Famed California "Kustomizer" George Barris built the XPAK 400, a wild air car that really flew before mysteriously disappearing without a trace in the 1960s.
The mid-20th Century period was a brazenly optimistic time in American culture. New inventions like space satellites, stereo sound, and remote-controlled color TV had people believing anything was possible through technological advances. Flying cars seemed all but inevitable.
The late 1950s and early 60s saw a surge of interest in air cars. Hover craft of all types were being tested. Ford built a working concept called the Levacar Mach I. Ed "Big Daddy" Roth built the three-wheeled Rotar. In 1960 George Barris built what many consider the most far-out air car of all, the XPAK 400.
It was the beginning of a new decade and things were getting pretty exciting in every engineering field. I wanted to reach out into the future when the XPAK idea came to me, so I designed and built an air car, a car of the future.
--George Barris
Huge fins, a bubble top, real fish scale and diamond dust paint, TV set, telephone, and gold plated trim made the XPAK a show stopper. Introduced at the 1960 New York Auto Show, Barris Kustoms' creation was a crowd favorite that drew attention away from million dollar concepts by Detroit automakers. The XPAK also appeared in an episode of the Alfred Hitchcock Presents television show.
Barris XPAK really levitated due to the a set of electric motor-driven fans. But it didn't have the lift to support a human passenger. A department store manequin served as pilot for remote controlled demos at car shows. A skirt around its edge captured and concentrated air for increased lift.
After its show career ended, George Barris put the XPAK in storage and forgot it for a few years. It mysteriously disappeared and hasn't been seen in several decades. Where is it? No one seems to have a clue, but rumors of alien life forms jacking the XPAK back to their home planet have proven wholly unsubstantiated.
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