For a booming postwar America, spilling out onto vast suburban tracts and enthralled with the possibilities of new technology, the flying car was an intriguing chimera.

Attach the wings and propeller of a plane to the body of a car and drivers might pull out of their garage, motor to an open area and take off, leaving long commute times far below.

In time, of course, the flying car became a catchphrase for a future that never arrived. But could its time finally be at hand?

By Samantha Masunaga