Beat the jams with a "flying car"!!

Is it a car, is it a plane? It's both!

By ANDY BUCKWELL - More by this author » Last updated at 21:29pm on 10th February 2007 Comments

Supermobile: The flying car

Ever find yourself wishing you could just jump in the car and take off somewhere really interesting?

Well soon you will be able to do just that - quite literally.

Engineers have developed a car that makes an ideal runaround for town, but when you tire of the congested roads, just press a button and your vehicle will transform into a plane with a 27ft wingspan capable of 120mph.

• Gallery: See more amazing pictures of the flying car here

This astonishing hybrid vehicle - called the Transition - is already on sale in America, with the first due to be delivered to the owners in two years.

It is powered by a 100-horsepower engine which turns either the wheels or a rear-mounted propeller and, when not in use, its wings fold in half and tuck in alongside the cockpit.

The £75,600 vehicle has been developed by graduates from the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who have formed a company called Terrafugia - 'escape from the Earth' in Latin - to market it.

Anna Mracek, chief operating officer, said: "It's been in development since 2004. It is aimed at reducing door-to-door travelling time."

More than 30 of the vehicles, which run on unleaded petrol, have already been ordered. The Transition has a fuel capacity of 20 gallons and does 40 miles to the gallon on motorways - where it can reach 80mph - or up to 30 miles to the gallon in the air.

The craft weighs just over half a ton and can hold two adults and luggage. Its ideal cruising altitude is between 3,500 and 8,000ft but it can fly at up to 12,000ft.

Motoring experts are sceptical about the car's value in Britain, not least because it needs a straight strip around a mile long to get airborne.

Steve Fowler, Editor of What Car?, said: "It strikes me that if you have enough money to buy a Transition you could probably afford a light plane as well as a car. I can't see it taking off, so to speak."

How the Transition measures up

Price: £75,600.

Performance: Top speed 80mph (or 120mph if you put your wings down). 30-40mpg depending on altitude.

Wingspan: 27ft.

Who's it for? People who think Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is a documentary.

Most annoying feature: No in-flight stewardess service.

Cup-holders: You've got to be joking...