Slovakia's Klein Vision has now made more than 500 test flights of its rather handsome 4th-gen AirCar prototype, and at the 2025 Living Legends of Aviation Gala Dinner in LA last week, the company showed off renders of the 5th-gen prototype that will form the basis for certification and finally go through to production.

This design, co-founder Anton Zajac tells us over a video call, is slated to fly in September. The company expects a full Part 23/CS-23 certification with EASA and/or the US FAA by late September, clearing the path for mass production and customer deliveries to begin early next year.

Of all the many flying car designs we've covered over the years, Klein's AirCar certainly stands out as a looker. It's one of the few flying cars with four wheels – three-wheelers tend to be much more popular, since they're subject to motorcycle road compliance laws rather than more stringent car laws in many areas, and can thus get away with a much more lightweight and simple construction.

It's also remarkable for its automatic transformation between fly and drive modes when you get to an airstrip. "You align the car in the direction of the runway," Zajac tells me, "and you push a button on the steering wheel. That turns the steering wheel into a yoke so you can control the ailerons. At the same time you can push or pull it to control the elevators. There are two additional pedals that serve as rudder controls."

Outside the car, the wings are lifting and unfolding and locking into place for a 27-foot (8.2-m) wingspan, and the tail is extending backward for optimal positioning in a process that takes about 80 seconds – and the AirCar's engine is disconnected from driving the wheels and instead hooked up to the pusher prop in behind the cabin. One quick walk around the car for a pre-flight check, and you're ready to hop in and take off. You can see the transition process toward the end of the video below.

The term "flying car" has been somewhat misappropriated by the eVTOL segment with its electric Jetsons-style aircraft – so Zajac, much like our friend Dezso Molnar, prefers the term 'roadable aircraft.' "If you have a driver's license, you can drive our roadable flying car," says Zajac. "If you have a PPL, private pilot's license, the AirCar has been designed in such a way that you don't have to learn anything new. The legal and testing and licensing process has been in place for dozens of years.

"The goal in building this dual-mode vehicle," he tells me, "was to build a sports car that really behaves like a sports car, that really looks and drives like a sports car. And in aircraft mode, that behaves exactly like an aircraft with zero compromise."