DeLorean becomes Airspeeder's first American constructor

October 14, 2026 — DeLorean Motor Company has become the first American constructor to enter the Airspeeder International Series, a championship that bills itself as the world’s first racing league for electric flying cars. The announcement came during TechCrunch Disrupt 2026 in San Francisco, and the DeLorean Airspeeder Team is expected to debut when the 2026-27 season starts in November. The move gives the fledgling sport a globally recognizable name from the automotive world.

For many people, the DeLorean name is inseparable from the 1985 film Back to the Future, in which a modified DMC-12 became a time machine capable of soaring through the air. That cinematic image has dominated the brand’s perception for decades. The original DMC-12, with its unpainted stainless-steel body and dramatic gull-wing doors, was produced for only a few years in the early 1980s before the original company collapsed. Enthusiasts kept the name alive, and a revived DeLorean Motor Company in the United States has since been exploring electric-era reinvention. By joining Airspeeder, the company is finally making the leap into flight in a literal, competitive way.

Airspeeder was created by Matt Pearson, an entrepreneur who believes that electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft should mature the same way automobiles did: through the unforgiving environment of racing. Rather than relying on permanent circuits, the series uses digitally defined courses that exist in three-dimensional space. National teams pilot their eVTOL racers through these virtual raceways, with lap times determined in real time. The series combines elements of motorsport, aerospace engineering, and artificial intelligence, providing a testbed for electric propulsion, flight-control algorithms, vehicle-to-vehicle communications, simulation software, and AI-based safety systems.

The fit between the two brands is more than superficial. Airspeeder wants to normalize advanced air mobility; DeLorean wants to leave behind its old reputation as a doomed sports-car maker. The brand’s iconography — a car that flies — is exactly the kind of image a young racing series needs to capture attention. Having a true American constructor on the grid also helps Airspeeder make good on its promise of international competition. DeLorean’s entry signals that the series is becoming credible enough to attract established names.

For the 2026-27 campaign, the DeLorean Airspeeder Team will campaign the Airspeeder Mk3C. DeLorean’s immediate role is to shape the aircraft’s visual identity, translating its distinctive design language into a machine that has to perform in the air. The word “constructor” means more than fielding a vehicle; it implies responsibility for design and development. That responsibility will grow in the next season, when DeLorean is expected to develop a machine that is more deeply its own.

The 2027-28 season will see a more ambitious DeLorean Airspeeder developed together with student engineering teams from U.S. universities, including the University of California, UC Berkeley, and Georgia Tech. It is an unusual step: using collegiate talent to help build a racing aircraft. Airspeeder has said it wants the sport to act as a training ground for the next generation of aerospace engineers. DeLorean’s collaboration with schools gives the series an educational dimension that most forms of racing do not have.

Matt Pearson, the series founder, said DeLorean’s brand identity had been tied to flight for decades — long before anyone actually built such a vehicle — and that the public already knew what a flying DeLorean should look like. He also pointed to America’s history of reshaping transportation, from roads to aeronautics, and said the new team carries that legacy into a fresh competitive arena. In his view, racing series are defined by their constructors, and the arrival of an American icon on the grid says a great deal about where the sport is heading.

Cameron Wynne, DeLorean’s chief brand officer, framed the announcement as an end to a long wait. After decades of seeing DeLorean associated with flight in fiction, he said the company decided to try the real thing. He argued that the brand’s core has always been about daring to rethink how people move, and that racing is a natural extension of that principle. His comments were calibrated to appeal both to nostalgic fans of the DMC-12 and to technology-minded audiences.

DeLorean becomes the first American constructor in Airspeeder’s international season, an important structural milestone. The championship has relied on a mix of teams from different countries, but adding a high-profile American name changes its appeal. It could open the door to more major brands, particularly as the commercial potential of eVTOL racing becomes clearer. Sponsors tend to favor familiar names, and DeLorean provides that familiarity while still feeling forward-looking.

One of Airspeeder’s core missions is to make electric flying cars understandable and accepted by the public. Competitive racing is a compelling way to demonstrate the capabilities of eVTOL aircraft safely and entertainingly. DeLorean’s participation strengthens that mission because the brand already exists in the public imagination as a flying car. There is a natural synergy: a fictional DeLorean helped millions of viewers believe that ordinary cars could take to the sky; a real DeLorean racing team might do the same for actual eVTOL technology.

From an engineering standpoint, eVTOL racing is a severe test. The machines must manage quick vertical transitions, tight turns, and aerial maneuvers that push the limits of battery power and software response. Data from each race can be fed back into future designs, which is exactly the kind of feedback loop that automotive racing has always provided. Airspeeder expects that the lessons learned from battling in three dimensions will translate into safer, more efficient aircraft for everyday urban transport. DeLorean, with its history of automotive engineering, is now part of that feedback process.

Not everything is straightforward. Flying-car racing is still a niche, and the technology faces regulatory and engineering hurdles. eVTOL aircraft must meet safety standards that do not yet exist for racing series, and the sport’s financial sustainability is unproven. DeLorean’s entry does not guarantee success, but it gives the series a recognizable face and a narrative hook. The team will need to master a complex machine and compete against international rivals while managing the expectations attached to the DeLorean name.

DeLorean said the team’s aircraft design, pilot lineup, and sporting program will be revealed before the season opener. That build-up is a deliberate strategy: teasing the design of a DeLorean-branded eVTOL is likely to generate discussion among automotive and aerospace enthusiasts. The choice of pilots will be especially important, as flying-car racing demands a combination of remote-piloting skill, split-second decision-making, and an understanding of AI-assisted flight. DeLorean intends to make the pilot roster part of its brand story.

There is also a cultural angle. It is difficult to overstate how strongly the DeLorean name is associated with the future. By entering a championship for electric flying cars, DeLorean is leaning into that association rather than fighting it. The company is using its most famous asset — its place in the collective memory — to help introduce a technology that is still looking for its first mass audience. That strategy could become a model for other heritage brands considering the electric transition.

John DeLorean, the original founder, was an engineer and executive who built his career on defying convention. The DMC-12 was designed to be unlike anything else on the road, and even after the company’s collapse, its bold design survived as a symbol of ambition. Racing a flying electric vehicle is arguably the most defiant move the brand has made since then. For the people now managing the name, the decision fits a tradition of refusing to accept limits.

The 2026-27 Airspeeder season is set to become the most visible edition of the championship yet. With DeLorean among the constructors, the race series gains a level of recognition that many new sports lack. If the team performs well, DeLorean could do for electric aviation what its fictional counterpart once did for movie audiences: prove that flying cars are not just fantasy. For now, the countdown to November is on.