with its limited top speed on
the road (60 miles per hour) and complications being a plane (everything folded
away, which was not exactly a one-person job of re-installation) the Taylor
Aerocar remains the only thing that approaches being an actual flying car. I
mean, it’s more of a road-legal plane, but how can you be mad at it? Look at
this little thing! It’s adorable.
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