M400 Skycar prototype available at Neiman Marcus

File this under: "For the Billionaire Who's Got it All." Well what he doesn't have, and what you can pick up for him for a cool $3.5 mil, is the much-publicized Moller M400 Skycar prototype that we spotted a while back at NextFest. In their annual catalog for the super-rich, the Christmas Book, Neiman Marcus is offering this one-of-a-kind deathtrap flying "car" that can hit a max speed of 350 MPH at a relatively efficient 21 MPG (no gas, alcohol only). Even though purchase requires FAA approval, seeing how most people can barely operate their land cars, piloting this mean machine would seem to be a disaster waiting to happen.

[Via Yahoo! News, thanks "Frankenstein"]

[wxrman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

Local billionaire killed in experimental plane crash...

sound familiar?

Walmart exec?

Rich boys want to make the noise and don't realize that these are NOT toys you buy out of a Neiman Marcus catalog.

Anybody notice the ALTITUDE of that plane? He's WAY up there! Does that thing have on-board oxygen?

[John @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

So.... does this mean it actually works? Popular Mechanics has featured this thing once or twice. It's listing says it's first untethered flight will be in Fall 2005 - is that the poor schmuck who buys the thing?

[G-money @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

21 MPG.... of alcohol?
Hands off my liquor cabinet beeeeotch!

I still think http://www.graykangaroo.com/ is the greatest invention of the new millenium.

[John F @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

Actually the plane is about five feet off the ground in that picture

[tim @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

What #2 said - does this mean the skycar's actually in production? That's pretty big news, if so.

[Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

That's not a car, it's an airplane. Does anybody think for one second the police wouldn't stop them if they tried to taxi down the highway in this contraption?

[daniel @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

Neiman Marcus of the infamouse cookie recipe fame? http://www.neimanmarcus.com/store/service/nm_cookie_recipe.jhtml
I really see how this fits into the DIY category. :D

[Tom @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

Your comment about 'deathtraps' was hysterical. I haven't laughed that much in a long time. Thank you so much for such an intelligently written website. You don't know how much you raise my spirits. ......and yes I do know... I need to get out more!

[eric @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

(shudders at the thought of flying bimbo-boxes)

[Scott @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

That's a high altitude in Photoshop. Buying it is subject to the _aircraft_ getting FAA approval, which it is nowhere near getting. It has been at the POC vaporware stage for a long time, and that is where it is likely staying. FAA Type certification takes a long time even for a well-capitalized large organization building a straightforward plane. Every couple years these guys score some big PR for accomplishing nothing, and this is just the most recent.

[Travis @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

$3.5M vaporware? Sweet! Sign me the F UP! I saw a newspaper article about Mr. Moller's flying car in the mid 80s which said the production vehicle would be available in 'a few years' for $150,000. A year or two ago they had a prototype at the State Fair of Texas automobile pavillion. They were taking deposits. Nice.

After yankin' my chain for 20 years, I'll believe this when I see one land in my driveway.

[Peter @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

I just got the christmas magazine today and saw this...it's crazy. No one really buys the stuff in the book, or I hope they don't. They have had some insane things like persenal submarines and stuff.

[Fin @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

#1, I'm not sure if you were kidding or not about oxygen, but that flat brownish area below the "car" is a dry grassy field. Looks like the altitude is no more than 10 feet. Click the image to go to the NM site and click the Views link to see a bigger picture. That's not brown smoggy clouds, it's the ground...

[karmaghost @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

There no way this (or anything remotely like it) will ever become the norm.

[furtim @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

Seriously, for $3.5 mil, why not just buy a frickin' Cessna already?

[Bob @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

The ONLY way anyone purchasing this craft could use it would be to get a pilot license. They can then fly just like General Aviation aircraft, VFR or IFR. I'm not sure how the vertical take off is going to sound to the FAA. Will they require pilots to limit their take offs and landings to airports and helipads or can one park this in one's driveway?

If I had $3.5 mills right now, I'd buy it. It looks like a souped up Cessna.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

Seems like this guy has been trying to attract and fleece investors for years. The Neiman Marcus angle must be his latest way to line up a new flock.

[baslisks @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

hmmm if I can spend 3.5 mil on a crappy flying "car" I can spend 3k on a mig so I can fly near the speed of sound with crappy fuel effecieny but I get there a hell of a lot faster. Which sounds better? I'll take my mig.

[baslisks @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

hmmm if I can spend 3.5 mil on a crappy flying "car" I can spend 3k on a mig so I can fly near the speed of sound with crappy fuel effecieny but I get there a hell of a lot faster. Which sounds better? I'll take my mig.

[Matt E. @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

What the fuel capacity of this thing?
Lets see at 21mpg, traveling 350 miles/hour, you've just burned up 16.7 Gallons of alcohol in 1 hour.

[Mike @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

Surprise! Looks like Mr. Moller attracted the attention of the SEC a couple years ago. http://www.sec.gov/litigation/complaints/comp17987.htm

[QUANTUMPHYSICS - XboxLive @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

I'd rather have an F-16 for $14.6 million - they have more horsepower.

Seriously though, I have a pilot's liscence and I currently work for Lockheed Martin as an Aeronautics design engineer.
There is NO WAY this is ever gonna become a big thing.

First of all the wingspan is way too large for highway use unless you live in only the most desolate areas.
Secondly, spinning turbofans are NEVER going to be allowed in stupid pedestrian areas cause of the definite liability.
Thirdly, the only people who would be able to fly something like this are liscenced pilots with at least 60-100 hours on a fixed wing - needless to mention a liscenced pilot with 3.5 million and a house with its own runway since I assume this thing needs about 2000 feet to take off and 1000 to land.

[Wynston @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

Actually this "plane" or whatever has vertical take off and landing, so no runway would be required

[russell Holt @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

#10, same here. I signed up for Moller's mailing list some years ago and no, they're not even close to production. afaik, they have never actually flown anything off a tether. Without vast funding, this is really like their side project : they can only afford to build their one testing prototype. they sell engines and stuff in order to make actual money.

[Matt E. @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

#19 QUANTUMPHYSICS:
What part about VTOL Vertical Take Off and Land don't you get? You don't need any landing space other than area needed for the size of the craft.

[ninja_in_pajamas @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

I've been following this thing for about 8 years now. I have a pilots license with 114 hours. First of all, this thing only needs a few feet to land and take off. It is designed with vertical take-off capabilities. Second, I'm not sure of the wingspan, but if it's under 12 feet, it can be driven on the road. It has done a couple of low altitude "hops" without a tether. The only reason it hasn't flown any real distance is because the last thing they need is for someone to try, screw up, and die. At this price I do NOT see it becoming mainstream though. And to the person who made the mig comment...you might be able to find one to buy for 3 grand, but after every flight there is at least 6 grand of engine work. It's a fast plane but very high maintenence. I suggest a Cessna Citation X.

[QUANTUMPHYSICS - XboxLive @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

I didn't notice it was VTOL.
That only makes the situation worse.
Now I supposse a driver/pilot would have to have some training in rotary winged aircraft which means that not only do you need a fixed wing rating- you need over 40 hours in a rotary (helicopter).

Considering how bad terrorism is, the last thing you need is some angry arab riding in one of these with a pack of C-4.

[Mark @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

@ ninja_in_pajamas (24)

If you've been following this for eight years why don't you know the wingspan? Just look at the picture. Based on the two-passenger-wide cockpit it's well over 20 feet. No roads for this puppy.

[Vincent @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

According to the site, they've designed the wings to fold up. It's not meant for road use anyway; its wheels are motorized only enough to get you from hangar to legal takeoff point.

Yeah, he's been claiming "in the next two years or so" since I was a kid. I remember we used to have these Time Life notebooks that had tabbed technology articles; Moller (then the Moller Merlin) was one of them, and in it, he said they were close to production.

I don't see this as a bad thing though. He's sitting on quite an idea here. Just needs money to do it. Apparently the government is interested in his (as yet conceptual) M600 for troop and cargo transport, so funding may yet happen.

But, my brother says, "If people can barely handle two-dimensional travel, why would they be able to handle a vehicle that moves in three dimensions?" So true. That is, UNTIL THE CARS CAN FLY THEMSELVES!!

[Anawrahta @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

hahah at all the "pilots" and "aerospace worker" in this thread...maybe if some of you geniuses actually read a little into this you'd know that no one is going to pilot these things...they're gonna be all computer controlled, so there is no way there would be pilot error. This is the only way these things would ever get FAA approval. Do I think these things will be available anytime soon? Hell no. But it sure would be nice instead of having to deal with congested highways, and fucking airports that treat you like criminals and rob you blind in taxes.

[Roblyman @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

This thing is NOT going to get a standard FAA airworthiness certificate any time soon. Best it can hope for is an experimental airworthiness certificate (like homebuilt aircraft). The "pilot" will need a sport, recreational or private pilot license with a powered lift category (as opposed to airplane, rotorcraft, glider, lighter than air, etc...). How do you get one of those? Maybe with some Harrier or Osprey time under your belt.

Someone without 150 hours in this thing is going to kill themself and people around him pretty quickly. It will NOT drive on a road. What will it use for brakes? I have news for you. Without something to grab ahold of, this "car" will backend the first thing that stops in front of it. It will probably takeoff from a confined area and fly in the air, not over roads. A hundred of these things flying over a city every day scares me. I would hate to see what would happen with thousands of them flying around a-la-George Jetson.

Having landed helicopters on the back of cruisers and frigates, I can tell you the skill required to operate something like that in confined areas will be significant. Avionics and flight control systems have a long way to go before you can hand this to some teenager with a fresh drivers license or to some millionaire who spends more time riding in the back of a limo than driving his own car.

[Jeremy @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

"Roads? Where we're going we don't need roads."

[Samuel Lago @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

These guys have it all wrong, they should be into what these guys have been R&Ding for ages:

http://www.spacemagnetics.com/

[Google Nazi @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

A chopper is less expensive, plus 3.5million is the start point. Then you have to spend months training to be a pilot, and then you have to find some sort of carflying insurance, and then you have to find parking space for something like this!

also, didn't moller recently announced (at nextfest i think) that it would be selling betwen the range of 300-500k? oh well, who ever buys this is rich anyway and for even 300-500k i think i'd go with something more in the neighborhood of a new house! :P

[blee @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

Can you say moving target�

Local billion air shot out of the sky by disgruntled employee with surface to air missile.

[electronicmaji @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

The Walmart exec whos plain fell down was with all respect a well weathered pilot that had been flying for well over 20 years..he knew the risks and knew how to drive the craft but when dealing with crafts of expiremental nature anything can happen

[DannyMac @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

From everything I've read and seen on TV, this flying car will be driven by some type of wireless control infrastructure network thingy... and have no human interaction. Although, I'm sure there's a manual mode, right?

[educrs @ Dec 19th 2005 2:37AM]

When I was a kid, I was fascinated with the buck rogers & star trek stuff, and out comes the remote video camera, cell phone, digital music, and WIFI among many things. The ray gun may not be far behind. Back to the future show us a glimpse of a flying car. Maybe the idea of a flying car is ready to go beyond concept and design and have looked at the Neiman Marcus offering with some seriousness. It might spark some kids brain to see this 'new toy' as reality and build one for us soon. So many things happened in our lifetime (within 50 years) that things we see as impossible are really just difficult and waiting to be resolved. Advances in intelligent computer programs like the one used in the volkswagen car that won the recent robot car competition might be the answer. The materials and parts and power may already be available, only the piloting and control is lacking. In the near future, the GPS and a controlled airway grid in air space maybe coming. I wish I am still around to witness the real one so I can buy one from a Sear's catalog (or whatever) instead of a Neiman Marcus. I want it cheaper and affordable.