Aerocar

Taylor began designing a roadable aircraft in 1946. During a trip to Delaware, he met inventor Robert E. Fulton, Jr., who had designed an earlier roadable airplane, the Airphibian, with detachable wings. Taylor's prototype, the Aerocar, utilized folding wings that allowed the road vehicle to be converted into flight mode in five minutes by one person. When the rear license plate was flipped up, the operator could connect the propeller shaft and attach a pusher propeller. The same engine drove the front wheels through a three-speed manual transmission. When operated as an aircraft, the road transmission was left in neutral (though backing up during taxiing was possible by the using the reverse gear). On the road, the wings and tail unit were towed behind the vehicle. Taylor also put the propeller on the back of the car so it did not have to be removed when the Aerocar went on the road. Aerocars could drive up to 60 miles per hour and had a top airspeed of 110 miles per hour. An early-1950s "Industry on Parade" film shows Taylor driving and piloting his Aerocar, as well as footage of manufacture.

The Civil Aeronautics Administration (CAA) granted the Aerocar civil certification in 1956, and Taylor reached a deal with Ling-Temco-Vought for serial production provided he could obtain 500 orders. When he was able to obtain only half that number, production plans ended. Only six examples were built. One is still flying as of 2008, and Taylor rebuilt another into the only Aerocar III.

There are four Aerocar Is, one Aerocar II, and one Aerocar I that was rebuilt as Aerocar III.

N4994P (1949, originally N31214) is yellow with silver wings. It was the very first Aerocar and is on display at the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. It is maintained in flying condition but is not flown.

N101D (1954) is owned by Greg Herrick's Yellowstone Aviation Inc. It is maintained in flying condition and is on display at the Golden Wings Flying Museum located on the south west side of the Anoka County-Blaine Airport in Minneapolis. This aircraft is featured flying overhead on the cover on the book "A Drive In the Clouds" by Jake Schultz. In December 2011, N101D was being offered for sale at an asking price of USD 1.25 million.

N102D (1960) is yellow and green. The last Aerocar built and the only one still flying, it is owned by Ed Sweeney and is on display at the Kissimmee Air Museum located at the Kissimmee Gateway Airport in Kissimmee, Florida. N102D was the only Aerocar built with the larger O-360 Lycoming powerplant giving it much better performance. It is the only road legal and driven Aerocar left. It is currently flown by the owner's son Sean Sweeney. It was previously owned by actor Bob Cummings, who used it in his TV sitcom The New Bob Cummings Show. It also appeared on the TV show James May's Big Ideas on BBC2, aired in September 2008. Inspired by this vehicle, Ed Sweeney began development of the Aerocar 2000.

N103D (1956) has been repainted to red/black with red wings. It has been owned by Carl Felling and Marilyn Stine of Grand Junction, Colorado since 1981. It once flew Fidel Castro's brother, Raúl Castro, in Cuba. The aircraft was damaged after landing on a rural road when a startled horse ran in front of the wing. A temporary fix was made using a flattened five-gallon can, and the aircraft made it to Boston without incident, for more comprehensive repairs

From 1961 to 1963 the Aerocar was operated under contract between Star Stations (Don Burden) and Wik's Air Service, Inc. It was used as a traffic-watch (AIRWATCH) aircraft for KISN (910AM) radio station in Portland, Oregon where it was flown by "Scotty Wright" (Scotty Wright was the alias used by the acting pilot of the Aerocar during traffic-watch transmissions). …