zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Culture
/
'The Car Is Over,' Says Founder Of World’s First Flying Car Store
'The Car Is Over,' Says Founder Of World’s First Flying Car Store-August 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:12:11

A photo from inside The Arsenale concept store in New York City.

Another week, another story about how flying cars might be the future of transportation. This time, it’s the turn of mobility specialist The Arsenale, which claimed that “the car is over” at the opening of the “first ever flying car store.”

Despite our very own , a quick browse of this very website brings up a host of creations that many people might think of as ‘flying cars.’

Now, The Arsenale has become the latest firm to try and bring the conversation around personal aviation to the masses.

If you aren’t familiar with the firm, it has been making a name for itself through the sale and promotion of some pretty outlandish machines since 2016. Perusing the company’s online catalogue brings up personal , high-tech electric , futuristic and some incredible looking .

A personal flying machine made using the shell of a vintage Renault 4 car.

It has now opened the doors to its latest project, a flagship store in New York city. The venue, which is The Arsenale’s third retail location, was dubbed the “world’s first flying car store” by founder Patrice Meignan.

The new store, which was opened in partnership with luxury watch maker Roger Dubuis, currently offers The Arsenale’s collection of apparel, alongside a $400,000 Icon sea plane. In the coming months, it will also be home to Renault’s outlandish Air4 ‘flying car’ concept from last year. Neither of which are the typical purchase for anyone wandering the streets of Manhattan.

Last year, The Arsenale . The electric quadcopter could fly for just a few minutes at a time, but was a first test for The Arsenale’s own aviation tech. And now, it seems that the firm is going all-in on its fight for flight.

“I think that we can hardly imagine what is going to come,” said Meignan.

But, what is going to come?

Well, Meignan has some thoughts on that. In fact, he has a lot to say on the topic of the future of personal aviation.

He said: “It’s funny, when you look at the 1900s and you look at the car trade shows, in Detroit they were showing things like cars with bubbles and saying that in the future we are going to fly.”

A black and white photo of Patrice Meignan stood in front of a plane.

Several decades on since flying cars made it into pop culture through appearances in Blade Runner and Back To The Future, Meignan now believes the technology is catching up with this sci-fi vision. He explained that “we have discovered more in the last 20 years than we did in the last 200 years” when it comes to personal flight.

Meignan added: “So it means that in the next three or four years a lot of things will change in terms of battery, in terms of motors, in terms of power et cetera.”

But this isn’t the only area that needs to be developed if we are to take to the skies. Infrastructure around roads above us also needs to be drawn up, as well as other aspects we take for granted when driving on the ground.

Image for article titled 'The Car Is Over,' Says Founder Of World’s First Flying Car Store

“Instead of driving on the floor, you’re going to takeoff and you’re going to use a road that is exactly yours. We are going to create a lot of new road architecture, we’re also going to need a new payment system in order to use these facilities, and new machines.”

And that’s where he believes that The Arsenale will come in.

Meignan said he has already opened discussions with “around 10” companies that are looking to work within the ‘flying car’ space. And while he has spoken with a small number of builders himself, that’s just the tip of the iceberg in terms of brands looking to take to the skies.

Meignan said: “There are around 40 projects and some of them are great. It’s too much for an upcoming industry, but it shows that there is interest. At the end of the day, you might have just five or 10, or more – but it does show that there is something happening now.”

On top of this, Meignan is also taking and using that to create his own brand of personal aircraft.

A display of baseball caps and t-shirts inside The Arsenale store.

“The difficulty is how do you go from a blog, website and store, to flying cars?” he asks.

That’s got to be a tough challenge to overcome. But, he says his reputation for “making crazy shit” should help The Arsenale Aero get off the ground.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Culture
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
2024 Kia EV9: What Do You Want To Know?
At long last, we are about to get behind the wheel of for the first time. Sure, , and sure, , and sure , but hey — what can you do? Anyway, before we get behind the wheel of this three-row electric beast, we want to know what you...
Aug 16, 2025
Subaru Had It Right All Along
Subaru Had It Right All Along
When first came to the United States, it sold small funky cars that were decidedly un-American. As the company grew its own identity and became more established in the U.S., it became the first automaker to offer an all-wheel-drive passenger car in 1975. Subaru was also an early-adopter of...
Aug 16, 2025
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
Toyota Is Moving A Prewar 700-Ton Press Machine Halfway Around The World
closed its São Bernardo Plant in November 2023, marking the end of its first overseas production facility. The closure caps off a period of continuous car production in São Paolo, , lasting over 60 years. The plant was home to a Komatsu 700-ton press that predates itself. And now...
Aug 16, 2025
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
Watch ABS Fail When MotorWeek Tests A 1997 Chevy S-10
MotorWeek’s is some of the on the internet. The long-running automotive news magazine has a treasure trove of tests after being on the air for over 40 years. Where else can you find detailed instrumented testing of long-forgotten cars like the or a ? MotorWeek’s recent Retro Review upload is...
Aug 16, 2025
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I Entered My Lifted Miata In A Real Off-Road Race, Here's What Happened
I have two automotive loves: The first is the Miata, the second is off-road racing. For a while I raced air-cooled Volkswagens in the deserts of California and Nevada and I was lucky enough to co-drive in a class 11 stock bug in the Baja 1000 a few years...
Aug 16, 2025
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I Can't Get Enough Of This YouTuber Who Builds Tiny, Fully Functional Scale-Model Cars
I love tiny, of . I have a that is roughly half the size of a normal cat, and she’s perfect. I own a 2013 , which is like the miniature version of a normal-sized vehicle (at least here in Texas) — but beyond that, I also own a Hot...
Aug 16, 2025
Copyright 2023-2025 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved