When cars fly: Japan firm SkyDrive says day is nearing

It might seem like a flight of fancy, but a Japanese firm says it is one step closer to making flying cars a reality after testing a drone-like prototype.

Video from engineering company SkyDrive shows its manned compact vehicle using eight propellers to hover into the air and make its way — with a few wobbles — around a test field.

But while the clip may excite fans of “Blade Runner” and “Back to the Future”, the test run leaves mankind far from a future of airborne vehicles whizzing into the sky to avoid traffic.

The company hailed “the first public demonstration of a flying car in Japan” and said the aircraft, around the size of two parked cars, had circled the testing field for four minutes.