Autoblog

Click above for high-res gallery of the flying car from Milner

Our environmentally-attuned brethren at AutoblogGreen pointed us into the lower hall of the Javits Center to check out something they knew we'd love. After wading through the trucks and specialty makers on hand, we reached the Milner Motors booth. To one side was the Milner Motors ElectriCar. Across from it was the Milner Motors AirCar, which was what we came to see. Essentially the same as its electric vehicle, the flying car adds a set of wings and twin engine nacelles that theoretically supply enough thrust and lift for 1,000 miles of flight at 200 MPH. When earthbound, the wing package folds up and the car's 40-hp electric motor powers it up to 85 mph thanks to its light weight and great aerodynamics (the cd is only .209). This particular one is a non-functioning prototype, but we think we'll toss it off the roof of the Empire State building to test its glide prowess. We can only guess how much fun this thing might be if we could figure out a way to use those jet engines and their extra 300 hp to power this 1,800 lb. missle on the ground.

Try as they might, The Onion got the typical stonewall response from GM, Ford, and Toyota when pressing the automakers about their flying car programs. All these companies do is deny, deny, deny. Even when the Onion called them out, pointing to their secret labs where engineers fly around gleefully like Charlie Bucket and his grandfather all hopped up on hotrod soda, flat denial was the order of the day. We can expect these programs to be pushed further underground, now that their cover was nearly blown by The Onion, so we'll have to deal with more talk of hybrids and wheel motors instead of airspeed and tailrotors. Please note: The Onion is pure satire. Usually screamingly hilarious. Satire doesn't tend to work unless the presentation is dry. They really aren't serious.

Hit the jump for the embedded video.