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.
