October 9, 2008 —You couldn’t fly it or drive it, but you could own a piece of aviation history.
At least that’s how Moller International advertised it when they offered its M200X flying car prototype for sale on eBay. But it wasn’t enough to convince buyers that it was worth the price tag.
Sixteen people bid 36 times, but when the online auction closed on October 7, the high bid was $20,000 — well below the reserve price.
Moller wrote in the listing that the historical value of the prototype would increase substantially as the production model of the M200 series goes on sale. The key to the ease with which the M200X could be flown, according to the company, was the use of a number of unique engines controlled by a central electronic computer and sensor module. The engines received computer commands every few milliseconds that told each engine what to do to keep the M200X stable no matter what environment it was operating in.
The Skycar’s most important flight occurred on May 10, 1989 in front of the local, national and international press. (Click here to see that flight.) But the M200X didn’t really fly; it just hovered a few feet off the ground, attached to a crane.
The M200X is in perfect condition and in the same configuration as it flew during its international press flight, Moller International wrote on its eBay listing.
This isn’t the first time Moller has put one of its prototypes up for sale. The M400 Skycar has been up for auction twice before, and each time bidding has fallen short of its reserve price.
The Skycar has been in development for more than 45 years.
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Moller International tried to sell its M200X prototype on eBay. Photo from eBay.
The Moller M200X is a two-passenger flying-saucer-style aircraft that can hover 10 feet above the ground. The M200X flew for the first time in 1989. Photo: ABC News
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