# Has Anyone ever Built an Aircar? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 8, 2010, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-built-an-aircar/559840 "2010-11-08T00:30:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mollie\_Magill](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mollie_magill/32/20882_2.png) [@Mollie\_Magill](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mollie_Magill)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-built-an-aircar/559840/21 "2010-11-08T20:03:16Z")
> [@chorpler](#): > > Well, since this is GQ and all, I present the following for people who are baffled by the turn the discussion has taken: > > [spoiler] **Rhythmdvl** and the people responding to him in kind are making reference to the music of Rush, especially “Red Barchetta,” which includes the line about how the hero is being chased by “a gleaming alloy air-car, two lanes wide” while driving an old car his uncle built for him, in some dystopian future where automobiles have apparently been outlawed. > > But also the other capitalized phrases **Rhythmdvl** used, like “Moving Pictures,” “Presto,” “Power Windows,” “Signals,” “Fly By Night,” etc. All Rush music. > [/spoiler] Okay - I was thinking of [The Last Chase](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082642/maindetails), but didn’t remember any aircars. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2010, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-built-an-aircar/559840/22 "2010-11-08T21:42:08Z")
Oh, that makes everything make so much more sense, then. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-built-an-aircar/559840/23 "2010-11-09T01:03:42Z")
I was giggling throughout half the thread, at first skipping whatever people were posting that clearly were not in on the joke to see how long it would go. Not completely obscure, but a very niche reference that I’m not surprised went completely over the heads of most people. The website linked seems to be a different vehicle concept than the one the OP is talking about. That was about flying cars, presumably with a jet engine in the air, but the road version apparently is rear-wheel drive (with automatic transmission!). This thread (before there was a Rush to discuss other things) was about a road vehicle with a different means of propulsion. Instead of creating force to move a vehicle using friction with the ground, we use the air instead like a prop plane, or a boat does with the water. I’m surprised no one has suggested we’ll see them become ubiquitous by 2112. edit: reading further, the FAQ states the engine drives a propeller in the air mode, but switches to rear wheel drive on the ground. This suggests that using props on the ground is not efficient. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2010, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-built-an-aircar/559840/24 "2010-11-09T17:53:32Z")
OK, if you put an aircar on a treadmill… ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-built-an-aircar/559840/25 "2010-11-12T02:47:38Z")
DARPA is looking into flying cars as we speak: [Is this the first step toward a flying car? - CNN.com](http://www.cnn.com/2010/TECH/innovation/11/11/flying.car/index.html?hpt=C2) ---
**Author:** ![cornflakes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@cornflakes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cornflakes)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-built-an-aircar/559840/26 "2010-11-12T04:26:20Z")
[I think that this fits the OP.](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2468/4033871363_44945cc7d7_o.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2010, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-built-an-aircar/559840/27 "2010-11-12T13:55:16Z")
> [@cornflakes](#): > > [I think that this fits the OP.](http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2468/4033871363_44945cc7d7_o.jpg) An air propelled Bently! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-anyone-ever-built-an-aircar/559840.md?page=1)