4 FutureCars You Can Own Now

Designs for futuristic vehicles have been around for decades. Many of those speculative wonders of the past are now actually realistic and even available (for a price). Here are four of the coolest FutureCars you can own today.

by Aaron Turpen

Terrafugia Transition

The Flying Car

The dream of climbing into the family commuter and zipping off down the street only to take to the air and fly effortlessly to your destination is now reality. Several iterations of the flying car have been attempted and even been somewhat successful over the years.
Flying cars are nothing new to FutureCars, of course. But until now, they have not been commercially available.
Until now, I said. Terrafugia, whom we've covered before, has put their Transition on the market. Got $350,000 and a pilot's license? Then the Terrafugia Transition can be yours. Check out Terrafugia for more.
About a dozen other companies are hot on Terrafugia's heels with this flying car dream.

AirBoard

Personal Hovercraft

Hovercraft have populated movies since the first working prototypes were created in the 1930s. Action stars like Jackie Chan have featured them in their movies and a growing and popular sport of hovercraft racing has recently taken off.
Most hovercraft are large, commercial machines with a hefty price tag. A new market of personal hovercraft, however, has emerged. These range from single-rider options such as the AirBoard to the multi-occupant units like the Hov Pod. Some are meant as watercraft, others as land-only, but all hover over the ground and have the extreme coolness factor associated with hovercraft.
Prices vary from the $15,000 AirBoard (land-only, single rider) to the $64,000 19XR Sport from Universal Hovercraft. Several companies sell kits, specialized craft, and even flying versions of the hovercraft design.
One thing's for sure: put any type of hovercraft in your driveway and you attain instant James Bond status in the neighborhood.

Wheelsurf

Motorized Monocycle

Many motorized unicycles, single-wheeled scooters, and even one-wheel motorcycles have been attempted and marketed. But the monocycle, which has normally been only in the realm of pedaled vehicles, has finally been commercialized in a self-propelled machine.
The Wheelsurf is a single-seat monocycle that goes up to 25mph thanks to its 31cc Honda engine. It's not street legal, but at those speeds, it's not much of a stretch to call it a motorized bicycle or low speed urban vehicle. Wheelsurf is based in the Netherlands and sells their monocycle for $13,000.
Want to turn heads? Then the motorized monocycle is for you.

SportSub from International VentureCraft

Personal Submarines

If you're more of the Jules Verne, underwater type, then this is your lucky century. Personal submarines are no longer for deeply-funded scientific expeditions or questionable sci-fi movies. Now, assuming you've got the cash, you can buy your own 1, 2, or even 6 passenger submersible and go down 100 ñ 1,000 meters into the deep.
The available designs are as varied as the centuries-old descriptions of underwater adventures. From the Finding Nemo-like SportSub from International VentureCraft (starting at $24,000) to the luxurious, millionire's evil villain-like Discovery 1000 from US Submarines, there are a lot of personal submarines available today.
Hoping to discover new worlds (or undiscovered treasure ships) beneath? Now it's possible, Captain Nemo.