Consumer Reports Cars Blog: Freaks and geeks - Speed Racer and flying cars

Freaks and geeks - Speed Racer and flying cars

If you attend the New York International Auto Show be sure to check out the displays on the lower level. It is here where the true mechanical freaks and geeks of the auto world are on display. (Cars, that is.)

For example, to promote the upcoming "Speed Racer" movie the producers rolled out a mock-up of the famous Mach 5. Sure brings back memories of my childhood, although I'm still not sure if Racer X was a good guy or a bad guy, and I think Trixie and Spritle (the oddest name for a younger brother ever) probably wound up in psychotherapy. (Speaking of, I have to wonder if the stowaway tendencies of Spritle and Chim Chim lead to the need for emergency trunk releases?)

Learn about Speed Racer here.

Also on the lower level of the Jacob Javits Convention Center is a flying car, several electric car prototypes, and cut-aways of the Toyota Tundra and new Dodge Ram pickup trucks. VW also shows some of its very funny TV ads ("Vee-dub in da house") and a couple German-language ones that defy explanation.

—Mike Quincy

See the 2008 New York auto show coverage.

Comments

Posted by: Flying Car | Mar 27, 2009 3:44:26 AM

The concept of a flying car has been a dream pursued by inventors since the dawn of aviation and a fantasy long held by commuters wishing they could soar above traffic. Terrafugia today said it had successfully flown its Transition Roadable Aircraft that can transform itself from car to plane version in less than 30 seconds.There have been successes that never began mass production, and miserable failures including a flying car that used the Ford Pinto. (That should have been the first clue it was headed for disaster.) Well, there is now a company called Terrafugia, and they have a roadable aircraft (that's the term) called the Transition. The Transition has folding wings, and can reach over 100 mph in the air, 60 mph on the ground, runs on gasoline and has a range of about 400 miles. You'll need some hefty personal loans for one however, as this flying car has a sticker price of about $200,000.

Verify your Comment

Previewing your Comment

Posted by: |

This is only a preview. Your comment has not yet been posted.

Your comment could not be posted. Error type:

Your comment has been saved. Comments are moderated and will not appear until approved by the author. Post another comment

The letters and numbers you entered did not match the image. Please try again.

As a final step before posting your comment, enter the letters and numbers you see in the image below. This prevents automated programs from posting comments.

Having trouble reading this image? View an alternate.