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-June 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
Things Look Bad For The Apple Car
Things Look Bad For The Apple Car
It’s possible that things are doing just fine at Apple’s beleaguered car project and that Ford is just looking to nab a headline or two poaching the head of the tech company’s program. I mean, it’s possible. All that and more in for September 8, 2021. There are some...
Jun 22, 2026
Legendary Designer Says GTA's Version Of The Supra Looks Better Than The Real One. What Do You Think?
Legendary Designer Says GTA's Version Of The Supra Looks Better Than The Real One. What Do You Think?
If you’re interested in car design and play video games, Frank Stephenson’s YouTube channel was pretty much made for you. The designer of the BMW Mini, Maserati MC12 and McLaren P1 lets viewers in on his creative process and mindset with every episode, while also contextualizing some of the...
Jun 22, 2026
15 Things We Just Learned From The New Gran Turismo 7 Trailer
15 Things We Just Learned From The New Gran Turismo 7 Trailer
Gran Turismo 7 finally has a release date. It’s coming March 4, 2022 for both PS4 and PS5 — barring further delays, of course. After 14 months of radio silence since the game’s reveal last June, Thursday’s trailer spilled damn near everything. The packed a lot of information along...
Jun 22, 2026
Now The Apple Watch Guy Is Overseeing The Apple Car
Now The Apple Watch Guy Is Overseeing The Apple Car
What do smartwatches and cars have in common? Aside from the fact Apple is trying to make both, I’m not sure. The tech giant’s wearable software lead is taking the reins of its turbulent car project. In other news, Tesla is skirting New Mexico’s anti-direct sales laws by building...
Jun 22, 2026
Ford Is All But Giving Up On India
Ford Is All But Giving Up On India
Ford is mostly getting out of India, New York is banning the sale of gasoline cars, and should teens be allowed to drive semis across state lines? All that and more in for September 9, 2021. Ford first entered the Indian market 25 years ago, hoping to, you know,...
Jun 22, 2026
An Infamous Low Bridge In Pennsylvania Just Destroyed Two Cars In Shipment
An Infamous Low Bridge In Pennsylvania Just Destroyed Two Cars In Shipment
While a certain in Durham, North Carolina tends to get all the love, America happens to be full of extremely uncompromising underpasses that never fail to make careless drivers of tall vehicles pay for their indiscretion. One such bridge stands over King of Prussia Road in Radnor, Pennsylvania ....
Jun 22, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved