Where are they now?

Terrafugia, one of our picks for this year's Next Little Thing, isn't the first company to chase the dream of a flying car. Moller International, which made our 2005 Next Little Thing list, has continued to work on Paul Moller's M-200 series of airborne vehicles, in anticipation of eventually rolling out the larger, more elaborate Skycar that was spotlighted in FSB.

Last year, the company said it would in 2008 begin filling the 100 or so M-200 orders it had received. That didn't happen. "Getting money for our projects is challenging," says General Manager Bruce Calkins. "Dr. Moller provides funds from his real estate assets, but depreciation has impacted our ability to borrow money. The primary thing is just survival in this economy - not too many people are thinking about flying cars."

Still, Moller has demo models of the M-200 that it began flight testing in 2008. The two-passenger "G series" model, one of several variations the company is developing, flies less than 10 feet off the ground, allowing it to avoid FAA regulation. In the coming year, Moller hopes to sell the first versions at auction for $100,000 to $150,000, helping to raise the $10 million the company needs to get the M-200 into steady production.

Meanwhile, Moller's engineers continue enthusiastically probing all flying-car possibilities. This year the company studied the feasibility of flying a Ferrari, using eight fans developed for the M-200. Moller deemed the project viable but prohibitively expensive - the flying Ferrari would be so fuel-inefficient it could only stay aloft for 15 minutes, and a working prototype would cost around $3 million. - Emily Maltby

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