DeLorean, the name behind the car in Back to the Future, is going racing in the air. It has formed a team in the Airspeeder International Series, a championship for electric flying vehicles. The team debuts in November.
It is a branding move more than an engineering one, at least to begin with. Here is what has been said, and what has not.
What was announced
DeLorean made the announcement on 13 October at TechCrunch Disrupt in San Francisco. It formed the DeLorean Airspeeder Team and says it is the first American constructor to join the series, which is all-electric.
For its first season, the team will fly Airspeeder’s standard Mk3C electric race aircraft, with DeLorean styling, livery and branding. It makes its racing debut when the 2026-27 season opens in November 2026. From the 2027-28 season, DeLorean says it will work with engineering students from universities including UC Berkeley and Georgia Tech on designing future race aircraft.
How the racing works
Airspeeder was founded in 2016 by the Australian entrepreneur Matt Pearson. Pilots fly electric aircraft along three-dimensional courses marked out by virtual gates. The series presents itself as a way to advance air mobility technology.
Hypebeast quotes DeLorean’s chief brand officer, Cameron Wynne: “We decided it was time to stop picturing it.”
What a standard aircraft means
Our reading: because every team flies the same Mk3C in the first season, DeLorean cannot show off its own flying machine yet. What it brings is a famous name and a look. Real engineering from DeLorean would come, if at all, with the student collaboration from 2027-28. DeLorean is focusing on racing, not on developing eVTOL aircraft, the electric vertical take-off vehicles that companies hope to sell as air taxis.
What has not been said
The report we read says DeLorean has not revealed:
- the design of any DeLorean aircraft;
- its pilots;
- the race calendar beyond the November start;
- financial terms or sponsorship;
- how the university partnership will be structured.
We also found nothing about races in the UK, so we cannot say whether British fans will see one.
For another recent flying-car announcement, and the questions it left open, see our report on Tesla’s “flying” Roadster.
What we could not confirm
We read one report in full and could not open the announcements from Airspeeder or DeLorean. We will update this article when the aircraft, pilots and calendar are revealed.
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