DeLorean Takes Flight in the World’s First Flying Car Racing Series
The celebrated American marque will join the Airspeeder International Series as a constructor, with the DeLorean Airspeeder Team set to make its competitive debut in November 2026.
An automotive icon is heading skywards as DeLorean brings its name, design heritage and futuristic ambition to a new era of three-dimensional electric motorsport.
For more than 40 years, the DeLorean name has been inseparable from the idea of a car leaving the road behind. Now that familiar vision is moving closer to reality, with DeLorean Motor Company confirming its entry into the Airspeeder International Series — billed as the world’s first racing championship for electric flying cars.
Announced at TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, the partnership will see the company become constructor of the United States entry. Competing as the DeLorean Airspeeder Team, it is scheduled to make its race debut when the 2026–27 season begins in November 2026.
The move puts one of motoring’s most recognisable marques on the grid of a sport built around electric propulsion, advanced flight-control technology and AI-enabled safety systems. It also makes DeLorean the first American constructor in flying car racing, facing national teams from around the world during the series’ first international season. The aircraft’s final design, pilot line-up and sporting programme will be revealed ahead of the opening round.
The road was only the beginning
DeLorean occupies a place in popular culture unlike almost any other car manufacturer. Its name evokes daring design, independence and an enduring fascination with the future. For decades, the image of a DeLorean taking flight belonged to cinema and imagination; the Airspeeder project gives that idea an intriguing real-world setting.
Airspeeder was founded on a similarly ambitious premise: that electric flying cars should be developed through the same competitive pressure, public scrutiny and spectacle that helped transform the motor car. Instead of following a conventional circuit, its electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft race in three dimensions through electronically defined courses.
“DeLorean has always stood for the courage to imagine transportation differently,” said Cameron Wynne, Chief Brand Officer at DeLorean Motor Company. “People have pictured a DeLorean in the sky for forty years. We decided it was time to stop picturing it.”
Airspeeder founder and CEO Matt Pearson believes DeLorean is a natural fit for the championship. “DeLorean is the original flying car brand,” he said. “Long before anyone had built one, the whole world already knew what a flying DeLorean looked like. Every great racing series is defined by the constructors who choose to compete in it. To have an American icon line up on our grid in our first international season tells you where this sport is going. America has repeatedly changed how the world moves, on the road, in the air and beyond, and the DeLorean Airspeeder Team carries that ambition into a new arena.”
From constructor to flying laboratory
For its debut campaign, the team will compete with the Airspeeder Mk3C, while DeLorean takes the lead on its visual identity. The constructor role is then expected to deepen significantly. Its aircraft for the 2027–28 season will be developed with student engineering teams at universities across the United States, including the University of California, collaborators at UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech. The programme is intended to place emerging American engineering and design talent at the heart of race-aircraft development.
Why racing matters
Motorsport has long provided mobility brands with a demanding proving ground. Competition compresses development cycles, exposes systems to public scrutiny and measures performance under pressure. Airspeeder aims to apply those same forces to advanced air mobility, using racing to accelerate progress in electric propulsion, flight control, vehicle communication, simulation and AI-enabled aviation technology.
Wynne said DeLorean’s involvement is intended to reach beyond the machinery itself. “Through its partnership with Airspeeder, DeLorean aims to participate at the ground level, advancing not only the technology behind flying vehicles but also the regulatory, safety and compliance frameworks required for their responsible adoption. While widespread use remains over the horizon, the opportunity is significant. By engaging early, DeLorean is positioning to help turn future mobility from a vision into practical, scalable reality.”
For DeLorean, the series arrives at a pivotal moment, as electric flight attempts to move from experimental prototype towards viable product. It offers a live laboratory in front of a global audience interested not only in speed, but also in technology, design, gaming and wider culture. Just as importantly, it places the marque close to the emerging advanced-air-mobility sector while introducing its name to a new generation.
The race programme is only the opening chapter. More details about the team, its aircraft and the broader constructor partnership are due in the months ahead. For now, however, one of motoring’s most famous visions of the future is finally preparing to leave the ground.
