DeLorean Motor Company says it is building a flying car, and for once the claim comes with a race calendar attached. On October 13, 2026, the brand best known for the stainless-steel DMC-12 announced it will enter the Airspeeder International Series as the United States constructor, fielding a squad called the DeLorean Airspeeder Team starting in the 2026-27 season that opens in November 2026. Outlets including Car and Driver, Motor1, and Yahoo Sports carried the news within hours, and the framing that spread fastest online was blunt: a 44-year-old car brand that went bankrupt once already might get an electric vehicle airborne before Tesla does.
That framing is catchy and also incomplete. DeLorean has not shown a flying prototype, named a pilot, or published a race date. What it has done is sign on as a livery and brand partner for an existing electric race-aircraft platform, the Airspeeder Mk3C, built by Alauda Aeronautics. Separating what is confirmed from what is implied is the entire story here, and it matters for anyone trying to gauge whether this is a real hardware milestone or a marketing stunt riding a 1980s movie prop into 2026 headlines.
What DeLorean Actually Announced
According to the announcement reported by Car and Driver and Motor1, DeLorean Motor Company is joining the Airspeeder International Series as its first American constructor. The new DeLorean Airspeeder Team is scheduled to make its competitive debut when the 2026-27 season opens in November 2026. For its first year, the team will not fly a bespoke DeLorean-built aircraft. Instead, it will use Airspeeder’s standardized Mk3C electric race aircraft, with DeLorean supplying the paint scheme, branding, and visual identity rather than a new airframe.
That distinction is the part most headlines compress away. The Mk3C is Alauda Aeronautics’ existing electric vertical-takeoff-and-landing (eVTOL) race platform, already flying in Airspeeder events before DeLorean signed on. DeLorean has not revealed a pilot lineup, an aircraft design of its own, or a complete sporting program for the debut season, a gap that Yahoo Sports’ coverage noted directly, pointing out the brand signed up “without showing a flying car, a pilot or a race date.” DeLorean Motor Company’s Chief Brand Officer, Cameron Wynne, framed the move as symbolic as much as technical, saying “DeLorean has always stood for the courage to imagine transportation differently,” a statement made when the team’s U.S. entry was announced, according to Vertical Magazine’s coverage of the press release.
Reports also point to a second phase: starting in the 2027-28 season, DeLorean’s role is expected to expand from livery partner toward actual aircraft development, reportedly involving engineering students at universities including UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech. If that expansion happens as described, it would mark DeLorean’s first real engineering contribution to the series rather than a licensing deal. For now, though, season one is a brand deal wrapped around someone else’s hardware.
The DR-7 Is Not the Race Aircraft
Confusion between two separate DeLorean-linked aircraft projects is already spreading, and it is worth untangling. DeLorean Aerospace, a company founded by Stuart DeLorean’s nephew-generation successors and unrelated in corporate structure to the original Detroit-area automaker, has for years promoted a concept called the DR-7. Per DeLorean Aerospace’s own site, the DR-7 is pitched as a tandem two-seat prototype aircraft with electric propulsion, vertical takeoff capability, and two 360-degree thrust-vectoring electric ducted fans. Design renders of the DR-7, built to resemble an F1 car with wings, have circulated since at least 2017, when Designboom first covered the concept.
The Airspeeder entry announced this month is a different vehicle entirely. DeLorean Motor Company, the entity behind the Airspeeder deal, is racing the Mk3C, a platform Alauda Aeronautics designed and standardized across the grid so that teams compete on piloting and strategy rather than wildly divergent airframes. There is no confirmation in any current reporting that the DR-7 will ever appear on an Airspeeder racetrack, and nothing suggests the two aircraft share hardware, a certification path, or a production timeline. Readers searching for “DeLorean flying car” are likely to find DR-7 renders mixed into coverage of the Airspeeder deal, which is exactly the kind of mix-up that inflates a modest brand partnership into something that sounds like a finished flying prototype.
Inside the Airspeeder International Series
Airspeeder is not a new idea bolted onto a famous car brand for publicity. The series was founded by Australian entrepreneur Matt Pearson, who also leads Alauda Aeronautics, the company that engineers the race aircraft. Airspeeder’s remotely piloted EXA Series began flying in 2022, with early events staged in South Australia at sites including Lochiel and Snowtown. Those early seasons used drone-racing and motorsport-trained remote pilots rather than aircraft occupants, a deliberate choice to prove out eVTOL flight dynamics before putting anyone inside the cockpit.
Pearson has pitched the series explicitly as a Formula 1 analog for electric aviation: a competitive pressure cooker meant to accelerate propulsion, battery, and flight-control technology faster than a slower-moving certification-first industry would on its own. Welcoming DeLorean to the grid, Pearson said “DeLorean is the original flying car brand. Long before anyone had built one, the whole world already knew what a flying DeLorean looked like,” according to the same press release carried by Vertical Magazine. He added that “every great racing series is defined by the constructors who choose to compete in it,” and called DeLorean’s arrival a signal for “where this sport is going,” framing an American icon joining the grid as validation for the series’ first international season.
That marketing language matters because Airspeeder has spent four years building legitimacy one milestone at a time. An Australian-backed team demonstrated the Mk3C at The Bend Motorsport Park in April 2026, and the series has steadily expanded its roster of national and manufacturer-backed entries. DeLorean’s arrival as the first American constructor is a genuine first for the series’ geography and brand roster, even if the aircraft under the livery is shared equipment.
Why the Tesla Comparison Took Off
None of the verified reporting on the DeLorean-Airspeeder deal mentions Tesla. The “DeLorean beats Tesla to the sky” framing is an inference readers and some outlets have drawn from years of Elon Musk commentary about ambitious future vehicle concepts, combined with the Boring Company’s tunnel projects, which periodically spark online speculation about a “flying Tesla” or “Cybertunnel” future. Tesla has no confirmed eVTOL program, no announced flying-car product, and no entry in Airspeeder or any comparable racing series. Treating DeLorean’s race-livery deal as proof it has beaten Tesla to a flying car overstates what either company has actually built.
What makes the comparison resonate anyway is timing. Tesla has spent much of October 2026 dominating EV headlines with its own Roadster, including coverage of the vehicle’s reported SpaceX-derived cold-gas thrusters and the long-delayed reveal event pushed to October 15. Readers primed by weeks of “will the new Roadster actually fly” speculation, covered in depth in our report on Tesla Roadster’s 10 thrusters and zero FAA approval, were an easy audience for a headline suggesting a rival beat Musk to the punch. The irony is that DeLorean’s actual commitment, a paint job on someone else’s race drone, is less technically ambitious than Tesla’s unconfirmed thruster package, even though DeLorean’s announcement is the one with a signed contract and a race date attached to a season, while Tesla’s Roadster specifics remain, as our coverage of the $50,000 deposit reveal notes, still partly speculative days before an unveiling that has itself already slipped once, a pattern our report on the Roadster’s nine-year delay traces back to 2017.
DeLorean’s Long Road Back From Bankruptcy
The brand attached to this week’s announcement carries one of the automotive industry’s most famous collapse stories. The original DeLorean Motor Company launched the stainless-steel DMC-12 in 1981 at a factory in Northern Ireland, and production ended in 1982 after the company folded under financial pressure and its founder’s legal troubles. Roughly 9,000 DMC-12s were built before the line shut down, a short run that, paired with the car’s starring role in the “Back to the Future” films starting in 1985, turned a commercial failure into one of the most recognized car silhouettes in pop culture.
The modern DeLorean brand, operating separately from the bankrupt original company, has floated a return to vehicle production multiple times over the past decade, including 2022 plans for a new electrified model styled after the DMC-12. None of those production plans should be confused with the original company’s 1982 collapse or treated as evidence of a continuous, uninterrupted DeLorean manufacturing operation. The Airspeeder deal is best read as the latest chapter in a brand that has spent four decades living on nostalgia value while periodically testing whether that nostalgia can be converted into an actual product line again.
The Wider Flying Car Field
DeLorean’s Airspeeder entry lands inside a crowded and technically diverse field of companies chasing some version of “flying car,” and the differences between them are a big part of why direct comparisons mislead. Joby Aviation is developing larger, piloted electric air taxis aimed at certified commercial passenger service, a far more regulation-heavy path than motorsport. Alef Aeronautics is pursuing a genuinely roadable aircraft designed to drive on streets and transition to flight, closer to the pop-culture idea of a flying car than Airspeeder’s race-only machines. Jetson is building small personal electric aircraft aimed at individual recreational use, and XPeng AeroHT, under the broader XPeng ecosystem, is working on both eVTOL aircraft and separate roadable flying-car concepts in China.
Airspeeder and its aircraft builder, Alauda Aeronautics, occupy a different lane from all of them: competition as a deliberate technology-forcing exercise, not a direct path to a certified consumer product. That makes DeLorean’s entry more comparable to a Formula E manufacturer deal than to a Joby or Alef product launch. The company is buying brand exposure and motorsport credibility in an emerging category, not shipping a certifiable aircraft to a buyer.
| Company | Vehicle Type | Target Use | Current Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| DeLorean Motor Company (Airspeeder) | Mk3C eVTOL race aircraft (shared platform) | Electric air racing, brand exposure | Constructor deal signed Oct. 2026; debut season Nov. 2026 |
| DeLorean Aerospace (DR-7) | Tandem two-seat eVTOL concept | Personal/passenger flying car concept | Concept/prototype renders since 2017; not confirmed for racing |
| Alauda Aeronautics | Mk3/Mk3C race aircraft family | Airspeeder racing platform supplier | Operating since 2022 EXA series; active across current grid |
| Joby Aviation | Piloted eVTOL air taxi | Certified urban/regional air mobility | In certification and commercial development |
| Alef Aeronautics | Roadable electric aircraft | Drive-and-fly personal transport | Prototype/development stage |
| Jetson | Small personal eVTOL | Individual recreational flight | In development, limited production |
| XPeng AeroHT | eVTOL and roadable flying car concepts | Passenger mobility, China market | In development under XPeng ecosystem |
| Tesla | No confirmed flying/eVTOL vehicle | Speculative only | No announced program; Roadster thruster claims unconfirmed |
Timeline: From DMC-12 to the Airspeeder Grid
| Year | Milestone |
|---|---|
| 1981 | Original DeLorean Motor Company begins DMC-12 production in Northern Ireland |
| 1982 | Production ends and the original company collapses financially |
| 1985 | DMC-12 becomes a pop-culture icon via the “Back to the Future” film franchise |
| 2017 | DeLorean Aerospace publicizes the DR-7 tandem-seat eVTOL concept |
| 2022 | Airspeeder’s remotely piloted EXA Series begins racing in South Australia |
| 2022 | Modern DeLorean brand floats plans for a new electrified vehicle |
| April 2026 | Mk3C demonstrated at The Bend Motorsport Park in Australia |
| October 13, 2026 | DeLorean Motor Company announces Airspeeder International Series entry |
| November 2026 | DeLorean Airspeeder Team’s scheduled competitive debut (2026-27 season opener) |
| 2027-28 (reported) | DeLorean’s role expected to expand toward aircraft engineering input |
Market Impact and Brand Calculus
There is no established market-size figure for electric flying-car racing specifically, because Airspeeder is a specialized motorsport and technology-development program rather than a mature commercial category with its own analyst coverage. The broader eVTOL market, which includes passenger transport, cargo delivery, and emergency response alongside racing, is the real commercial prize that companies like Joby are chasing through certification. Airspeeder’s value proposition to a legacy brand like DeLorean is closer to Formula E’s pitch to automakers a decade ago: cheap visibility in a category investors and media are willing to cover enthusiastically, years before any of it reaches a dealership.
For DeLorean, the deal is a low-capital way to reassert relevance in a conversation about future transportation that the brand has mostly watched from the sidelines since 1982, aside from licensing deals and occasional revival announcements. For Airspeeder, signing the first American constructor and the single most recognizable “flying car” brand on the planet is a credibility and press-cycle win that costs the series little, since DeLorean is not replacing Alauda’s engineering, only wrapping it in a familiar name. Both sides get outsized headline value relative to the actual hardware commitment involved, which is a pattern familiar from decades of brand sponsorships in motorsport, not unlike Tesla’s own push to turn Megapack and Cybercab production into a growth story covered in our look at Tesla’s next growth engine.
What to Watch Before November
Several details remain unconfirmed and will determine whether this story has real substance by the time the 2026-27 season opens. DeLorean has not named a pilot for its Mk3C entry, has not disclosed the specific livery or branding treatment beyond the general announcement, and has not confirmed an exact race date or location for its debut. Reports pointing to a 2027-28 engineering expansion involving university programs remain forward-looking and unconfirmed in scope. Whether that expansion produces an actual DeLorean-designed aircraft, rather than continued use of Alauda’s standardized Mk3C, is the detail most likely to separate a genuine engineering story from an extended brand-licensing arrangement.
It is also worth watching how Airspeeder itself scales. The series has grown steadily since its 2022 remote-piloted debut, but it remains a niche spectacle compared to established motorsport or to the certified air-taxi sector Joby and its competitors are building toward. A high-profile constructor like DeLorean could accelerate that growth by drawing media attention the series has struggled to generate on its own, or it could prove a one-season novelty if the brand’s involvement never moves past livery design.
Five Predictions for the Season Ahead
- DeLorean’s debut livery and pilot announcement will likely land closer to the November 2026 season opener than to this week’s constructor announcement, following the pattern of other recent Airspeeder entries.
- Expect continued media conflation of the DR-7 concept and the Mk3C race aircraft through the debut season, since the two projects share a brand name but not an engineering team.
- Tesla comparisons will keep surfacing in coverage of both the DeLorean Airspeeder entry and the Tesla Roadster, even though neither company has a confirmed competing flying-vehicle program, because the narrative is more clickable than the underlying facts.
- If the reported 2027-28 engineering expansion with university partners materializes, it will be the first real test of whether DeLorean intends to build aviation hardware rather than license its name, and it is the detail most likely to generate a credible follow-up story.
- Airspeeder will likely use DeLorean’s entry to court at least one additional American or European legacy auto or motorsport brand before the 2026-27 season concludes, following the same playbook that brought Formula E its early manufacturer roster.
How This Fits the Flying Car Hype Cycle
Flying car announcements have followed a familiar rhythm for nearly a century: a splashy unveiling, heavy press coverage, and a long gap before anything resembling a certified, purchasable vehicle appears. DeLorean’s Airspeeder deal fits neatly into that rhythm, but with an added layer of cultural weight because the brand’s association with on-screen time travel and flight has existed in the public imagination since 1985, decades before any version of a real DeLorean aircraft existed. Pearson’s comment that “DeLorean is the original flying car brand” is, in that narrow cultural sense, difficult to argue with, even though the actual aircraft carrying the name next season was engineered entirely by Alauda, not DeLorean.
That gap between cultural association and engineering reality is the throughline of this story. DeLorean is not shipping a flying car in November 2026. It is putting its name and logo on an aircraft someone else built, for a racing series someone else founded, with a pilot and livery still unannounced. That is a real, confirmed business development, not a rumor, and it is also considerably smaller than the “DeLorean beats Tesla to the sky” framing suggests. Readers who want to track whether either company closes that gap have a clear marker to watch: November 2026, when the DeLorean Airspeeder Team is scheduled to actually fly.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is DeLorean actually building a flying car?
DeLorean Motor Company has not announced a flying car of its own design. It has signed on as the United States constructor in the Airspeeder International Series, using Alauda Aeronautics’ existing Mk3C electric race aircraft under DeLorean branding.
What is the Airspeeder International Series?
It is an electric flying-car racing championship founded by Matt Pearson, also the founder of aircraft builder Alauda Aeronautics. The series began with a remotely piloted EXA Series in 2022 and has expanded into an international competition with manufacturer and national constructor entries.
Is the DR-7 the aircraft DeLorean will race?
No. The DR-7 is a separate concept aircraft from DeLorean Aerospace, first publicized around 2017, with tandem seating and thrust-vectoring ducted fans. The Airspeeder entry uses the standardized Mk3C platform, and no current reporting confirms the DR-7 will compete.
When will the DeLorean Airspeeder Team debut?
Reports indicate a debut in the 2026-27 Airspeeder season, which opens in November 2026, though an exact race date and location have not been published.
Does this mean DeLorean is ahead of Tesla on flying vehicles?
Not in any confirmed technical sense. Tesla has no announced eVTOL or flying-car program. The comparison stems from online speculation around Tesla’s Roadster and Elon Musk’s past comments about ambitious transportation concepts, not from any competing Tesla flying-vehicle announcement.
Who else is building flying cars or eVTOL aircraft?
Joby Aviation is developing piloted air taxis for certified commercial service, Alef Aeronautics is building a roadable aircraft, Jetson is developing small personal eVTOLs, and XPeng AeroHT is pursuing both eVTOL and roadable concepts in China.
Has DeLorean gone bankrupt before?
The original DeLorean Motor Company ended DMC-12 production in 1982 after the company collapsed financially. The modern DeLorean brand operates separately and has periodically announced new vehicle plans, including the current Airspeeder partnership.
What will DeLorean’s role be beyond the first season?
Reports suggest DeLorean’s involvement is expected to expand from branding toward actual aircraft engineering starting in the 2027-28 season, reportedly including work with engineering students at universities such as UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech, though this has not been confirmed in detail.